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Virginia Divorce and Family Law Attorney

The dissolution of a marriage is often an overwhelming and emotionally charged event, made more difficult by some of the thorny issues that a couple must sort out as they agree to part ways. Even couples just starting out on their journey together may need assistance with pre-nuptial agreements. Some of these difficult negotiations and decisions can be made easier with the help of a domestic relations attorney who practices family law.

There are many reasons that you might be seeking a domestic relations attorney: divorce, spousal support (alimony), equitable distribution, property settlement agreements, pre-nuptial agreements, child custody and support, and child visitation are just a few. Anton J. Stelly has represented Richmond Virginia area men, women, and children in the juvenile and circuit courts, and he can put his substantial experience and compassion to work for you.

Common Challenges in Domestic Relations Cases

If you are considering hiring an attorney to assist in your domestic relations case, you might be wondering how an attorney like Mr. Stelly can help you. There are a number of issues that you might face in your case, issues that a skilled and principled attorney like Mr. Stelly can help you navigate successfully.

• Divorce. There are several reasons under Virginia law that you can seek divorce, the most common being adultery, felony conviction and jail time, desertion, physical or mental cruelty, fear of bodily harm, or living apart for a set period of time (i.e. a “no-fault” divorce). A family law attorney can help you determine the best grounds for your divorce, and ensure that your rights are protected.
• Spousal support. There are many factors that go into determining spousal support (i.e. alimony) payments, and this is where a skilled attorney can ensure the payments you are required to make or the payments that you receive are fair. The unpredictable nature of spousal support decisions underscores the importance of having an experienced attorney on your side.
• Child custody and support. Some of the most emotionally challenging and difficult decisions you will face involve making child custody and child support arrangements for your children as your marriage ends. Courts are reluctant to become involved in these decisions; however they will intervene if the divorcing parties cannot come to a decision on their own. The challenges you will face while determining what is best for your children can be made easier with the assistance of an attorney who specializes in domestic relations cases.
• Division of assets. There are a variety of assets that can be part of a marital estate, including real estate, stocks and bonds, bank accounts, IRAs, automobiles, partnership interests, live stock, pets, furniture, jewelry, and more – however there are exceptions and exclusions that must be taken into account. Some common challenges divorcing couples face when attempting to divide their assets fairly pertain to the family home, retirement benefits, life insurance policies, debt, and business assets to name a few, which highlights the importance of hiring skilled attorney.

The Experience You Need for Sensitive Family Matters

Finding the right domestic relations attorney is a very important step, a step that you should consider very carefully. After all, the wrong attorney can cost you your assets, your children, and your future. As one of only two practicing criminal law attorneys in the Richmond Virginia area with an FBI background, Anton J. Stelly is uniquely qualified to assist you with any domestic relations legal issues you may encounter. During Mr. Stelly’s decade in the FBI he cultivated a network of local, state, and federal law enforcement contacts, and these resources combined with his courtroom experience and dedication to personal, responsible representation ensure that you will receive not only the justice that you deserve, but the fair and caring assistance you need during this difficult time.

Law Chambers of Anton J. Stelly
P.O. Box 11276
6002A West Broad Street, Suite 205
Richmond, Virginia 23230-1276
telephone: (804) 726-4778
fax: (804) 726-4779
tony@stellyvirginialaw.com

Proudly Serving these Virginia Cities and Counties:
Richmond, Henrico, Hanover, Chesterfield, Louisa, New Kent, Goochland, Glen Allen, Short Pump, Ashland, Chesterfield, Chester, Petersburg, Colonial Heights, Hopewell, Mechanicsville, Highland Springs, Sandston, Powhatan

Blog for Virginia Divorce and Family Law Attorney

• Supreme Court Declines to Decide Civil Union Child Custody Case
• Appeals Court Reverses Child Suport Reduction
• Termination of Father's Parental Rights Justified by Prior Violent Conduct
• Adultery and Alimony

Library for Virginia Divorce and Family Law Attorney:

