Family Law Experience

Prioritize what's important and fight like a lion.

Suraj Vyas was thrust into family law early on in his legal career. Since then he has assisted with pre- and post-marital agreements, division of property during divorce, spousal support, child custody, and child visitation issues. Family law may be one of the most emotional areas of the law. Suraj fights aggressively while keeping a calm mind and thinking rationally about long-term effects of decisions made during hearings, negotiations, and prior agreements. In many cases, it's very difficult, but still important, to consider what repercussions could result from any rash decisions. Suraj is there to guide you from any potential pitfalls you may encounter.

PreNUPTIAL Agreements, ANTENUPTIAL AGREEMENTS, and premarital contracts

Every couple should have a prenup. Our society places a negative stigma around a prenuptial agreement and says couples with such contracts between them aren’t built to last. However, a prenuptial agreement can do more than settle how property is to be divided during a divorce. A prenuptial contract can be used to settle issues or questions that make come up during the marriage or even to create a roadmap for how the couple wants to approach any situation life may throw at them. For example, Mr. Vyas has drafted “friendly” prenup clauses involving doing dishes and time spent watching television. Not only can a prenup be a fun, bonding experience for couples, but it can create opportunities to talk about things couples may not have thought about. What school will their future children attend? Where will they live? Relationships are about communication and compromise. Why not get ahead of that and avoid the fights? Settle it all ahead of time with a prenup.

ANNULMENTs

Although Mr. Vyas can assist in the process of getting married and making sure everything goes smoothly from marriage license to a legal ceremony, usually couples tend to come in after the marriage has already taken place. Mr. Vyas is able to examine and see whether you may have grounds to get an annulment and terminate a marriage because it was void or voidable from its inception. A divorce terminates the marriage relationship, but an annulment establishes that a marriage relationship never even existed between the two people. It’s important to note that this doesn’t apply to children of an annulled marriage as they are still considered marital children.

divorce

Sometimes it can get messy. You’ve decided you really need to end the marriage and divorce is the best option. The legal dissolution of two spouses sounds sterile, filled with paperwork, and takes some spirit to get through. In actuality, divorce is a physically, mentally, and emotional draining event in a person’s life. However, Mr. Vyas is here to assist and support you through the process. Whether you need a limited divorce (which doesn’t permit remarraige or the resolution of all property claims) or you need an absolute divorce, Mr. Vyas can help guide you through it. Divorces can be due to a spouse deserting the other. They can be amicable. They can be riddled with affairs. They can be heartbreaking and filled with cruel, vicious conduct. Whatever the reason, Mr. Vyas is confident he can represent you competently and try to secure the best possible outcome.

postnuptial agreements

Sometimes couples decide they want to take care of things like alimony, child support, property, or personal rights after the marriage. Although, these agreements do not bar actions for limited or absolute divorces, Mr. Vyas is able to draft them to try and have the minimal amount of contention and ambiguity. This leads to a smoother divorce process and the court may even decide to merge the agreement into the divorce judgment. Mr. Vyas also uses arbitration at times as a means to resolve subsequent disputes over issues, like a change in alimony payments.

division of property

Though there are three major approaches states use to divide up property upon divorce, Maryland and DC are bothequitable distribution jurisdictions. What this means is that courts in Maryland and DC will not always distribute marital property equally. As a skilled attorney with experience in property division, Mr. Vyas is able to try and ensure that precious heirlooms, valuable property, and monetary awards are decided in your favor. Mr. Vyas is able to deal with various types of property including real property, partnership interests, professional practices, lottery winnings, pensions, life insurance policies, irrevocable trusts, stocks, stock options, and personal injury awards and settlements. Depending on the equitable distribution, Mr. Vyas may be able to give helpful tax advice regarding payments.

alimony

Whether it’s alimony pendente lite, permanent or indefinite alimony, or rehabilitative alimony, Mr. Vyas is well aware of the requirements for each kind and how to set yourself up for the best possible outcome based on your circumstances. Mr. Vyas weighs almost a dozen factors in implementing his plan for your alimony arguments as well as possibly advising you on any tax consequences.

immigration-related divorces

Mr. Vyas has experience in the realm of immigration law and uses this knowledge to navigate divorces accordingly. Divorcing can lead to many indirect consequences related to immigration. A spouse could be deported. A spouse may have to continue paying for the other spouse even after divorce due to an I-864 Affidavit of Support signed before the divorce. Make sure to get in touch with Mr. Vyas about how you or your spouse may be affect by a divorce proceeding.

child support

Computing child support should be simple plugging and chugging into a formula, but there are many factors involving parental obligations that come into play. Mr. Vyas is able to weigh any obligations with the income earned and put you in a position to best reach a satisfactory outcome all while advising of possible tax consequences of support as well as repercussions for nonpayment.

child custody

Mr. Vyas understands that courts will do what is in the best interest of the child. Mr. Vyas works tirelessly to show why you are in the best interest of your children. However, he understands that there are many couples who want joint custody, or at least visitation, in many amicable divorces. Mr. Vyas is equipped to handle those scenarios as well.

domestic violence

Mr. Vyas is capable of arguing with regards to civil protection orders and peace orders.

Visit our Family Law FAQ for a few answers to basic questions you may have before contacting our firm for more information.