Everyone wants to save on attorney’s fees. No one likes the idea of shelling out all the money for a retainer and ultimately having very little control over how much a divorce costs. It feels like a blank check, and at a time in your life where you’re probably even more concerned about how every...
Can I represent myself in my separation agreement?
On Friday, we talked about the day to day details of your child’s life as it relates to school – pictures, report cards, parent teacher conferences, and more. One of the big questions we always get in these cases, especially as newly separated or divorced parents struggle to establish a coparenting relationship, is whether...
I’m always surprised when people say to me that no one takes marriage seriously anymore. It’s usually either from someone really old or someone who is (generally) happily married. The old people, it seems to me, have a different view of marriage. Basically, that it’s to be endured, no matter what. Because you said vows,...
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,...
We get a lot of questions about custody and visitation in Virginia. Does the court assume 50/50 here? Does the court prefer mom? No, the court definitely prefers dad, right? Is there a standard custody arrangement that the court orders? Like, what happens in these cases, anyway? I hear you. It’s like most moms...
Knowing which court does what and where to file your petitions is anything but easy, especially in family law. Our cases are handled both in the juvenile courts AND the circuit courts, and there can be some interplay between the two, depending on the specifics of each case. Let’s talk about it. What petitions do...
We’re all used to the idea that, by virtue of the Constitution, we have these certain, unalienable rights. And it’s true – we do. But the reality of what those rights are, and what they mean, and how and when they apply is a little bit more complicated. In a lot of ways, family court...
Does it matter who files first in Virginia divorce or custody? I was recently reading a book, “The Respondent”, about a dad who faced a divorce and ongoing custody battle in California, allegedly as a result of the lies his wife told about his relationship with his two young boys. I have a lot of...