Monthly Archive: December 2022

“No one takes marriage seriously anymore!”

I’m always surprised when people say to me that no one takes marriage seriously anymore. It’s usually either from someone really old or someone who is (generally) happily married. The old people, it seems to me, have a different view of marriage. Basically, that it’s to be endured, no matter what. Because you said vows,...

Read More

Virginia Custody and Visitation: The Long Haul

  At some point in the past, a judge reached a decision about what custody and visitation arrangement was in the best interests of your child(ren) and, since that time, you and your ex have had to live with it. Either that, or the two of you reached an agreement about custody and visitation, and,...

Read More

What happens in Virginia divorce court?

It’s intimidating to go to court. It’s intimidating to do anything, really, when the process and routines are unfamiliar to you, but it’s especially true when those processes result in splitting the assets and liabilities you’ve spent your adulthood accumulating, not to mention determining custody and visitation of your minor children. There’s a lot at...

Read More

Most people have a lot of questions about the divorce process – even if they understand the basics. After all, there’s a lot that is really fact specific, and it can be hard to apply a general principle to a specific situation. Even if you can sort of guess what the answer might be, you...

Read More

  I’m always surprised at just how many people maintain separate bank accounts throughout the entirety of their marriage. Though I definitely understand the desire to keep things separate – and maybe to share expenses in a mutually owned household account – I do think that it often causes confusion about what is marital property...

Read More

  The way I see it, it goes one of two ways. Some women cannot wait to get back out there and find Mr. Right – or even Mr. Right Now. Other women tell me, in no uncertain terms, that they will never – and I repeat EVER – date anyone ever again. In both...

Read More

Lump Sum Awards of Virginia Spousal Support

In virtually every case I’ve seen, spousal support is a specific amount of money paid each month from the higher earning spouse to the lower earning spouse. In virtually every case I’ve seen, the higher earning spouse hates this. Like, really, really hates this. In virtually every case I’ve seen, he (it’s usually a he)...

Read More

  On Wednesday, we talked about the dangers of talking to your children about your divorce or custody case. (Spoiler alert: Though it can be tempting, don’t do it!) One of the hardest things to handle, though, is when your child’s father is talking to your children in a way that you feel is inappropriate....

Read More