DC and MD Matrimonial Lawyer Focusing on Custody, Divorce and Prenups
For over 20 years, Regina A. DeMeo has been helping families in MD and DC with custody and divorce issues either through mediation, litigation or advocacy. She is an alumna of Georgetown University and GW University Law School, who is nationally recognized as a top matrimonial attorney. She is frequently quoted in the media for her ideas to promote healthier relationships and featured in the Washington Post, ABA Journal and Bethesda Magazine for her care and commitment to her clients. As a legal commentator, she has appeared on Washington Post Express Facebook Live, ABC tv, Good Morning America, MMCTV, YouTube and Sirius XM, and has been quoted in various magazines, books and journals across the country.
Regina offers appointments in Maryland and DC. Her areas of practice include:
Latest Blog Posts by GenXSmartie
The Importance of F-You Money
I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to have your own resources to sustain yourself. You never know what will happen-- you or your partner might get sick, either one of you might suddenly die, or you may just split up. Of the three, the last option is actually the least scary of all to me, but you have to self insure for that possibility. How do you that? Well, let's see... 1. Savings- Do you have at least a 3 month reserve for your necessary expenses in an account in just your name? If not, you have to start putting aside a little bit each month to do this-- and yes, this might mean not eating lunch out so much, drinking coffee at home instead of at a cafe, and cutting back on other non-essentials. During the recession, I had to teach a lot of my clients about budgets, and the new mantra many of us had to embrace is "do I really need this?" Every little bit counts, and the more you can set aside for a rainy day, the less anxious you will be about that possibility. 2. Earnings- Do you have your own sources of revenue, and if you had to could you live on what you yourself generate? If not, then what can you do to maximize your own income potential? You [...]
Will You Make It Through the Holidays?
It is a very tough decision that a lot of couples will have to face in the next few weeks-- are you going to be able to keep it together through the holidays, or do you need to bail now? If you find that you cannot hold it together, then the answer should be clear-- bail now. There is nothing worse than trying to keep up a facade and make it appear to everyone like everything is fine, when inside you feel like you are dying. The holidays are supposed to be a festive time, but if you feel like you have nothing to celebrate and the last thing on Earth you want to do is buy presents for your partner, then the time has come to be honest with yourself and find a way to gracefully exit. I'm not suggesting this is an easy process to go through, nor one that you should try to tackle by yourself. You need to find an ally and develop a plan, but time is of the essence if you are feeling like a ticking time bomb because the last thing you want to do is explode, especially during the holidays and definitely not in front of little ones. I've always been a big fan of lists, and if ever there is a time [...]
Lean In– or Out– At Least Now It’s A Personal Choice
On this week's tv show, we'll be talking about Sheryl Sandberg's "Lean In" and the relevancy of the Women's Bar Association. As many know, I've been very active throughout the years in DC's WBA, and my guest, Heather, has been very involved in the Maryland WBA. Both of us are GenXers, who were brought up as Title IX babies and graduated at the same rate as men in our law schools-- so you can imagine our surprise as we both went out into the real world, and then got a glimpse at some very stark disparities in the number of men vs. women in leadership roles within our field. There is about a 40% dropout rate of attorneys in the private sector world, and only 15% of women will ever make equity partner-- the chances are less than 4% if they are minorities. It is no wonder that over 1/3 of female attorneys will suffer from depression at some point in their careers-- the numbers themselves are so devastating. (All of these stats come straight from recent studies done by the ABA and NAWL). Needless to say, I was completely unaware of all these stats when I picked my field of study-- but to be honest, I'm not sure it would have made a difference. Ever since I was 12 years old [...]
Are You Fighting Like Cats & Dogs?
Very few of my friends have both cats and dogs. Usually, you are either a cat or dog person, but not both. I'll be honest upfront, I am definitely not a cat person-- in fact, I'm allergic to them. So it is of no surprise that when I first referred to one of my friends as a cat recently he took great offense-- until I clarified what I meant by this comment, then he realized the magnitude of the compliment, not just for what it says about him but what it says about our friendship. Hoping that this might be helpful to others, let me explain my theory about those that fight like cats & dogs... I have always loved dogs-- they are incredibly loyal pack animals. When you come home, they eagerly greet you at the door while wagging their tails, and they love going for walks with you, having you play with them, and even just cuddling up watching a movie together. Hmm, this is almost exactly what I do with a partner, and as I my ex-husband lovingly pointed out very much like a dog, I have a very loud bark when I feel threatened, but deep down inside all I really want is a belly rub. He is dead right, and this insight has served him [...]