5970 Fairview Road, Suite 230 | Charlotte, NC 28210
phone 704-750-2017 | fax 704-980-7651
The Law Firm of
RELATIONSHIPS ARE HARD
Our Services
Our legal services are tailored to your unique matter, as there is no simple formula to apply to every family situation. The first step is to contact our office to set up a consultation. Our initial meeting together will be an important opportunity for us to triage your legal matter. It’s also a chance to learn about your legal rights and to develop a broad set of goals for moving forward.
The following topics are areas our firm can help you more fully understand and apply to your domestic matter if right for you:
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Understanding the legal import of your date-of-separation
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Filing for divorce and the one-year rule
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Defining the marital estate (i.e., what property belongs to the marriage and what does not)
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Ways to divide the marital estate
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Retirement benefits and present-value assessments
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Determining spousal support
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Post-separation support versus alimony
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Child custody and support
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Legal versus physical custody rights
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Paying for a former spouse’s healthcare
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Mediation, arbitration, and litigation differences
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Assessing possible civil claims against a spouse’s paramour
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Separation agreements and consent orders
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Prenuptial agreements and North Carolina’s Uniform Premarital Agreement Act
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Same-sex marriage and the rights of gay and lesbian couples.
These areas are merely an overview of some of the topics central to marriage, divorce, and separation. In addition to these area, our firm can assist you in legal matters ancillary to family law:
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Drafting wills and trust documents
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Assessing your estate as you make end-of-life preparations
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Forming business entities and limiting liability exposure
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Real estate transfers, negotiations, and deed preparation.
Relationships often don’t last forever. Maybe it’s dawning on you that things just aren’t going to work out with your partner or spouse. Perhaps you’re honestly assessing the marriage you’re about to enter into and need a strategy for moving forward. Our practice is, simply put, centered on relationships.
We understand how important relationships are to clients, especially those going through the challenges of a divorce. When a person begins the taxing journey of splitting up, one needs a partner to help navigate the inevitable hurdles that crop up along the way. Oftentimes, even the shock of an impending separation demands an objective eye to develop a game-plan for sorting things out. The emotion can be too overwhelming to make these lasting decisions without help. Both David's legal training and personality provide clients with the tools they need to move forward towards a promising new stage in life. One thing we know for sure: ending relationships that aren’t working is the best and healthiest thing anyone can do for themselves. We will help you do that.
Our goal in working with clients is twofold: (1) implement a thoughtful and affordable legal strategy tailored to your unique situation and (2) provide a kind and honest partnership to aid in bringing closure to your domestic issues. We have a variety of tools to help us reach this goal, and we will always be honest with clients about the most sensible, cost-effective path to take. Sometimes a simple separation agreement will be all you need. At other times, however, using the court system may be the only logical solution to resolving your domestic matter. There are any number of other legal options that may work for your situation. We can promise our clients, though, that keeping attorney fees as low as possible will be at the center of our decision-making.
In the end, picking the right attorney can mean all the difference as you begin the process of moving forward, and we are happy to be that resource for you.
One thing we know for sure: ending relationships that aren’t working is the best and healthiest thing anyone can do for themselves. We will help you do that.
I can't stress to you enough the importance of considering a premarital agreement before you jump into a marriage. In fact, I would go as far as to say that everyone should at least have a consultation with a family law attorney before taking the plunge into marital life. I can't count the number of times people sit in my office when going through a divorce and say that it's simply not fair that “he gets all of the retirement that I earned,” or that “she's entitled to alimony when I worked the entire marriage.” I say the same thing every time: “No one held a gun to your head to get married to him.” Sadly, you were just not informed about the ramifications of divorce on the front end of your marriage.
There's no question that people get married at a time when they see the other person with a different set of eyes than they see them when they're divorcing. At some point, they were happy to share their lives with their spouse, to pay for one of them to stay at home and raise the kids while the other worked, or to squirrel away retirement so they could both enjoy it one day. That all changes when the relationship reaches its end.
I get it: It's not very sexy to meet with a divorce lawyer before you're even married so that you can discuss the importance of a prenuptial agreement! But it's entirely worth the cost. I usually do them on a flat fee basis, which ranges anywhere from $1,800 to $3,500 depending on the complexity of the matter. I also like to have a consultation ($300 + a free 15 minute phone call to get you started) with folks before jumping into a project like that to make sure everyone's clear on what an agreement should include.
Every premarital agreement is different, and I tailor each one of them to the specific needs of each client. Some folks, for example, want to eliminate alimony altogether. Some folks want to make sure their retirement is fully protected as their own separate property. Sometimes one party may own a house before the marriage starts, and each one of them wants to make sure the equity in the house is carved out as the separate property of the owner. There are any number of ways to address your unique situation, and I’ll make sure we draft a document that works for you.
Just promise you'll call me before the week of your wedding!