Monthly Archive: June 2021

Are we legally separated?

There’s a difference between the way regular, normal, people use the word separated in a sentence and the way Virginia divorce lawyers use the word separated. I think it’s often a little confusing to reconcile the different understandings of the word. For one, because on each side it seems so clear that everyone seems to...

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  We recently got a question from a man through our live chat system, and – I’ll admit – it really got under my skin. He explained that a spousal support order had been entered in his case, and that it was based on his wife’s having been imputed income. At the time, the judge...

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In many divorces, things are fairly amicable. There is often – though certainly not always – a certain amount of respect between the parties, even if one or both spouses ultimately intend to end the marriage. In these cases, there’s often a fair amount of negotiation that takes place behind the scenes. Clients will come...

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Will I have to pay Virginia child support?

Child support is one of those areas of Virginia family law that is simultaneously easy and also complicated. I spend a lot of time trying to explain it, and exactly what goes into the calculation, because I think it’s important that women know what questions to ask. At the end of the day, whether or...

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Relocation: Coming Up with a Plan

We talked Wednesday about relocation, and specifically about how to answer one big question (that’s sure to come up in your relocation case): will you move no matter what the judge decides? It’s a tricky question, and definitely a double edged sword. There’s no right answer, only wrong ones! I wish I had a secret,...

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Relocation cases are often a double edged sword. You’re (excuse my language) damned if you do and damned if you don’t. No matter how you slice it, it’s hard to win a relocation. We’ve talked about these cases every which way from Sunday, it seems like to me, but there are always nuances or different...

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These days, more often than not, an uncontested divorce is handled by affidavit. In certain circumstances, though, a special uncontested divorce hearing, which we call an ‘ore tenus’ hearing, will be held. This happens, in some jurisdictions, especially when the parties lived separate and apart under the same roof during a portion of the period...

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It’s confusing to hire an attorney. It’s not something you do every day. And what’s involved to hire one is different across different areas of the law – so experience that you might have with, say, a personal injury attorney, or a wills, trusts, and estates attorney – doesn’t necessarily translate to experience like what...

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