Grandparent and Non Parent Rights in Custody Cases

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that children are wonderful. Well, unless they’re terrible, because sometimes that happens, too. But, regardless of how terrible they might be on any particular day, they’re certainly loveable, and they wiggle their way into our hearts – and the hearts of lots of other people that they come into contact...

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I hate these cases. Really, really hate them. I see moms with some frequency who come in and tell me that they were trying not to make any future issues with custody and visitation, but that their child asked them to intervene for one reason or another. Usually, these children are older teenagers (15+) and...

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Super Dad: A Virginia Custody Phenomenon

“Super Dad” is a special kind of phenomenon that is unique to custody and visitation cases. In most families, while mom and dad are together, it’s the mom who bears the brunt of the parenting responsibility. It’s normally mom who drives the carpools, attends the parent teacher conferences, schedules all the doctors appointments, never forgets...

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Virginia Name Changes and Stepparent Adoptions

So, your child’s biological father is a deadbeat, and now you’ve found Mr. Wonderful (not Mr. Wonderful of the Shark Tank variety, to be clear). He is willing to adopt your child, and to have her assume his last name. Isn’t it amazing? But is it really that easy? In most cases, no! It’s actually...

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What is a Guardian ad litem?

Nothing strikes fear in the mind and soul of a mom more than the threat of a custody case – especially when dad is unreasonable, unwilling to compromise, or somehow an inappropriate caregiver. It happens a lot. Even dads who were never formerly involved – or who did some terrible things – can petition the...

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Getting custody and visitation in place may feel like some kind of medieval torture. Whether you’re able to agree (after a fair amount of negotiation) or whether you ultimately need a judge to render a decision, it’s rarely an easy thing to do. When things go south between you and your child’s father, well, all...

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When your child’s father abandons you, there are hard feelings. I’ve heard some pretty horrific and heart rending stories throughout the course of my career, and, even though I’ve been doing this a pretty long time at this point, it still weighs on me. A woman I talked to the other day told me how,...

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Breastfeeding is something that comes up pretty often when we’re talking about custody and visitation of infants – and sometimes even toddlers and beyond! With the wealth of information that is available to us nowadays, most people are aware of the fact that the benefits of breastfeeding extend for as long as mom and child...

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