My husband and I have been married less than two years. We are both originally from Russia and here on work visas. We were together for several years before we came to U.S., but we married here in the states in an Orthodox Christian ceremony. We mutually agree to divorce and have no kids. He wants to return to Russia and I want to stay here as long as I maintain my work visa. Is our marriage legal here in the U.S. since we weren’t citizens and if we aren’t fighting the divorce can we get an uncontested divorce here in Los Angeles? My English-speaking skills are not good enough to handle the divorce on my own. How do I find a Russian-speaking lawyer who can help both my husband and me?

I pay child support to my children’s father because he has primary custody of them due to me traveling frequently for work. I am always on time with payments and owe no back support. The problem is that he is constantly asking me for additional money for various things, like their school trips, clothes, fees for sports. He says what I pay in child support doesn’t cover these extra things, it only covers the basics like housing, food, and health insurance. I thought child support was supposed to take care of all of their expenses when they are with him. He says if I don’t contribute to the extra expenses he’ll just seek a higher child support payment. What is child support actually supposed to cover and can he get more support if he takes me back to court?

My wife and I are separating and we have no children together. I thought we were in agreement on everything and I filed for an uncontested divorce on my own behalf. She is now saying that she may need some financial support from me until she gets back on her feet and gets her own place. I don’t earn much more than her so I don’t know how I could be made to pay alimony. What happens if this uncontested divorce becomes contested and if it does, do I need to file a different type of divorce action? Should I get a lawyer? I am Russian and live in Miami, Florida.

My spouse got angry and shook our 14 month old daughter to punish her. She lost control and injured our daughter badly. She’s up now on charges of child abuse and the state has asked me to be a witness to her violent temper. I want to divorce my wife as soon as possible and get my daughter away from any contact with her but I’m told there is a waiting period for divorce. My wife says she won’t agree to the divorce and will never agree to me having sole custody of our daughter. She believes she can beat the criminal charges by saying it was an accident. Can I file for divorce at the Atlanta courthouse based on child abuse and can my wife actually fight that and make it take longer?

I am a dual citizen of Russia and the U.S. and I own significant real estate in both places. My wife’s name is on my U.S. properties although not on my Russian properties. I did acquire the bulk of the Russia real estate after my wife and I married. If I get a divorce in the states will a judge have any authority to give my wife any interest in the properties in Russia, or force me to sell any of them to pay her a lump sum of money? I am looking to work with an international lawyer who is familiar with family law in both the United States and Russia.

I’ve been married 8 years and during that time I’ve had 3 restraining orders against my husband. He has physically, once putting me in the hospital. I finally got free of him this last time while he was in jail for assaulting me. I’m ready to pursue divorce but we have a 15 year old son who says he wants to live with his father. They are very close, to the point that my son imitates his father’s behavior and treats me very badly. I do not want my son to grow up to be abusive and I don’t want his father to have custody. What are the chances that a judge would give this violent many shared or full custody of my son? Will what my son says he wants have any bearing on the judge’s decision?

New Orleans Child Welfare Division served me with notice that they want to cut off my parental rights to my son and adopt him out to his foster family. He went into foster care when I got jailtime for a felony assault charge. I’m out now and I want to reestablish my relationship with him. Child welfare says I’ve been away from him too long and he’s attached to the foster family. I want to object to this adoption and get back into my son’s life. What rights do I have in this adoption process and do I need a lawyer to represent me? I only have a certain amount of time to respond to this paperwork so I need to find a lawyer quickly.

My spouse and I have had two foster sons for almost 2 years now. They both have ADHD and some other emotional problems. They are on medication and also get regular counseling. Department of Social Services is pushing us to adopt and we want to but we are afraid of not being able to afford their medical costs after the adoption is finalized. The Social Worker assigned to our case from Baltimore DSS has said we may qualify for an ‘adoption subsidy,’ but she says she can’t give us legal advice and we should talk over the financial ramifications with a lawyer. Are there lawyers who specialize in this kind of work and how do we find a reputable one?

I want to get an uncontested divorce and I live in Michigan. My wife moved out of the house over a year ago and we aren’t arguing about anything. We have no kids together, but I do have a son from my first marriage and my current wife does want to still see him after our divorce. Neither my wife nor I want to go to court for anything. Is there a way we can do some sort of mediation for the visitation issues regarding my son and can we do the whole divorce process online? My friend told me that was a possibility if there are no disagreements. Do we need a lawyer to do this?

