In Virginia, you are married until you are divorced. While Virginia requires a fairly lengthy period of separation before you are legally permitted to finalize your divorce, being legally separated is not the same as being actually divorced. Separated is still married. In fact, the entire point of requiring a period of separation is so...
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As you probably already know, not all wives are SAHMs. Goodness knows I’m not! From a divorce perspective, having access to your own income, benefits, and opportunities is so critically important. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – one of the biggest evils when it comes to divorce and child custody cases...
Even though Virginia does not assume 50/50 custody – the statute actually just says that the court must consider all forms of custody equally – it is still often the starting point in many custody cases, especially contested ones. I’m not a fan of automatic 50/50 custody; I think it creates a situation focused on...
All parents worry about what will happen to their kids when they pass away, but that fear is definitely greater for parents of minor children. I’d argue that, probably, for parents of children who are not together anymore, the fear even greater still. Especially if you’re the primary parent, you worry about what will happen...
Everyone – and I do mean everyone – always wants to ask whether they need an attorney for such-and-such kind of a case. And, while it’s true that you don’t ALWAYS need to hire an attorney, sometimes it can be hard to tell from the outside looking in, especially if your exposure to the case...
I love easy questions but, in family law, I get so few of them that when I do see a truly easy question with a truly easy answer, I almost can’t believe my luck. The short answer is no, you do not have to be flexible with your child’s father when he asks for changes...
Yes, I’m back, and I’m still talking about costs in your divorce or child custody case because there is (still) more information that I could share that might impact the choices that you make in your case, at least when it comes to whether to hire an attorney (and if so, whom). We’ve already talked...
It is always hard to ascertain, especially ahead of time, exactly how much your family law case – whether divorce or child custody – will ultimately cost. Even though I do this day in and day out, and have for over fourteen years now, it’s hard for even me to help give people the “ballpark”...