The worst days are the days when we lose. And, look, the truth is that, sometimes, we all lose. In fact, I’d say that, in most cases, we feel like we almost always lose at least a little bit; that’s just the nature of divorce and custody. Few cases are ones where the outcome is...
When good moms lose custody
Before I get really going here, let me just lead with the conclusion: Virginia is not a state that is particularly friendly to grandparents when it comes to custody and visitation. That doesn’t mean that grandparents can’t file and ask a court to grant them custody and/or visitation – actually, any non-parent third party could...
Let’s start with the maybe not-quite-so-obvious. In family law, it doesn’t really matter what “studies” suggests or what the “data” says. We are not making arguments about what is best for many children, or most children, or some randomized, average, but ultimately representative group of children. We are talking only about your children. The children...
In most cases, paternity isn’t a big issue. In most cases, the parties don’t dispute it – and, obviously, there’s hardly ever any issues as it relates to maternity. Right? You know full well you were in the room where it happened. Sure, there can be complications with adoptions or foster care, but that’s not...
To put him on child support or to NOT put him on child support – that is the question! It’s a legitimate question, too, because filing a petition for child support can open the door to more custody litigation. Let’s talk about it. Filing petitions for child custody, visitation, and child support In Virginia, if...
Online, you’ll find any number of so-called (self-proclaimed) experts in family law. From divorce coaches to mediators to regular parents who’ve just been through a (usually high conflict) divorce or custody case themselves. This is often great. Divorce coaches can do things – and give advice – that I can’t in the sense that it...
Navigating a new – or even a long term – coparenting relationship is challenging no matter what, but it’s especially challenging when you know (or suspect) that your child’s father does not have all the things in his home that he really needs to welcome the kids on his parenting time. So, what do you...
It’s a tale as old as time, I’m afraid. Ever since child support guidelines have been tied to the amount of parenting time that each parent gets, all sorts of disputes have come up about who gets what time and what, exactly, that time looks like. The other day, I shared an article about how...