Monthly Archive: February 2019

Spousal Support and Abuse

Abuse is, for me, always one of the harder subjects to discuss. It’s not that it makes the law complicated, or really that it changes what a person might be entitled to receive — but maybe that’s part of the problem for me, too. Abuse changes a person. After years and years of it, it...

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I can’t afford a Virginia divorce lawyer

Legal representation is expensive. I get it. And it’s often especially scary because, at the beginning of a case, it is difficult to know how far and how long it’ll go. Family law attorneys take cases on retainers, and work is done on an hourly basis. We don’t know how long a case will last,...

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Dividing Retirement Accounts in Divorce

One of the biggest assets that we divide in divorce are retirement accounts. Whether we’re talking about IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, pensions, stock options, TSPs, or any other type of account, if they were earned during the marriage, they’re marital property and subject to division in any action for divorce. Retirement is actually (usually!) an easy...

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Remembering Kristen Diane Hofheimer

Our very own warrior princess, Kristen Hofheimer, passed away Friday, January 18th, 2019, after a long struggle with breast cancer. If you knew Kristen, consider yourself lucky. She was a truly exceptional human being, and a fantastic family law attorney – one of the best in the state of Virginia, particularly when it came to...

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My juvenile court case got appealed! What now?

The downside of the juvenile court is definitely the appeals situation. Well, that’s the downside if you won in the juvenile court, anyway. If you lost at the juvenile court level, well, then, it’s absolutely your right to appeal! (Funny how there are two sides to every coin, right?) But, today, I’m really talking about...

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Well, first off, let me say: I’m writing this because, like you, I have trial tomorrow. (Well, at least, as of the day I actually wrote this, anyway.) When I first started here (which was over seven years ago now), I asked one of the most senior attorneys when you stopped getting nervous before court...

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Successful Coparenting

Working together with your child’s father isn’t easy, especially after you’ve decided that your future plans really don’t include each other. Breakups and divorces happen all the time, but, ultimately, the impact that these things have on your children is up to you. You know, or at least you probably already suspect, that your future...

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Will the judge agree with my Guardian ad litem?

Guardians ad litem are great. Guardians ad litem are terrible. There’s almost no middle ground, and certainly won’t be for you if you’re in the middle of a custody case. Most of all, guardians ad litem are terrifying, because they get involved in your case and, ultimately, make a recommendation about what, in their opinion,...

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