Michael David Thomas’s Answers

Short answer is NO with a few exceptions. The Court will use your GROSS income. If you are a sole proprietor or S - corp then you face the tough fight to argue that your Gross Revenue is not Gross Income, some Court are more open to this argument than others. I have had success in using tax return schedules to show the flow through income that the individual claimed as his personal income. The Courts WILL NOT use that bottom line number (because the Court is not stupid) but I have had Court...

If you have not paid the maintenance fees then they can take it. Typically in the fine print of you agreement you will see that you agree to may these as a condition of your agreement just like they are part of the mortgage. So I think you lose in this fight.

I will make this simple. if you retire today, 7 years of marriage divided by 21 years of military service equals 1/3.... now divide that by 2 so now you are at 1/6. If you retire today she gets 1/6 of your retirement. Obviously, the longer you stay in, those numbers will change, but the logic remains. Here is where you really need to focus. If you are already in the midst of litigation, you maybe stuck with the this formula but if you are negotiating a separation you might have a few...

It is possible. Most likely the Court closed your case without a discharge. Depending on how long ago this happened, you may still be able to file the motion to reopen; however, you need an attorney to help you with this. This will have to be argued in Federal Court. I have offices in Hampton and Virginia Beach. Please consider setting up an appointment to atleast discuss your case.

Do not represent yourself. If you are not happy with your court appointed counsel then hire your own counsel but do not represent yourself, especially if you want to attempt discovery. To properly conduct discovery certain motions and orders are needed and if you even attempt to do those on your own, the Commonwealth Attorney will be at such an advantage that I doubt anything you should receive will be of assistance to you. I would strongly urge you to make appoints with other attorney....

You need to file for child support yourself. His comment of Joint custody is meaningless. It sounds like the children live with you, so you have physical custody and that is all that matter. If HE not his mother has the children for 90 overnights within a 12 month period then he does get a credit in the form of the "shared" custody guidelines as opposed to the "sole" custody guidelines. So if he is refusing to pay anything go file for child support today. Do not go to DCSE, go to...

CAN you? Sure, if your employer allows for it. The real question is SHOULD you. So what you have to understand that any funds you take from your 401k will counted against your marital share when it comes to dividing that asset. For example, let's say your have a 100K 401k, and all this was accrued during the course of that marriage so it is entirely a marital asset. All things being equally, your ex will be getting 50K. If you take 5K out to hire an attorney, this leaves you with 45K....

Potentially yes, but she may contact the Court and request a continuance or she may have family that will hire an attorney for her here. So, don't bet on an easy victory. I will say that when one parent relocates, the non-relocating parent is in a much stronger position when it comes to custody. The case law on this issue is strongly in the favor of the parent that remains. You really should sit down with a local attorney and discuss the best strategy for you case. Our firm has offices...

That will be fine as long as the father agrees. I put clauses like that in my separation agreements all the time. However, if the father does not agree that you will not be able to claim the child

I practice in Hampton so we are very familiar with military benefits. As the other responders indicated, you are entitled to 50% of the marital share of his retirement and you will hear all the jargon of 10 years and 20 years that, but hear is the bottom line. Take 50% of (number of years you were married and together) divided by (the total number of years he serves in the military).. You may also be entitled to spousal support too and you assets and debts need to be looked into. I...