Law Office of Stephen J. Kecskes

Focus and practice areas

Law Office of Stephen J. Kecskes is a solo family law firm in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Family law is the firm's main area of work, and it shapes almost everything on the firm's website. Divorce comes in three listed forms: contested, uncontested, and military divorce.

Those three labels point to different paths through the same court system. A contested divorce means the spouses disagree on terms and need a judge to settle them. An uncontested divorce means they agree, and the work turns to putting that agreement into proper form. Military divorce adds federal rules, such as those covering military pensions and residency for service members and their spouses.

In my opinion, laying out divorce this way helps a visitor place their own situation before the first call. The firm names the service that fits, and a client can see it from the start.

The attorney behind the firm

Stephen J. Kecskes is the firm's sole attorney, and he handles the cases himself. He earned his law degree from the University of Toledo College of Law in 1984 and has practiced law in Virginia since then. He has worked in family law in the Virginia Beach area for over 40 years.

Kecskes also spent four years in the U.S.Air Force in a legal role in the judge advocate's office. That legal background in the Air Force connects to the military divorce work the firm lists today. For a client whose case touches service rules, that history is a practical point of common ground.

As a reviewer, I read the four-decade tenure as the firm's clearest marker of experience. A long record in family law and in the Virginia Beach area tells a client that the attorney has seen local practice change over the years.

Divorce and the agreements around it

Divorce usually brings other matters with it, and the firm covers the documents and disputes that travel alongside a case.

Separation and property

Kecskes drafts separation agreements, which set out how a couple will live apart and divide responsibilities before or during a divorce. He handles property division, the process of splitting assets and debts built up during a marriage. Property division in Virginia follows an equitable distribution standard, where a court divides marital assets and debts in a way it considers fair.

Spousal support is part of the same work. Virginia courts weigh factors such as the length of the marriage and each spouse's income when they decide support, and the firm addresses it as its own matter, whether a client seeks support or asks a court to change the amount later.

Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements

Some couples want financial terms set in writing around a marriage. A prenuptial agreement covers those terms before the wedding, and a postnuptial agreement does the same afterward. Both give a couple a written record of their intentions on property and support.

Children and adoption

The firm's family law work extends to the arrangements that affect children and to adoption. When parents separate, several questions follow, and the firm handles the main ones.

Custody, visitation, and support

Kecskes takes on child custody and visitation, the arrangements that decide where a child lives and when each parent has time. He handles child support, the payments that fund a child's daily needs. He also works on paternity cases, which establish a legal father and open the way to custody and support rulings.

Court orders on these points can outlast the situation that created them. The firm handles modification of custody, visitation, or support orders when a move or a change in income makes the old terms unworkable.

Adoption

The firm covers stepparent and adult adoptions. A stepparent adoption gives a spouse full legal parent status for a partner's child. An adult adoption creates a legal parent-child bond between two adults, which families sometimes use for inheritance or long-term care planning. Both run through the same courts that hear the firm's other family cases.

Estate documents alongside family work

Beyond family law, the firm prepares a small set of estate planning documents. Kecskes drafts simple wills, advance medical directives, and powers of attorney. A simple will directs where a person's property goes after death. An advance medical directive records health care wishes, and a power of attorney names someone to act on a person's behalf.

The site describes these as simple wills, which suits clients who want basic protections in place. The same events that bring a client in, a divorce or a new marriage, often call for fresh instructions on property and care.

Working with the firm

Law Office of Stephen J. Kecskes publishes its practice areas and the attorney's background on its own website. The firm lists each practice area on the site menu, so a visitor can find the relevant service quickly. A reader comes away with a clear sense of what the firm does and who does the work.

A prospective client can begin with a free initial consultation. The consultation gives a client room to describe the situation and hear how Kecskes would approach it. The firm offers this meeting by appointment, and it runs 30 minutes.