Virginia Family Law Blog

Many spouses-to-be in Virginia may be planning eagerly for their weddings and thinking about venues, dresses and honeymoons. However, experts would also advise them to think about prenuptial agreements. Prenups have a bad name for many people who associate them with planning for divorce before the marriage even begins. Many people also associate prenuptial agreements with greed and a selfish approach that is incompatible with marriage. However, these views of prenuptial agreements derived from media coverage of celebrity divorces and dramatic fiction often diverge from the reality.

In fact, prenuptial agreements aren't only for extremely wealthy people, celebrities or those with large family fortunes. Instead, people in all income brackets could benefit from a prenup, especially if they have major concerns about debt or real estate. Prenups aren't only about distribution of property upon divorce; they're actually a way to begin estate planning early, especially when it comes to the distribution of property to children in case of one spouse's death. This kind of prenup can be particularly important for blended families in which both partners are entering the marriage with children.

For people of all ages, divorce can be one of life's most stressful events, and this can lead to health problems. Older adults, who are divorcing at twice the rate they did in 1990, should be particularly mindful since these health problems can worsen conditions associated with age such as high blood pressure.

Divorcing adults may also use poor coping mechanisms, such as alcohol abuse, overeating or overspending, to deal with depression and anxiety. Insomnia can cause exercise to fall by the wayside. Men who depended on their wives to maintain their social relationships might become more isolated. Women who stayed home with children or earned less money and put less away for retirement might struggle to afford basic necessities after divorce.

Each school year brings its own set of challenges to Virginia children and their parents. However, kids with divorced parents sometimes face extra stresses. In order to ensure the new school year goes as smoothly as possible, parents may want to create a plan for their child's success.

For example, divorced parents should consider what they would like their kids to learn academically and socially this year. Parents could consult with each other and their children to develop mutually agreed upon goals. This could help prevent conflicts and confusion later on. Divorced parents may also need to discuss how extra expenses will be handled throughout the school year. While a divorce settlement typically addresses large child support expenses, smaller expenses like homecoming costs and missing work to care for a sick child need to be addressed. Some parents agree to handle these costs 50/50 while others choose to pay a percentage based on their income. Meanwhile, kids can also contribute through their allowance or income from jobs.

Getting divorced in Virginia can have a very negative impact on retirement plans. When spouses get divorced, they will have to divide all of their marital assets, including the money that they have saved in their retirement accounts. However, there are several ways that people can recover after their divorces so that they can still retire comfortably.

Part of the challenge of rebuilding retirement savings after divorcing is the limits on the accounts. People may lose a couple of hundred thousand dollars from their retirement account balances in divorces but be limited to maximum annual compensation limits. The most that people under age 50 can contribute to their 401(k) accounts each year is $18,500. If they are older than 50, they can contribute $24,500. People are also limited to making annual contributions of $5,500 to their IRAs or Roth IRAs. If they have pensions, they cannot contribute additional amounts each year.