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
Why Smart Women Date Inappropriate Men
Today I feel the need to explain why smart women would date inappropriate men. The short answer is so obvious: dating inappropriate guys is safe because you know you are never going to truly fall in love with them. I could just leave it at that, but that is just not my style. An in depth analysis of this phenomenon, however, could easily be the subject of various dissertations, and I am not about to delve into such an endeavor here. I will say this-- my observation is that women that have good relationships with their fathers tend to cut guys a lot of slack; meanwhile, those like me, who grew up without fathers, or had poor relationships with their dads tend to subscribe to the general belief that "all men are pigs," and then we seek out the exceptions to that rule. I will proffer that the best approach is probably somewhere in the middle, and if you want to find a satisfying meaningful relationship, you need to take the time to reflect on past relationships with family, friends and former partners to figure out your own pattern. If you don't like what you see, it is totally within your control to change yourself. One of my esteemed divorce colleagues told me that the reason we stay in business [...]
Dating in the 21st Century
In 2005 when I was getting divorced, a good friend told me to brace myself for what it is like to date in the 21st century. It was indeed a shock to see that while I was out of the game for 12 years, technology came along and changed everything. People now use multiple online dating services and can queue up as many as 10 dates a week. They also expect instant responses to texts, emails, Facebook messages, or cellular calls. She told me I would have to go on about 20 bad dates before I would meet someone half-way decent. I thought she was joking, but apparently not. My happily married friends have been quite entertained the past several years with my dating stories. I share the stories with them in the hopes that they will stay together because dating in the 21st century is no picnic. We all joke that my search for Mr. Right has become a quest for finding a unicorn. Well, I will spare everyone here the details of what I have encountered, but I do feel compelled to warn others of some common red flag categories: 1. Married Men for Whom the Ring is Just an Accessory; 2. Rebound Guys; 3. Online Weirdos; 4. Socially Awkward Guys; 5. Control Freaks; 6. GIs (Geographically Inconvenient); [...]
In the Eye of the Storm
My father said to me recently, "sometimes we cannot see what everyone else arounds us sees because we are too caught up in our own lives." I have been telling my clients the same thing for over a decade. When they come to me, they are usually caught in the eye of a storm-- it is not just the legal reality of a divorce that is hitting them, but they are struggling with severe emotional and financial challenges that result from a separation. At this juncture, it is imperative that people seek out help from family, friends and trusted experts because it is humanly impossible to weather this storm alone. I understand that it can be hard to ask for help. For most of my life, I have gotten by trying to rely on my own resources. By not expecting anything from anyone else, I was less likely to be disappointed. But it has been a very lonely road, and while professionally I've gained tremendous recognition the last several years, in my personal life I had to face some major challenges as a result of the economy tanking and major family developments that required immediate attention. Without the help of others, I never would have gotten through all the personal setbacks suffered, and I see the same thing with my clients. To need help from others can be a [...]
New Family Connections
Last night, I received confirmation that I have indeed found my father-- 99.999% sure based on our DNA test. All of a sudden, I have a father, a step-mother, an aunt, an uncle, 2 cousins, a step-brother here in DC, and a half brother in London. I spoke to 6 of the 8 last night, and everyone was so happy. My aunt joked that we should send out a birth announcement:"It is a girl! She is 5'4", and weighs over 100 lbs." She is hilarious! Apparently, making jokes about some of our greatest sources of pain is a trait that runs in my family. It has been a coping mechanism that I have used all my life, and perhaps now everyone around me can understand a little bit better why I appreciate irony so much-- it seems to be a common theme in my life. In 2005, when I got divorced, not ony did I un-do the vows of marriage, but I also severed the ties with my husband's family, who had become mine over the twelve years that we were together. So many people have asked me my divorce was such a traumatic event for me-- well, perhaps now it all makes more sense-- for unlike so many, I did not have my own family to fall back on. [...]