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
10 Signs You Are Falling Out of Love
We all fall in love for different reasons and in different ways, but there is definitely a distinct pattern that we all follow when things go south. How do I know? Because I've seen this every single day for the last 15 years as people explain to me how they find themselves in my office talking about divorce. The fact is rarely do marriages or committed relationships unravel overnight-- it is usually a slow but steady build up of dissatisfaction. Finally, an event will occur that may in itself seem insignificant, and yet it becomes the final straw that breaks the camel's back. Here are the top 10 signs (which I posted a while back) that you are getting ready to blow: 1. When things you once found funny about that person are now annoying; 2. When making plans becomes a chore; 3. When you have lost interest in being intimate; 4. When your eyes start to wander, or worse; 5. When receiving texts, emails or calls becomes annoying, and you cannot bear to deal with responding; 6. When finding a gift for a special occassion becomes an overwhelming burden; 7. When that person has ceased to make you feel loved or special; 8. When you no longer care whether you connect or not; 9. When you have become two ships passing in the [...]
What’s the Deal with Summer Break-Ups?
Lots of parents choose to wait until the school year ends before calling it quits. Why? Because they don't want to create any chaos in their children's lives while they are in school and potentially risk a dip in their academic performance. While this makes perfect sense, there is one big problem that parents need to be aware of: during the school year, kids are surrounded by their friends and school counselors, who can all provide emotional support for them in a time of need. If parents are going to split during the summer, they need to make sure that their kids have sufficient emotional support to process what is happening as the family restructures and establishes a new norm. Children generally crave consistency and stability, therefore, the best thing parents can do is create a shared narrative, and jointly reassure kids that: (1) they will continue to see both parents; (2) their lives will continue to be the same as much as possible; and (3) the break-up is NOT their fault. Kids don't need to know all the details-- they really just need to know how the separation will impact them, and parents need to work on filtering as much as possible. Picture yourself as a Brita filter-- take that not so clean water, and try your best to purify it for your kids! My [...]
Getting Divorced Without Breaking the Bank
In almost every other aspect of our lives, we know exactly how much we are paying when we purchase something-- except in the legal services industry. I can see how it would be very disconcerting for clients to not know exactly how much a divorce is going to cost them, and these days in particular most people are spending money cautiously. So, how can you keep costs down? Easy- the more you do yourself, the less you'll spend. Here are some tips: 1. Flat fees- At the initial consult, if you want to just have an agreement written, like a prenup or Separation Agreement, ask if the attorney can do this on a flat-fee basis. I do this a lot, and it is nice not worrying about keeping track of charging for emails/calls because there are none. One consult fee, on document prep fee, and I'm done. We all walk away happy. 2. Online forms- See if there are court forms online, and then a lot of people just come to me for a 30 minute consult to ensure they have prepared everything correctly. Again, this is super easy for me-- and super cheap for the client. 3. Mediation- If you and your spouse have some unresolved issues, try mediation. When I am acting as a mediator, each party pays half my fee, and usually in [...]
The Importance of Gratitude
For as long as I can remember my grandmother, who recently passed away a few months shy of her 98th birthday, would always give thanks for each meal and a safe place to sleep each night. She was one of the happiest people I ever met in my life, even though she did not have much money or a high school degree. Her happiness was never tied to any material things-- it was her family, friends and daily good deeds that brought her joy. It's taken me years to appreciate the wisdom in her approach to life, but I'm so glad I get it now. It's so easy to get caught up in the rat race, and to always want the next coolest toy. Keeping up with the Joneses is a trap we can all easily fall into, often without realizing it. This is indeed the plan-- for all of us to unwittingly come to think of things as necessities, and then we become endentured servants to others so that we can continue to maintain a certain lifestyle. The key question we must never forget to ask ourselves is what is the true cost to us? Everything has a price, so the important point to remember is that we need to carefully consider whether something is really worth that price. There [...]