• Virginia Teens Charged With Malicious Wounding Need Skilled Defense Lawyers   
  Virginia teens involved in fist fights often are charged in juvenile court with malicious wounding. These are serious charges and at the option of the Commonwealth's Attorney the teen can and may be tried as an adult in circuit court. A defense attorney with a proven track record for successfully defending malicious wounding charges should be consulted and retained to protect the child's interests and future.
• If your former husband or wife is not permitting you to have visitation with your children, you may want to contact me to help you understand your rights!   
  Denial of child visitation in Virginia can result in losing joint or primary custody. Virginia law holds that a parent who interferes with or denies visitation to the non-custodial parent risks losing custody of children.
• Mother Having Primary Physical Custody of Child Who Moves for Job Retains Status Over Father's Objection   
  In a decsion issued May 21, 2009, a circuit court denied a father's petition to amend primary custody of the parties' son due to the mother's move. The father contended that the 100-mile change in residence impaired his visitation rights.
• Love and Marriage (and Prenuptial Agreements) Go Together Like a Horse and Carriage   
  Virginia divorce attorney Tony Stelly discusses why prenuptial agreements are something to consider before marriage.
• Trial Court Errs By Increasing Amount of Wife's Spousal Support or Alimony Where Property Settlement Agreement in Place   
  A trial court does not have the authority to modify or change the amount of spousal support that is specified in a Property Settlement Agreement.
• Trial Court Erred in Holding Post Divorce Consent Decree Amended Property Settlement Agreement Terms Relating to Alimony   
  Husband fell behind on spousal support (alimony) payments and wife sought to have him held in contempt. Before the contempt hearing, the parties agreed to terms requiring husband to pay extra to catch up the arrearages. However, when husband later retired, he petitioned the court to terminate spousal support because he could no longer afford it. Wife sought to enforce the consent order that was entered by the court as a result of the contempt proceeding.
• Virginia Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act [PDF]   
  The Virginia Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act is set forth in Code sections 20-1-146.1 through 146.21. It governs how and under what circumstances Virginia courts may exercise jurisdiction over children under 18 whose parents reside in different states and whose custody, support or visitation are at issue.
• Juvenile Court Erred in Changing Custody [PDF]   
  In December 2008, a Roanoke County Circuit Court held that the JDR order permanently changing custody was void ab initio.
  
  The argument between the parents dealt with whether the child should be enrolled in the public school chosen by the father or the one chosen by the mother. In making its final decision, the JDR court permanently changed custody, to which the father objected on procedural grounds.
• Loan From Family Trust held to be Marital Debt [PDF]   
  The Court of Appeals reverses a final divorce decree, agreeing with husband that the trial court erred in ruling that funds borrowed from a family trust was husband’s separate debt in determining equitable distribution of the marital estate.
• Imputation of Income to Wife Not Justified When She Left Workforce by Agreement With Husband [PDF]   
  A divorce court did not err in declining to impute income to a mother of four children, aged two to 10 years old, who had stayed home to care for the children by agreement of the parties, the Court of Appeals upholds the monthly spousal support award of $2,500 with an undefined duration.
• Mother's Objection to Permanent Foster Care of Child Rejected [PDF]   
  The Court of Appeals upholds a trial court decision approving a permanent foster care plan for her minor child that refused to grant specific visitation to mother.

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Frequent Questions for Virginia Divorce and Family Law Attorney:

• My husband and I are going through a divorce. In return for my giving up my half interest in our stocks -- currently valued at $100,000 -- he proposes carrying a term life insurance policy until he reaches age 65 with me as the beneficiary under which I will receive $500,000 if he dies before age 65. I think its worth the gamble because he's an idiot and will do something stupid to die young, but is it legal?. I don't want to do this if the court will not enforce it.

• My child support payments are set by a court order. It was effective almost two years ago. However, due to the slowdown in the economy, my hours at work have been cut back and the reduction in my income has made it difficult for me to pay child support and my other expenses. My ex-wife knows about this but insists that I continue to pay the court-ordered amount of  child support or she will have me held in contempt. Is there anything I can do?

• How is chikld support collected if the parent responsible for paying it moves to another state?

• Does the court always favor the mother when granting primary custody of the children?

