They say that marriages fall apart in increments of 7 – 7 years, 14 years, 21 years, and so on. It’s where the whole “Seven Year Itch” thing came from. In a lot of ways, I see it. Even though the first year of marriage is sometimes tumultuous, people tend to settle into a groove...
Virginia Divorce After 10 Years of Marriage
It’s a tale as old as time – or, at least, a tale as old as shared custody. What happens when a dad fights for a parenting plan that reflects shared custody (meaning that he gets 90 or more days of parenting time over the course of a calendar year), but then doesn’t exercise his...
I recently recorded a podcast (which will likely air sometime in September – so stay tuned!), and wrote a blog article about giving advice that clients don’t want to hear. When I was talking with Sheera Herrell about custody on that podcast, she quickly identified custody concerns as the #1 category of types of advice...
As you already know, if you’ve found me and the Hofheimer Family Law website itself, I represent women only in family law cases in Virginia. I don’t – nor have I ever – represented husbands or dads, though I have a husband and a dad and I know that they are not all terrible. At...
Most people want to avoid extensive litigation if at all possible. After all, it makes a case take longer, cost more, and (generally speaking) yield poorer results. Most people, after getting a couple bills from their attorney, will suddenly become much less litigious. Most people, of course, are fairly sensible. They’ll instead start to...
There are lots of ways that our all-too-human reactions to all-too-human situations can land us in hot water. Where custody and visitation is concerned, leaning in too heavily to our feelings and reactions to difficult situations can be a warning sign that there is significant danger ahead, especially if your case is litigated. Whether...
At some point in the past, a judge reached a decision about what custody and visitation arrangement was in the best interests of your child(ren) and, since that time, you and your ex have had to live with it. Either that, or the two of you reached an agreement about custody and visitation, and,...
I think most parents know that they really shouldn’t be giving their children information about their ongoing divorce or custody case, especially if what they’re saying is (1) a lie, or (2) disparaging to the other parent. And, yet, it still happens. Like, every day. You’re human. He’s human. You’re under incredible amounts of...