In many ways, spousal support cases are always complicated. For one thing, the case means – it always means – that one party has significantly more in the way of financial assets than the other. Remember, there are three basic factors that help determine whether a spouse will be awarded support. 1. Need versus ability...
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I saw an infographic the other day that compared the costs of owning a home versus renting a home. Admittedly, it was an infographic created and propagated by a mortgage lending company, so let’s just say they have some skin in the game. It added up the cost of rent at $1,000, $1,200, $1,400,...
When mom and dad don’t agree about fundamental things – like summer school – but have a court order awarding them joint legal custody, we often run into problems. When parents live nearby, summer school isn’t such a challenging issue, even if both parents aren’t on the same page. For two parents living in the...
There are many things about a divorce and custody case (or just a plain custody case) that are pretty anxiety-inducing. Ove the years, I’ve written about a lot of them as it relates to custody cases – from relocation, to issues with grandparents wanting their own specific parenting time, military deployments, mental illness and...
I can tell you how the conversation always goes. “You represent women only? Your poor husband.” “Women only, huh? Scary for men!” “Family law – how awful!” “Young people these days, they just don’t try hard enough to make a marriage work.” It’s pretty predictable, and it actually happens all the time. People are...
There’s a difference between the way regular, normal, people use the word separated in a sentence and the way Virginia divorce lawyers use the word separated. I think it’s often a little confusing to reconcile the different understandings of the word. For one, because on each side it seems so clear that everyone seems to...
We recently got a question from a man through our live chat system, and – I’ll admit – it really got under my skin. He explained that a spousal support order had been entered in his case, and that it was based on his wife’s having been imputed income. At the time, the judge...
In many divorces, things are fairly amicable. There is often – though certainly not always – a certain amount of respect between the parties, even if one or both spouses ultimately intend to end the marriage. In these cases, there’s often a fair amount of negotiation that takes place behind the scenes. Clients will come...