To cut to the chase and state the obvious as simply as possible: if there’s no custody order in place (as in, you and your child’s father have never (1) been to court to let a judge determine custody, and (2) you’ve never signed an agreement related to custody and visitation), both you and your...
Virginia Custody Issues: He won’t let me see the kids
A client of mine, who had retained me to help her draft a separation agreement, forwarded me the draft separation agreement that her husband had prepared while we were working on ours, with the caption “Things just got ugly.” I was confused – after all, I was retained to prepare a separation agreement, much like...
It happens sometimes that our clients lie to us. I get it – it’s scary. It’s overwhelming. And there are maybe some facts in your case that you’re not entirely proud of – and may be intensely embarrassed of. You may be afraid of what might happen if those details get out. It’s not that...
When a divorce is filed in Virginia, it doesn’t have to be served right away. In fact, sometimes, even after a case is filed and has been prepared for service, an attorney will hold on to it before having it served on the opposing party. That doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s a clock somewhere ticking...
It’s hard to entrust so much of your life to an attorney – any attorney – but it’s probably even harder than normal when it comes to divorce and custody cases. After all, there’s a lot (as in your whole entire life!) on the line. But what do you do after you’ve made the decision...
Normally, I write about things you’d expect me to write about – divorce and custody cases, the laws, what to expect, how to behave, common pitfalls, and other mistakes women tend to make when it comes to facing a family law case in Virginia. Today, though, I’m going to write about something a little bit...
As you’re probably already aware, when you tell your attorney secrets, they are generally protected by attorney client privilege. That means that the attorney can’t tell anyone what you’ve told them. Of course, ethically, there are a few exceptions – like, if you tell us you’re about to commit a crime, particularly if that crime...
Divorce is inconvenient. And, sometimes, depending on the circumstances, it can also take a really long time. There are often delays that we can help. In other cases, it’s our side who is responsible for the delays, for any number of reasons. Continuances happen in Virginia divorce – they just do. Whether we ask for...