One very common provision in custody agreements (or separation agreements, if your custody case is part of a larger divorce action) is that neither party will make disparaging comments about the child’s other parent in the presence or hearing of the child. Sounds easy, right? Don’t talk badly about each other. Full stop. It’s...
Coparenting Issues: Disparaging Comments
Not every case can be negotiated – this we all know. But, in an ideal world, you and your soon-to-be ex would negotiate, because this is going to give you the most control over how your case will be resolved. No matter what issues are involved, you have essentially two options: agree, or go to...
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...
The whole point of a legal contract – any contract – is to establish specific terms governing a certain situation. When we’re talking about divorce, we use a separation agreement. When it comes to custody and visitation, we’re either talking about an initial determination or a modification, but the same goal exists: to agree, rather...
Grandparent visitation is often a hot button issue – especially when parents separate and/or divorce. In general, grandparents don’t have a lot of rights to custody and visitation of minor children which, in my opinion, is as it should be. The parents are the ones who are tasked with making the day to day decisions...
It is incredibly difficult to go through a separation and/or divorce (or even a breakup, if you and your child’s father never married) when you have children in common. Going from ‘you’ time and ‘me’ time to ‘your’ time and ‘our’ time is a huge change. There’s not enough said about navigating those complicated and...
Childcare is one of the most difficult parts of parenting. It just is. I think that is true across the board, regardless of whether you are married to your child’s father, never married your child’s father, divorced your child’s father, are separated from your child’s father, or your child’s father is totally MIA. It’s really,...
Navigating a new coparenting relationship is challenging, even under the best of circumstances. Most breakups, though, aren’t the best of circumstances. Or maybe – and this is entirely possible – I just have a poor sampling. I do think that’s something you (and probably I) should always consider. When I speak (or write), I’m thinking...