The MICHELE ZAVOS LAW GROUP, PLLC is a boutique law firm that concentrates our practice on family law and estate planning in order to give our clients the best possible personal and professional service. We focus on adoption, divorce and dissolution, custody, litigation, estate planning, mediation, collaborative law, and alternative reproductive technology. We help our clients protect themselves and the families they choose, including families in the gay and lesbian, deaf, and transgendered communities.

We work closely with our clients and are known for our personal service. We can meet with you in our offices or, in some circumstances, at your home or business. Appointments are available during business hours, evenings and Saturdays. Our attorneys are also available for phone consultations.

Adoptions
Adoptions are the heart of our practice. We represent all types of adoptive parents including LGBT parents, married couples, unmarried couples, singles, grandparents and non-birth parents. Our extensive adoption experience includes second parent adoptions, stepparent adoptions, international re- adoptions, adoptions through foster care systems, surrogacy adoptions, agency adoptions, and private placement adoptions. We represent adoptive parents in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. We are also experienced in meeting the requirements of the Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children.

Estate Planning
We believe it that it is essential for each of us to protect ourselves to the fullest extent of the law. To help our clients achieve this goal we have carefully designed a Personal Planning Documents package. This package starts with a Will but goes further to include a Living Will, Health Care Power of Attorney, Financial Power of Attorney, HIPPA authorization for access to health care records and a Final Arrangements document. We prepare property, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements.

We also offer customized documents to establish legal relationships with children. Those documents include a Designation of Standby Guardian, a Temporary Guardianship and Power of Attorney for Health Care, nominations of guardians within a Will and various forms of testamentary trusts.

Custody & Visitation
When difficult legal issues relating to children arise in your family, we can help you find a solution. We will work with you to negotiate agreements regarding custody, visitation, and child support issues. Although we attempt to negotiate solutions to contested issues, when we believe it is in our clients' best interests to litigate the matter, our attorneys will aggressively and forcefully represent you in contested court proceedings. We have particular expertise in third-party custody disputes.

Divorce & Dissolution
We represent clients who are ending domestic partnerships or and marriages. We will work with you to achieve an amicable resolution to the financial and domestic issues that arise during these transition periods. We will negotiate on your behalf and draft a separation or property agreement tailored to your needs. If we are unable to reach an agreement for you, our attorneys will provide you with skilled and knowledgeable representation in contested court proceedings.

Assisted Reproductive Technology/Donor and Parenting Agreements
Our clients create family in many ways. We have extensive experience crafting (and reviewing) documents that help you build and protect your family. Our donor and parenting agreements are custom designed to fit your situation. The firm represents Intended Parent(s), egg donors, sperm donors and surrogates.   Whether you are just starting your search for a donor or surrogate or already have a private arrangement or whether you are considering acting as a donor or surrogate, the firm will work with you to draft, negotiate, and review surrogacy or donor agreements. 

Mediation
Michele is a trained mediator and works specifically in the area of family mediation. Mediation is a process that allows parties to resolve their own disputes, assisted by a third party mediator. Mediators do not represent either party and have no stake in the outcome of the issues. They help the parties focus on the real issues between them, and assist the parties in reaching resolutions to their disagreements without going to court.

Collaborative Practice                                                                                 Collaborative Law is a new way to resolve disputes respectfully, without going to court.  The heart of Collaborative Practice is to offer you and your spouse or partner the support, protection, and guidance of your own lawyers without litigation.  The core elements of Collaborative Practice are (1) negotiating a mutually acceptable settlement without having the court decide issues; (2) maintaining open communication and information sharing; and (3) creating shared solutions acknowledging the highest priorities of all.  If we represent clients in the Collaborative Law process, we must agree that we will not represent them in litigation.