I shouldn’t have to pay for a family law attorney; I’m innocent!

  This was a new one for me – “I shouldn’t have to pay for a family law attorney; I’m innocent!” While I do sympathize with the sentiment, there’s also a whole lot wrong with it. In a lot of ways, I know that the way the Virginia court system – and, probably, every court...

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Supervised Visitation in Virginia

  Moms and dads often don’t parent the same. Sometimes, that’s a problem, and other times it’s not. It can be just a fact of life; a reflection of the difference in two coparents different backgrounds, perspectives, and world views. It can, actually, be a good thing when two parents are different, because it gives...

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Can I refuse to send my kids to visitation?

I first started writing articles about COVID-19 related concerns back in March of 2020, never expecting that an entire year later I’d still be dealing with concerns related to the ongoing pandemic. Custody and visitation issues are some of the biggest that we face in family law, especially when parents share children between two different...

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Custody of Toddlers

Toddlers – like most children, really – are creatures of habit. Or, at least, they operate best when their routines are protected. As a parent, even under the best circumstances, the routine can be difficult. When you’re coparenting, maintaining a consistent routine is even more challenging, if not impossible, depending on your other coparent. Even...

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Parenting Education Seminars

It should come as no surprise to any parent that, when it comes to parenthood and raising children, there is literally no instruction manual. Hospitals really do just let you take brand new babies home, with little more than a stern admonition to not shake the baby and a quick peek at your car seat...

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Primary Physical Custody and Child Support

I’ve talked about custody every which way from Sunday, but often with more emphasis on shared physical custody than primary physical custody, even though moms almost always tell me, within minutes of our first meeting, that they want sole custody of their children. Failing that, of course, the next best thing is often primary physical...

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Addiction and Child Custody

Drug and alcohol addiction is a serious problem in our society. Many families have loved ones who struggle under their addictions for years and years at a time. Watching the recent presidential debate, where President Trump mentioned Senator Biden’s son, who was discharged from the military because of his struggle with addition. I’m not here...

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What is a reasonable agreement when it comes to custody and visitation? This is a question we get a lot – hey, I understand! – from concerned moms who are wondering what’ll happen after they separate from their child’s father. What should a custody and visitation agreement look like?  How much time with my kids...

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