Helpful Information

VIDEO: Robin explains the key differences between mediation and collaborative divorce. Spoiler alert: Mediation is usually your best option.

VIDEO: Robin walks you through the 3 primary methods of keeping your family home in a divorce situation.

VIDEO: Robin helps you push through the 5 top fears that can stall your divorce progress.

VIDEO: Robin clears up misunderstandings about the difference between your divorce settlement and your divorce

VIDEO: 5 key reasons for gray divorce … and tips for how to prevent it.

VIDEO: Robin helps you pick yourself up and settle a divorce that you didn’t want.

VIDEO: Robin shares 5 professional tips for drafting custody agreements with a difficult ex.

VIDEO: Robin shows you how to choose the best type of mediator for your case.

VIDEO: Robin provides 7 excellent tips to keep things smooth for your kids while you are divorcing.

Estimated Reading Time: 3 min read

Robin Graine has been helping parents guide their children through divorce for over 20 years. She has earned the ...

VIDEO: Robin lays out for you, in clear language, how money and assets are split up in a divorce.

Estimated Reading Time: 3 min read

If you are considering a divorce, you are probably wondering: “How will my assets be divided?”

Most people ...

VIDEO: 5 easy steps to making good decisions.

Estimated Reading Time: 7 min read

As a father, you may be lying awake at night wondering “Is the court going to be prejudiced against me, when it ...

VIDEO: Robin walks you through the 7 key factors to focus on when choosing a mediator.

Estimated Reading Time: 5 min read

Divorce courts are not biased against men in 50/50 custody situations. Instead, they are looking for a particular ...

Estimated Reading Time: 2 min read

Choose a mediator you can trust with years of experience and an abundance of knowledge.

Estimated Reading Time: 1 min read

In this blog I will show you how to make a good decision in 5 easy steps.

TUNE INTO YOUR GUT. What is your ...

VIDEO: Find out with the 7 essential elements to a happy marriage.

VIDEO: Divorce is tough enough. Settlement should be streamlined.

Estimated Reading Time: 2 min read

There are 4 primary reasons why older couples are getting divorced.

Seeking relief from boredom is a big cause ...

VIDEO: Robin gives step by step instructions on how to modify child support after you are divorced.

Here are the step-by-step instructions you need to know to modify your child support post-divorce in Virginia.

VIDEO: Robin walks you through her efficient 4-part divorce process to get an inexpensive and peaceful divorce in Virginia.

VIDEO: Robin lists the criteria that courts look for to meet the requirements of “living separate and apart” for a Virginia divorce.

VIDEO: Robin explains the procedure and methodology of her efficient and fair mediation process.

Estimated Reading Time: 2 min 30 sec

I recently answered a question on Quora (a popular question and answer site):What is the brutal truth about life ...

Estimated Reading Time: 1 min read
When parents get divorced, kids don’t count the days or hours in the custody schedule. Instead, they often worry ...

Estimated Reading Time: 7min 59sec

When making custody determinations, judges and child experts usually prefer a shared parenting arrangement over ...

Estimated Reading Time: 3min 7sec

Your divorce may impact your children in a variety of ways. That impact depends on your children's emotional make-up ...

Estimated Reading Time: 3 min 13 sec

There has been a great deal of research demonstrating that high quality daycare is beneficial to children's emotional ...

Estimated Reading Time: 6min 59sec

No one has it easy as a marriage comes to an end.  But things become even more complicated – and the potential ...

VIDEO: The 3 most important factors if you are considering divorce and need alimony.

VIDEO: In this video, I share my 3-step process to determine Is My Marriage Over?

VIDEO: In this video, I share 7 situations that usually spell the end of your marriage.

Estimated Reading Time: 8 min read
Virginia Code
Virginia statutory law speaks generally of the criteria that a judge must consider when deciding an ...

Estimated Reading Time: 2 min 53 sec

There is no easy way to tell your children about divorce. Fortunately, there are some very good tips to help you ...

Estimated Reading Time: 5 min read

Months of quarantine under the current stay-at-home orders will test the strongest of relationships—some people ...

VIDEO: In this video, I tell you what divorce costs if you go the attorney route versus hiring a mediator. I also provide tips to keep your costs down. ...

VIDEO: In this video, I provide everything you need to know about child-related tax benefits and how they are split up between divorced parents.

Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes 20 seconds
In a Virginia Divorce, Judges Only Divide Marital Assets Acquired Before Separation
In a Virginia divorce, ...

Estimated Reading Time: 3 Minutes 30 seconds
Dividing and distributing assets in a Virginia divorce is a four-step process:

Identify and determine ...

Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes 20 seconds
In a Virginia Divorce, Judges Only Divide Marital Assets Acquired Before Separation
In a Virginia divorce, ...

Estimated Reading Time: 2 min 30 sec 

There is no guarantee of alimony in a Virginia divorce. There are rules of thumb — but no hard and fast ...

Estimated Reading Time: 2 Minutes 20 seconds
Parenting is a one-shot deal. And when it comes to divorce or separation, it is rarely going to be a super ...

Estimated Reading Time: 3 Minutes 40 seconds
Contemplating divorce and unsure how to proceed? It's only natural to feel nervous about finding the right ...

