In Virginia, as in most states, the standard we use for custody cases is the best interests of the child. In Virginia, as in most states, we have a number of factors that comprise, basically, what factors we believe account for what types of choices, when it comes to custody and visitation, are in a...
Child Custody
I’m about to have a baby. Well, to tell the truth, I still have a couple weeks before my due date—but I’m also feeling a little bit like everyone I know is on baby watch. I’ve never been so critical of every single feeling I have, wondering if it means something more. It’s my first...
Trials are tough. They’re really intimidating and, at the end of the day, it’s really hard to know how the cookie is going to crumble, so to speak. There’s a lot of risk inherent in leaving everything (especially when “everything” is as important as custody of your children!) up to a judge—the one person in...
Sometimes it seems like the types of cases we see come in waves. We don’t have many cases of a particular type or with a specific theme and then (bam!) all of a sudden we have five or six, and we’re all grappling with similar issues. Of course, especially in custody, no two cases are...
For most women, the period of time leading up to their custody case is one of upheaval. That’s not always the case, though; sometimes, custody can come up without being part of an underlying divorce or break up or whatever the case may be. For a lot of women, though, the custody case is triggered...
Sharing custody is hard. When you and your child’s father decide not to stay together, you’ll have to make a commitment, at least to some extent, to sharing the responsibilities related to custody between the two of you. Things that you may not have given a thought to before – like picking up the kids...
For most moms where a custody case is at stake, one of the biggest, most suffocating fears they have is the possibility that their child’s father will take the child and not return him. Whether he takes the child and runs or whether he just refuses to return him to mom, it doesn’t matter; the...
At some point, after you and your child’s father call it quits, you’ll live in separate homes. In some ways, that makes custody of the child you share more difficult. In other ways, though, it lightens the burdens on you both. If you and your child’s father have just recently made the decision to separate,...