Marital Property Archives | Charleston SC Divorce Lawyers

Divorce Lawyer in Charleston SC | Transmutation and Special Equity

July 8, 2019 By J. Michael DeTreville Leave a Comment

One of the main issues every divorce lawyer in Charleston SC encounters is the division of marital property.

What constitutes marital property?

Marital property is all of the real and personal property, minus a few exceptions, that a couple gains from the date of marriage until the date of filing a Family Court action. The largest of these items of marital property are typically things like a home, retirement assets, and businesses.

What are the exceptions?

When a couple gets married, each person is likely to bring assets they acquired before the marriage into the [Read more…]

Charleston Divorce Lawyers | 3 Things You Must Do When Considering Divorce

October 9, 2018 By J. Michael DeTreville 1 Comment

One of the challenges all Charleston divorce lawyers deal with at the outset of a case is having a client who is not prepared to begin the process. Often times, this cannot be avoided and a client is surprised by the filing, but in many cases divorce is something that is contemplated long before the papers have been filed.

If you are contemplating filing, or fear that your spouse may be contemplating filing, here are three steps you can take prior to retaining counsel to make the process easier: [Read more…]

Divorce Lawyer Charleston SC | Dividing Retirement Accounts

November 15, 2016 By J. Michael DeTreville Leave a Comment

Dividing Retirement Accounts | Divorce Lawyer Charleston SC

One very common type of asset that people will need to divide when they go through a divorce is their retirement accounts. While this seems, and can be fairly straightforward, you will need the assistance of a divorce lawyer Charleston SC to be sure it is done appropriately.

Do we just split them in half?

Maybe. You will divide any growth that accumulated to the account during the time of your marriage. [Read more…]

Charleston Divorce Attorneys | The Ins and Outs of Prenuptial Agreements

June 2, 2014 By J. Michael DeTreville 2 Comments

Prenuptial agreements are an under-utilized tool for reducing the conflict and cost associated with divorce. The reasons that prenups are so rare are easy to discern: they take the “romance” out of divorce, they can be expensive and time-consuming to obtain, they are “only for the rich,” etc. Without dwelling on those issues (all of which can be debunked by experienced Charleston divorce attorneys), let’s examine the things one can do, cannot do, and must do with a prenuptial agreement.

What Can I Do With a Prenuptial Agreement in South Carolina?

1. Define w [Read more…]

Charleston Family Court Attorney | The Perils of Self-Representation

April 14, 2014 By J. Michael DeTreville Leave a Comment

As a Charleston Family Court attorney, I’ve encountered many potential clients who are either attempting to represent themselves in Family Court or have already finished represented themselves in a Family Court case. Each of these types encounter problems with the self-representation process that either require the immediate attention of an experienced lawyer or may have been screwed up past the point where even the best Charleston divorce lawyer can help.

As a matter of full disclosure, the South Carolina [Read more…]

Charleston Divorce Lawyer | Selling Your House During Divorce

February 20, 2014 By J. Michael DeTreville 3 Comments

I recently made a social media connection with a gentleman by the name of Bill Gassett, a real estate agent in Massachusetts who has done some wonderful blog work on issues pertaining to divorce and real estate. One article he wrote struck me as something that could be particularly helpful to my clients and potential clients, on the issue of selling your house [Read more…]