Virginia is restrictive when it comes to divorce, just because of the waiting period required before you can even file for a no fault divorce. Here in the Commonwealth, you have to be separated for ONE year before you can finalize a divorce using the fault based grounds of cruelty, apprehension of bodily hurt,...
I’ve been separated for over a year. Can I just file for divorce?
Custody cases are some of the most dramatic, contentious, and stressful cases. I’ve written on this before, and I’ll say it again: Virginia is NOT one of the states in this country that mandates 50/50 custody as a starting point. In Virginia, we use the ‘best interests of the child’ factors, established by statute, as...
Custody cases can be complicated, in some ways, because they can take different shapes depending on the issues involved – and because different types of rules apply to different types of cases. What can a Virginia custody case look like? Custody Case as Part of a Divorce Action Custody and visitation cases often come up...
Discovery – whether as part of a divorce or a child custody case – is essentially the same. It’s the legal process we use to determine and gain access to the information that we don’t have. In a divorce case, much of the information we’re looking for is financial, especially if our client has stayed...
Custody cases are interesting because they can come up in a number of ways, unlike divorce. In a divorce, you have essentially two options: (1) negotiate a signed separation agreement, or (2) litigate in court. Divorce Cases Where Custody is an Issue Divorce is filed in the circuit court. Custody, though, can present differently. Custody...
Divorce is a scary – and potentially expensive – process, so it’s no wonder that you want to explore all of your alternatives before you commit to a specific course of action. Is there any way at all that you can avoid hiring an attorney? Can you use one of the online do it yourself...
In Virginia, there is no requirement that you hire an attorney to represent you in a divorce or custody case, whether at the juvenile or circuit court level (or even beyond, if your case merits an appeal). If you choose not to hire an attorney, you represent yourself. We call people who represent themselves pro...
It’s intimidating to go to court. It’s intimidating to do anything, really, when the process and routines are unfamiliar to you, but it’s especially true when those processes result in splitting the assets and liabilities you’ve spent your adulthood accumulating, not to mention determining custody and visitation of your minor children. There’s a lot at...