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What makes a good separation agreement?

It’s the million dollar question, and it’s a hard one to answer because, frankly, what makes a good separation agreement is something that is completely and entirely subjective. Though you may have two women who’d answer the question the same – like, for example, that they just want it to be over, or they just...

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  Custody litigation presents a million different ways for mothers to be caught in a potentially devastating catch-22, especially in cases where the non-custodial parent seems to be at something of a disadvantage. Lately, I’ve seen several different cases where, for example, a mother was granted sole legal and primary physical custody, with very narrow...

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Separate, Reconcile, or Divorce?

Relationships are complicated. I’m sure you already know that. But it does bear mentioning, in any case, because it gets to the root of what we do here. Sometimes, it seems as though it doesn’t make any sense, least of all to us, who know one party only a little and the other not at...

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Do I need a Virginia family law attorney if…

  It’s probably no secret to you that an attorney isn’t necessary in absolutely every case ever. In some cases, there’s really no need to hire an attorney – as I was reminded yesterday in a conversation that I had with a really sweet prospective client. The thing is, though, that it’s really hard to...

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I needed a little bit of time to process the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard verdict. And then, after I processed, I needed a little distance, because I just found the whole entire thing so completely upsetting. In the wake of the trial, I’ve read article after article about how the case duped America, how we should...

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Can I record a conversation in Virginia?

When tensions start to escalate, and it looks like you might be headed towards a divorce or custody case, it’s tempting to want to use whatever methods are available to you to gather the evidence you might need – up to and including recording conversations. But what’s legal varies pretty dramatically from state to state,...

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Credit Card Debt and Virginia Divorce

  Debt is challenging under the best of circumstances, but when you’re considering a legal separation or a divorce, it can be a particularly challenging extra layer of complication. On its face, dividing debt is the same as dividing assets – in most cases, we look to the source of the debt, classify it as...

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In the law, we like to use terms that other people don’t understand. “Manifest injustice,” “best interests of the child,” “continued cohabitation in a relationship analogous to marriage,” “material change of circumstances,” on and on, ad nauseum. Oh, right – and the Latin! Pendente lite, habeas corpus, pro bono, a mensa et thoro, ad litem,...

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