Your Partner in Divorce & Estate Planning®
Family Law & Estate Planning Made Simple
Who We Are
We Protect Your Family, Your Finances, & Your Future.®
When life gets messy, the last thing you need is more confusion. We take complicated family and financial situations, make sense of them, and give you a simple, clear plan to protect what matters most.
Families across Virginia, Texas, South Carolina, and Florida come to Melone Hatley, P.C. looking for a divorce lawyer who can also speak to what happens next for their children. Whether your case centers on the divorce itself or on the custody and support questions that follow it, our team includes dedicated family law attorneys and Client Concerieges to help guide through your divorce and handle what comes after it.
Practice Areas
Client-Focused Family Law & Estate Planning
Whether you are navigating a divorce, child custody, support, or complex financial concerns in equitable distribution, these cases often involve life-changing decisions that will affect your family, finances, and future.
Clear Guidance. Every Step of the Way.
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Today, 25% of households in the United States have a member with special needs. An estimated eight percent of children in the United States under the age of 15 have some type of disability or special need. Caring for a child with special needs often requires thoughtful planning, specialized care, and often, extraordinary expenses. In fact, Autism Speaks estimates the cost of caring for a person on the autism spectrum through the course of his or her lifetime to be $2.3 million. Determining what is best for a child during a divorce can be a complex issue. Parents of children...
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When your marriage falls apart, children can find themselves caught in the middle. Custody disputes and visitation arrangements can be especially challenging for kids who may already be feeling unsettled. Understanding the details of child visitation laws in Virginia is key to making informed decisions. In this blog, we'll explore custody and visitation, focusing on what truly serves the best interests of the child. We’ll also touch on when it might be beneficial to consult with a Virginia custody and visitation lawyer. Your child’s well-being is your top priority, and knowing the legal landscape can help you make the best...
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While you always have the right to represent yourself in a divorce, you may be unknowingly giving up important rights. In filing for a divorce, the parties need to meet certain requirements for the case to proceed; mistakes can result in a dismissal, meaning wasted time and money. One of the key areas that many people fail to understand is the residency requirements for filing a divorce in Virginia. A Virginia divorce attorney will make sure that your rights are protected and all filings and deadlines are met. What are the residency requirements? To start the divorce process in Virginia,...
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A special needs trust, also referred to as a supplemental needs trust, provides for a person with a mental or physical disability and allows the beneficiary to receive gifts, lawsuit settlements, or other funds and yet not lose his or her eligibility for certain government programs, including, Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and other state benefits. Under current Federal law, any inheritance of more than $2,000 disqualifies individuals with disabilities from most federal needs based assistance and some state public assistance programs may also be affected. Creating a special needs trust may be essential to protect a disabled individual’s financial...
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There are two primary reasons for having an estate plan: To make sure that your family and loved ones are taken care of to the best extent possible following your death, and To provide clear instructions on what should happen to your estate following your death Without a will or trust, the Virginia courts will apply state intestacy law to distribute your assets, regardless of what you wanted or promised. The courts not only decide what happens to your assets, they may also decide what happens to your children. Your will or trust and other estate documents are the most...
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As the name implies, an irrevocable trust is a trust that cannot be revoked, modified, amended, or terminated by its creator (the grantor) with very limited and specific exceptions. Once the grantor has transferred an asset into the trust, it removes his/her right of ownership and that asset will no longer be considered the property of the grantor. This is the opposite of a revocable trust which allows the grantor to modify or even terminate the trust at any time for any reason. Also, unlike a revocable trust, it is not recommended that the grantor designate himself as the trustee....
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After a divorce or the dissolution of a relationship, there are decisions to make regarding custody and visitation of minor children. Who will be the primary caregiver of the child? Will we share both legal and physical custody? What will the visitation rights be? The courts will have their own questions as well when making decisions regarding child custody and visitation. Take a look these FAQs and their answers to better understand the process. What custody/visitation rights do parents in Virginia have before any court orders have been entered? In the absence of a court order, both parents have equal...
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In the Commonwealth of Virginia, only interested parties can contest a will. An interested party is an individual that has standing to challenge the estate and is usually someone who is entitled to receive property under the will. It could also be someone who has a legal right to part of the estate, such as a spouse or someone who would be entitled to property under the laws of intestacy if the will were invalidated. Simply being related to the decedent does not necessarily make you an interested party. Contesting a will is usually done to invalidate a portion or...
Free Resources
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Updating Your Estate Plan After Divorce: A 9-Step Guide
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10 Essential Steps to Take Before Filing for Divorce
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10 Dumbest Mistakes in Divorce Cases
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