• I came home from work and found an empty house, plus a note from my wife saying that she wanted a divorce and she had taken the children with here back to Indiana. Can my wife take the children out of state permanently without my consent and without a court order permitting her to do so?
• My husband and I have been having some problems lately. He has been drinking a lot, and has become very aggressive towards me. He's been sleeping on the couch and won't talk to me except to criticize and yell.  He refuses to go with me to marriage counseling, or to talk to our minister. I am a nervous wreck! I went to our family doctor and he prescribed medication to calm my nerves and lower my blood pressure. What can I do? We don't have a lot, and the house is in both our names.
• How does the court determine which parent should have primary custody of a child?
• My husband and I divorced, and I got primary physical custody of our two pre-teen children. Recently, the children complain that when they are staying at their father's he is too strict with them. Since the divorce he has been going to church quite a lot and this has changed his life for the better (he's not drinking anymore), but now he's trying to force his ideas on the children and talking to them badly about me because I do not hold the same beliefs as he does. The kids are at the point where they get upset with having to go see him. I tried talking to him about this but he said he's raising the kids according to what the Bible says, and that I am going to spend eternity in Hell if I don't change. He also said this to the children, and that really has them crying and upset. Is there anything I can do to stop this?
• Can court-ordered child visitation be changed?
• My former wife has primary physical custody of our 5 year old son, and I have very liberal visitation with him. Last week she told me her job is being terminated and she wants to move back to her home town in Colorado and live with her parents until she can find a new job there. Of course, she wants to take our son with her, but that is going to wreck my relationship with him. I can't afford to fly out to Colorado and visit him but maybe twice a year, or have him flown here (he's too young to travel alone anyway). Is there anything I can do to prevent her from taking my son out of state?
• My wife got primary physical custody of our two children when we divorced three years ago. Now that the boys are older, they want to come and live me, but my wife opposes this. Don't the kids have some say-so in where they live?

• What is an "uncontested divorce?"

• If my husband and I agree to get a "no fault" divorce, how does that work?
• I have custody of my children, but their father is not paying me the child support payments the court ordered him to pay. Can I prevent him from seeing the children or having visitation with them until he gets caught up on his support payments?
• My former wife has physical custody of our two kids, and I have visitation rights every other weekend. The children are older now (almost teenagers) and  have asked her if they can spend more time with me. Their mother said to them,"No, because this is what the judge ordered."  I don't think she wants me to have more time with them and she is using that as an excuse. What can I do to get my visitation times increased?

• I have been paying my ex-wife alimony for the past 5 years. I know she has been living with another man for the past three years, but she won't marry him because she doesn't want to lose the alimony payments I'm making. I don't think this is right. Is there anything I can do to stop this?

• What Are Grounds for Divorce?
• What About Alimony?
• Who Gets the Kids?
• Who Gets the House?

Case Results for Virginia Divorce and Family Law Attorney:

• Father Excused From Transporting Child to New York for Visitation
• Former Wife Entitled to Deceased Husband's Life Insurance Benefits as Part of Property Settlement Agreement

Awarded: $150,000.00

Web Resources for Virginia Divorce and Family Law Attorney:

• Changing Spousal Support Orders in Virginia

  Description: Code section 20-109 permits a party to petition the court for a change in a previously entered spousal support order in Virginia, and explains the factors the court must consider

• Department of Social Services Child Support Obligation Calculator

  Description: The Virginia Department of Social Services provides a free child support calculator. This service provides a reliable estimate of what each parent may be required to pay in child support.

• Determining the Amount of Child or Spousal Support in Virginia Divorce Cases

  Description: Code section 20-108.1 empowers the court to determine how, and in what circumstances, it may award either spousal or child support, or both.

• Grounds for Divorce From Bed and Board in Virginia

  Description: Code section 20-95 explains the grounds for divorce a divorce from bed and board. Such a divorce will not allow either party to remarry.

• Grounds for Divorce in Virginia

  Description: Code section 20-91 lists the grounds for obtaining a divorce in Virginia.

• Help for Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Victims in Chesterfield VIrginia

  Description: Help for victims of domestic assaults or sexual abuse is available in Chesterfield County.

• How Divorce Decree Terminates Receipt of Death Benefits

  Description: Code section 20-111.1 explains the circumstances under which death benefits may be retained by a former spouse after divorce.

• How Property in Divorces is Classified and Distributed

  Description: Code section 20-107.3 empowers the court in a divorce case to make determinations of the classification and distribution of property.

• How Virginia Courts May Punish a Spouse for Failure to Comply With Certain Orders

  Description: Code section 20-115 affords the court the option of imposing jail time upon a spouse who fails to abide by a previously entered order pertaining to support and maintenace of a spouse or child.

• Residency Requirements for Divorce in Virginia

  Description: Code section 20-97 prescribes the domicile or residency requirements for obtaining a divorce in Virginia.

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