Potomac Family Lawyers

Family law is a broad category that deals with domestic relations and family matters. In many cases, family law issues are very emotional, stressful and complex so require the guidance of experienced legal counsel. Shah & Kishore handles all family law matters in Potomac including but not limited to divorce, alimony, distribution of marital property, business division, division of assets and spousal support.

From our Rockville office, we consult with and represent individuals in divorce & family law matters in Potomac and throughout all of Montgomery County. Working with the right family lawyer is crucial and the attorneys at Shah & Kishore have the knowledge, experience and client-focused approach to help you. Contact our law office today at (301) 315-0001 to schedule an initial consultation with a Potomac family lawyer.

Types of Family Law Cases

Our Maryland family law attorneys at Shah & Kishore are well aware of the many challenges that family law cases can present for most people, and we work closely with all of our clients so they can know that they have somebody on their side who is committed to helping them achieve the most desirable outcomes to their cases.

Our firm regularly helps people with such family law concerns as:

• Child Custody — Custody of a child is a very common family law case in Maryland. State law presumes that both natural parents are the natural custodians of their children, so the law will not favor a mother or a father. Any parent is allowed to petition a circuit court in Maryland for custody of a child, but disagreements about custody can lead to a court granting custody solely to one parent or ordering custody to be shared between parents. Maryland always places emphasis on the best interests of a child in child custody and visitation matters. While grandparents and other parties may be able to seek custody in some cases, the presumption favoring natural parents often means that other parties need some kind of compelling factor to be awarded custody. A custody or visitation arrangement is never permanent, so parents can always petition courts to modify these orders.

• Property Division — Equitable distribution is a method of dividing property. Any property possessed by a spouse during a marriage is presumed to be marital property unless it is shown that the property was actually separate property. Courts do not divide property equally when division will be unjust, and marital property usually includes all earnings during a marriage and everything else that was acquired with the earnings as well as all of the debts incurred during a marriage. Non-marital property may include the proceeds of a pension that were vested before marriage, gifts, and inheritances given to just one spouse. Businesses owned by a single spouse before marriage will remain separate property during a marriage, although a portion of a business can be considered marital property when the business increased in value during the marriage or both spouses worked at it.

• Alimony — The idea of alimony is for a recipient spouse to become self-supporting, so the award will usually be rehabilitative, meaning it only lasts for a set period of time. It is important for people to understand that alimony can only be awarded before a divorce is finalized, as people cannot come back later and seek alimony following the conclusion of a divorce case. As the Court of Appeals of Maryland wrote in Altman v. Altman, 282 Md. 483, 386 A.2d 766 (Md. 1978), the “long-standing rule in Maryland has been that the right to claim alimony is extinguished at the time of the severance of the marital relationship.” Either a husband or wife could be ordered to pay alimony.

• Spousal Support — Maryland offers three kinds of spousal support, which is basically another term for alimony. Pendente lite support is also known as temporary alimony and is a form of temporary relief that will end when a judge issues a new support order and/or finalizes a divorce. Rehabilitative support will last for a specific period of time. Indefinite alimony will be paid in perpetuity.
• Mediation — Mediation is one form of alternative dispute resolution and will usually be voluntary but can also be ordered by the court. People also cannot be forced to enter agreements, meaning that mediation may result in no agreement and a case will head back to court. The upsides to mediation are that it is confidential, meaning nothing you say during mediation can be used against you in court, and you will be able to decide what you want to be part of your agreement.
• Parenting Plan Modifications — When a parent wants to modify a court order regarding custody or visitation, they need to successfully prove that there has been a material change in circumstances. When this happens, you should consult with a Potomac parenting plan modification attorney.
• Asset Division — The Marital Property Act in Maryland is going to be relied on in many property division disputes, and some of the assets in these types of cases could include investment portfolios, cash balances, retirement accounts, stocks, bonds, security deposits, insurance policies, art, collectibles, and memorabilia.
• Business Division in a Divorce or Military Divorce — Few concerns can be much bigger for people going through a divorce as businesses that people owned during their marriages. In many cases, business owners will have several concerns about their real property tied to the business, equipment, products, vehicles, office furniture, and other kinds of physical assets that a company owns and uses, stocks and shares in a company itself, and financial assets and records like income, profit, or tax returns. A business valuation expert will be incredibly important in these cases because they will know how to properly estimate the current value of a business.

The Maryland statutes break the family law section into 16 titles:

• Title 1. Definitions; General Provisions
• Title 2. Marriage
• Title 3. Breach of Promise to Marry and Alienation of Affections
• Title 4. Spouses
• Title 5. Children
• Title 6. Single Parents [Repealed]
• Title 7. Divorce
• Title 8. Deeds, Agreements, and Settlements Between Spouses; Property Disposition in Divorce and Annulment
• Title 9. Child Custody and Visitation
• Title 9.5. Maryland Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act
• Title 10. Support in General
• Title 11. Alimony
• Title 12. Child Support
• Title 13. Support of Parents and Adult Children
• Title 14. Adult Protective Services
• Title 15. Governor’s Council on Adolescent Pregnancy [Transferred]

Contact Our Potomac Family Law Attorney

If you believe that you are about to be dealing with a family law issue or you are already in the midst of a dispute, it is going to be very important for you to ensure that you retain legal counsel so you are able to achieve the most favorable possible outcome to your case that will benefit you for years to come. The dedicated family law team at Shah & Kishore will take the time to sit down with you and really get a firm grasp on the many complexities of your case so we can determine the best path forward for you and then work to help you achieve all of your goals.

Our Maryland family law firm is based in Rockville but serves clients in communities throughout the greater Potomac area, including Bethesda, Gaithersburg, Germantown, Silver Spring, Montgomery Village, Burtonsville, and Olney. You can call (301) 315-0001 or contact our Maryland family law firm to receive a free consultation with our Potomac family law attorneys.