In Virginia, when we talk about child custody, there are two different categories of custody that we discuss: physical custody and legal custody. Legal custody refers to the right of a parent to make decisions on behalf of the child. Physical custody, on the other hand, has to do with where the child spends the...
Child Custody
If you’re planning on leaving and you want custody, you should be prepared to take the kids with you when you go, especially if you’re afraid that your divorce will be contested. When a contested divorce is filed with the court, one of the first steps is to schedule a pendente lite hearing. Pendente lite...
I probably don’t need to tell you that, the more you cooperate with your child’s father, the more flexible he’ll be with you. When it comes to custody and visitation (probably two of the most emotionally charged issues in any divorce where children are involved), it can be tricky to negotiate a solution that takes...
Your child’s age and maturity level helps dictate what kind of custody and visitation schedule would be appropriate. At different points in their development, different schedules will be necessary and, if your child is young, you’ll have to accept the notion that you’ll have to grow, adjust, and change your schedule to suit her. Keeping...
At some point, like it or not, your custody and visitation agreement will become more or less meaningless. Once your child reaches those pesky teenaged years and gets a driver’s license, it will be harder and harder to continue to handle custody and visitation the same way as before. It’s a tricky place to be...
There are very few things on which almost everyone agrees, particularly when you’re dealing with feuding husbands and wives, zealous attorneys, and conservative judges all at once. But, really, there’s at least one thing that probably almost everyone would agree on: children should never be asked to testify as a witness in a divorce or...
If you’re concerned that your child’s father will take your child and refuse to bring her back, you need to get a custody order in place as quickly as possible. Until you have one, it’s virtually impossible to enforce a specific custody and visitation schedule. The problem, of course, is that a parent, who has...
It’s a very rare thing for a parent to completely lose custody of their child. In most cases, because the courts feel so strongly that having two parents is in every child’s best interests, even deadbeat dads are reserved the right to visit with the child, and even if they never exercise that right. Even...