Sheila Vierra
Attorney at Law LLLC
Phone: (808) 538-0520
Email: attorneysvierra@gmail.com
Address: Pioneer Plaza, 900 Fort Street Mall Suite 1220, Honolulu, HI 96813
About Sheila
Attorney Sheila Vierra received her law degree at Willamette University School of Law in 1989 and her B.A. at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, in 1982.
She practices family law in Honolulu, Hawaii, and was admitted to the Bar in 1989.
Her primary focus is divorce cases, with personalized attention to each client she serves.
Ms. Vierra believes accessibility is essential to her client service and is extraordinarily detail-oriented.
Sheila makes every client feel comfortable, putting them at ease and creating an environment where trust is established, and the legal process is explained and understood easily.
As your attorney, Sheila will help make your experience less stressful and complicated.
Practice Areas
Professional Representation
Divorce, Mediation, Child Custody, Child Support, Property Division, and Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO)
Divorce / Mediation
In addition to being a skilled Divorce Lawyer, Sheila is just as proficient in Mediation.
​
Divorce can be a frustrating and overwhelming process.
Sheila Vierra's Honolulu clients can count on her family law experience to manage the legal framework that supports their unique situation. Mediation is sometimes a great option.
One of the aspects of divorce that many people rightfully dread is the idea of airing private family business in divorce court. This painful, expensive process can be largely avoided when divorcing spouses arrive at their own divorce settlements outside of court. Settlement negotiations and mediation can often accomplish this goal, but when significant points of disagreement make this option ineffective, going to court to litigate the matter is unavoidable.
Couples who want to avoid a full-blown court trial often turn to mediation to resolve disputes.
When Sheila's involved in mediating a case, she helps her clients successfully resolve it as quickly and efficiently as possible to avoid unnecessary expense.
Child Custody
Experience makes a world of difference in Family Court
​
Clients of Sheila Vierra soon discover the benefits of working with this experienced family law attorney regarding child custody, child support, paternity, guardianship, adoption, and domestic violence. They say Sheila is accessible, prepared in court, and detail-oriented. Her clients feel confident and comfortable bringing their challenging legal issues to her. With Sheila's guidance, they can move forward in a timely manner and resolve legal problems constructively.
Property Division
Working in your best interest
​
Assets brought into a marriage and kept separate may not be part of the marital estate. Other assets, such as inheritances or gifts received during the marriage, may also not be divisible between the parties in the divorce. Understanding the difference between marital separate property and marital partnership property is the first step in dividing property in every divorce in Hawaii. Sheila will effectively guide you through this process.
​
As you prepare for divorce in Hawaii, you will need to do a complete inventory of your and your spouse's assets, including:
-
Bank accounts, investment accounts, and other financial accounts
-
Retirement accounts,including pensions, 401(k) savings accounts and more
-
Real estate, including the marital home, second homes, timeshares, commercial properties, and investment real properties
-
Business interests and other investments
-
Household goods and other belongings, such as furnishings, tools, collectibles and other valuables
The prospect of dividing assets can seem daunting. An experienced family law attorney such as Sheila Vierra can streamline the process for you. Division of debts may apply.
If a dependent spouse will lose health insurance upon divorce, a divorce decree may include provisions for payment of that person's health insurance. Spousal support (alimony), if applicable, is typically determined along with asset division.
​
Negotiations, mediation, or litigation will determine the terms of your divorce. A personalized case evaluation will allow you to progress efficiently through the asset division aspect of your divorce. Ms. Vierra is prepared to help protect your property rights as you prepare for a divorce, whether you have been a breadwinner or homemaker. If both of you have held jobs or owned businesses, she can take all relevant factors into account while guiding you through the necessary legal steps toward divorce.
Know your property rights as you prepare for a divorce.
QDRO
We do all of this in-house for our clients
​
Division of marital assets must take into account all property of both spouses. Most people are familiar with the idea of dividing assets like houses, cars, bank accounts, and household goods. Asset division also includes assigning less visible assets to each spouse - such as retirement assets. Getting legal provisions in place at the time of a divorce ensures that each party will receive his or her equitable portion when the distribution of retirement assets begins.
A Qualified Domestic Relations Order ("QDRO") is a financial and legal document used to assign some or all retirement assets to a spouse, former spouse, child, or other dependent of a worker in whose name the plan and/or accounts are titled. While a QDRO is a judicial order, the Family Court relies on divorcing parties to prepare and process these documents with the appropriate retirement plans.
​
A QDRO (Qualified Domestic Relations Order) is normally necessary to complete the retirement division aspect of a divorce. Many family law firms do not prepare QDROs themselves.
Rather, they outsource this essential task. Sheila Vierra is one of the few family law attorneys in Honolulu who prepares QDROs for individuals statewide. Clients of Sheila Vierra, as well as clients of other divorce lawyers, take advantage of this service.
Couples who feel far from retirement age (such as in their 30s or 40s) may consider the division of retirement accounts to be an abstract, far-off concept since neither spouse will receive the money for decades. However, the division of retirement assets can be the single largest portion of asset division in a divorce, with the most long-lasting impact on financial security over a lifetime.
Sheila Vierra's clients include people from all socio-economic backgrounds. They enjoy the reassurance that comes with thorough, professional services handled efficiently by Ms. Vierra, including the preparation of QDROs.