My daughter’s mother has custody of her and has remarried. I believe her new husband may be abusing my daughter. She is disabled and can’t speak for herself, but her behavior is totally different when she comes to my house and ever since her mother remarried and the new husband moved in. My daughter seems scared when I try to change her clothes or bathe her, and this is something I’ve done regularly her entire life. She’s never been scared before. She also gets upset when it’s time to go back to her mother’s house. How do I find a lawyer who can figure out whether there is any abuse at her mother’s house and if there is, how do I prove this if my daughter can’t tell anyone what is happening to her? I want a lawyer who speaks Russian as that is my first language and it is easier for me to communicate in Russian.

My ex’s father is alienating my son from me. He says terrible things about me and my current husband to my son and does anything he can to turn him against me. My son will now not listen to anything I have to say or abide by my rules when he is with me. My ex and I currently share custody, but I think I need to obtain full custody and get my son away from his father’s negative influence. My son will object to this I am sure, but he’s only 12 and I don’t think he should have any say in the matter. Is parental alienation enough to warrant changing custody and how do I prove the negative things my husband is doing to my son?

I need to know what a judge will consider when they set a child support amount in my case. I’m self-employed and don’t get a W-2 to prove my income. I make a decent income from my business but I also have a lot of expenses, so I don’t actually take home the total amount I receive from my customers every month. How will my income be determined for a child support calculation? What documents will I have to show the court to prove my monthly business expenses, and will the fact that I have another child that I am paying support for be taken into account?

My son lives with his father and is a senior in high school. He was held back a year in middle school due to behavioral problems and some learning disabilities, so he’s about to be 18 but just starting his senior year. I thought that my child support obligation stopped when he turned 18, but his father is saying he can force me to pay throughout the entire senior year and maybe even longer if a court determines that my son is fully intellectually disabled. How long does my child support obligation last, and what is needed to prove that a child is intellectually disabled?

I lost my job when COVID hit and I’ve been looking for work ever since. I filed with the child support office in Philly to reduce or stop my payments but I haven’t heard back from anyone since I submitted the initial application. My kids’ mother says she is going to ask for contempt against me and that I could be sent to jail for 6 months and have all my bank accounts seized, although there is not much money left for them to take. Can I be sent to prison if I legitimately lost my job and tried right away to get the child support amount lowered? And why would they send me to jail when I’m looking for work? If I go to jail my ex gets no payments from me.

My ex has sole custody of our 2 kids but I get every other weekend with them. We live in Memphis but she says she is moving to Nashville for work and taking them with her. That’s over 3 hours away and if I go get them for my weekends and bring the back here, I’ll be on the road over 6 hours just to turn around and do it again two days later when I take them back. I want to object to her move. She is an accountant and can find a job anyway, she doesn’t need to move our kids 3 hours away just for work. Can she move without getting permission from a judge first if I tell her I don’t agree to the kids moving with her?

English is my second language, I am Russian. My wife is American and had a prenup drafted before we married. She told me it was to protect her family business from my interest in case we divorced. The document is in English and I could not read all of it, so her lawyer at the time read it to me. I don’t think he read it to me truthfully or accurately and I think I’ve given up more than I intended to. How do I prove this in court and get the agreement changed or thrown out? My wife wants to divorce me and she is saying I signed to get nothing from her, even though I’ve put all my income into the marriage and our home.

My fiancé and I are dual citizens of Russia and the U.S. We are going to be getting married in Russia but then moving for at least some time to Charlotte, VA for my first work assignment. I have property in Russia that I inherited from my grandparents and I want my fiancé to sign a prenup agreeing that she won’t try to take that property if our marriage is not successful. Because we are marrying in Russia, do I need a Russian lawyer to draft this type of agreement, or should a U.S. lawyer do it since we’ll be living there? If I do need a Russian or international lawyer, how do I find one with experience in prenuptial agreement drafting?

I’m battling for equal custody of my 10 year old daughter and it seems that at every court hearing the judge has a preference for giving custody to her mother. I thought I had the same rights to custody as the mother but that doesn’t seem to be the case. The judge even asked me at the first temporary hearing how I thought I’d be able to handle my daughter’s needs as she gets older. I am just as good of a parent as the mother, probably better. Do I have equal rights as the father and can I get shared custody? Is there some preference that courts have in Virginia for awarding custody of children to the mother, especially if the child is a girl? What do I have to show to a judge to prove that I can parent my daughter as well as her mother can?

My wife and I signed a prenup before marrying seven years ago. We are now in the process of divorcing and our financial circumstances are very different than when we got married. At that time, both of us had lower incomes and we owned no property in our own name. After our marriage, my wife started an online teaching business and it has done very well. It’s incorporated in her name only. In the prenup we both waived any rights to any property the other acquired in their own name. That is no longer fair because I supported her the entire time she was starting the business and paid all the bills until the business began earning her money. Can I ask the judge to modify the prenup as part of our divorce and allow me my fair share of the value of her business? Is this something I have to ask for in the divorce petition?