Estimated Reading Time: 3 Minutes 50 seconds

In a Virginia divorce, there must always be grounds for divorce. In a "no-fault" divorce, those grounds ...

Estimated Reading Time: 1 Minute 40 seconds
Mediation is a confidential settlement process in which a trained, neutral settlement expert — the “mediator” ...

Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes 40 seconds
When families break apart in a divorce, many parents do not know where to turn to get help.  Divorce lawyer? ...

Estimated Reading Time: 8 Minutes 50 seconds
Starting Jan 1, 2019, the long-standing tax rules associated with alimony have significantly changed, and ...

Estimated Reading Time: 3 min 30 sec 
When a marriage comes to an end, people are often so deeply hurt that they feel they will never be able to forgive ...

Estimated Reading Time: 8 Minutes 30 seconds
A Marital Settlement Agreement and MSA is a contract between a married couple that sets out the terms of ...

Estimated Reading Time: 13 Minutes 
How Do Virginia Courts & Mediators View Equitable Distribution When a Husband and Wife Commingle Separate (Non-Marital) ...

Estimated Reading Time: 2 min 50 sec 
Divorce is a shock to the system even if getting divorced was your idea. When it finally becomes a reality that ...

Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes 25 seconds
Writing good Divorce Settlement Agreements—particularly when children are involved—blends two divergent, ...

3 min 45 sec read
People get divorced for so many reasons -- feeling alone in the marriage, infidelity, loss of intimacy and companionship, financial ...

Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes 20 seconds

It Happens Fast
When you are negotiating the custody & visitation portion of your Divorce Settlement ...

Estimated Reading Time: 9 Minutes

THE DEFINITION of EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION – NOT 50%/50%

Equitable Distribution is the legal term for how judges, ...

2 min 50 sec read
If you model good communication with your spouse during a divorce, it can be a helpful lesson to your children. It will help them learn ...

2 min 50 sec read
As the 37 million people who were hacked on Ashley Madison in 2015 can attest, extra marital affairs are rampant. A study published ...

5 min 10 sec read
Graine Mediation is pleased to introduce Terri R. Adams, MSW, LCSW, BCD, as our guest blogger this week. Ms. Adams is in private practice ...

1 min 30 sec read
Most people in relationships have felt, at one time or another, a lack of communication. A common gender trope has a woman griping ...

2 min 50 sec read
Day in and day out, I deal with people who are suffering from broken hearts. It is incredibly sad. At the same time, however, I view ...

1 min 40 sec read
You're looking for the signs he will change -- but thinking you can change your partner is a classic pitfall in many marriages. Though ...

1 min 15 sec read
You don't have to go through war to end up with the terrifying and extraordinarily discerning symptoms of PTSD. A divorce -- especially ...

1 min 55 sec read
Is he cheating?  What are the signs? There are five factors that seem to have the greatest influence over whether a spouse will cheat. ...

2 min 50 sec read
Torn between mediation vs litigation? If you are considering divorce, and children are involved, mediation is usually the best dispute ...

Every divorcing parent has heard the same thing: You have to learn to get along with your ex… for the sake of the kids. Of course, that’s easy for ...

By Guest Blogger, Angelique Ayala

Everyone plans to retire. Most would like to retire sooner rather than later but, unfortunately, that doesn’t always ...

Having a preschool aged child is a lot of work. Getting divorced when you have a preschooler presents even more challenges. This article will help parents ...

For many individuals, getting divorced forces them to dive deep into the world of personal finance . . . sometimes kicking and screaming. It is a necessary ...

When you are working on your child custody plans, it is important to know that virtually all experts agree that children do best when:

(a) their parents ...

When valuing a small or family-owned business in a Virginia divorce, parties need to be aware of the concept of “goodwill.” Goodwill is divided into ...

Settling a divorce case in Virginia, where one of the parties owns a business, can be extremely challenging. Businesses are considered “property” ...

6 Tips for Financial Success After Divorce
Experienced Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® (CDFA) Provides Advice
Divorce is difficult for ...

For purposes of calculating Child Support in a Virginia divorce, gross income is what is used (not net, not AGI, nor anything else). The term “gross ...

The Internal Revenue Code has changed as of December 22, 2017. For up-to-date information about child related tax benefits, see this video. 

  ...

As part of your tax planning, you need to consider an expected change in your filing status for this year or next. The frequently overlooked strategy ...

When a couple with children divorces, they need to consider how college expenses will now be planned. Will their original thinking about paying for college ...

In Virginia, property that is owned pre-marriage is known as “separate property”. Separate property may consist of:

tangible assets (e.g. automobiles, ...

For many years, the courts and bar have been trying to figure out the best way to equitably (i.e. “fairly”) divide and distribute the equity value ...

It is so easy to continue being angry or in a constant state of irritation with your ex-spouse . . . but, if you have a Shared Physical Custody Arrangement, ...

Navigating any divorce can very quickly become complicated and tricky.  For parents with an autistic child, this added complication can become particularly ...

Ex-spouses are often entitled to receive social security in the amount of 50% of the value of their living ex-spouse’s benefits.

You can begin receiving ...

Parents often are confused about what their child support obligation is supposed to cover.   Like many things that involve the legal system, there is ...

Spending uninterrupted time with your child or children after a divorce can be the only thing that feels right in the aftermath of  a divorce.  Though ...