Divorce is a confusing and complicated business. Nothing about it is easy, whether you are the one that’s leaving or the one that is being left. We wrote this book to make divorce less difficult. This is not a legal treatise and it cannot substitute for three years of law school, the bar exam, and expertise that comes from years of trying cases. But we will explain the law and process of divorce in plain English for the jurisdiction where we practice law, Virginia.

This book is an invaluable resource for any couple seeking to divorce with a minimum of cost and conflict and maximum control over all-important decisions.

James J. Gross is managing partner of Thyden, Gross & Callahan, Chevy Chase. MD. He has been in practice in the areas of family and business law and civil litigation for over 25 years. He was formerly in-house counsel to Satellite Business Systems, and an attorney with the Federal Communications Commission. Mr. Gross received a Masters of Laws in Taxation from Georgetown University in 1982; a Juris Doctor from the University of Missouri in 1975, where he was on the law review, and a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Missouri in 1970. Mr. Gross appears on television and radio and writes and lecturers frequently on the subject of family law. He is on the Board of Directors of Affiliated Community Counselors, Inc. and the D.C. Capitols Track and Field Club, he is the immediate past President of Metropolitan Washington Mensa, President of the Collaborative Family Law Society, and Program Chair for the Family Law Section of the Montgomery County Bar.

Michael F. Callahan, formerly with the Internal Revenue Service, has practiced for nine years in the areas of family law, tax controversies and bankruptcy. He received his Juris Doctor from Georgetown University in 1987, and his Bachelor of Science in Marketing from University of Illinois at Chicago in 1974. Mr. Callahan is a member of the Georgetown Chapter of Order of the Coif. He has written several articles and lectured on federal tax lien matters, bankruptcy and the tax aspects of divorce.