Every so often, I’ll get a call from a client whose husband thinks he has the system totally figured out. “He says he’ll quit his job and go and work at McDonalds,” she’ll tell me, crying. “He said he’d rather flip burgers than pay me a dime of support!” Whether we’re talking about child support...
Divorce
When women hear about the possibility of voiding a contract as a result of duress, they are usually excited. But the truth is that it’s probably easier to give an alligator a root canal than it is to prove to a Virginia judge that a contract should be overturned. Duress is, broadly defined, a threat...
In the news, I’ve seen a couple reports that Arnold Schwarzenegger wants a reconciliation with his estranged wife, Maria Shriver. It’s kind of a sweet story, if you take out the part about the mistress and the now-grown illegitimate love child the Terminator fathered without his wife’s knowledge and kept secret for years and years....
Technology has created more ways than ever to spy on our husbands—but that doesn’t mean it’s legal. It happens all the time: a client comes in and tries to hand us a five-inch binder filled with tear-stained copies of all the emails she found when she hacked into his email account. “He cheated on me,”...
I’m going to hit you with some truth: you do not want your divorce to go to trial. Here’s why: financially, emotionally, and practically, it will cost you. It will cost you big time. But if he’s done something wrong, how can that be? For one thing, the judge can only divide the assets that...
Are you getting separated in Virginia? Who should you tell about it? While who you tell is ultimately up to you, there may be some friends or family members who will find out regardless of whether you tell them, so it may become a matter of deciding when to break the news and what you...
The custody of the family pets is often a major issue for couples during divorce. As a devoted dog lover myself, I can understand why these fights would escalate to a level similar to what you generally see in contested child custody litigation. To many people, whether or not they have human children, their furry...
Annulments seem appealing to many women because, legally at least, it erases the marriage. It’s like it never happened. A divorce, on the other hand, ends a valid marriage. It may seem attractive to just erase the marriage and pretend like it never existed. Admit you made a mistake, and move on—no harm, no foul,...