Question: My marriage has been over for years and I’m ready to end it. The problem is, my kids – now teenagers – are refusing to come with me. They want to be near their school and their friends. What happens if they don’t come? I need to start this separation so I can move...
I want to leave my marriage, but my kids won’t come. What can I do?
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...
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...
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...
Few things in the world are scarier than facing a custody and visitation case. Few things, too, are more difficult to gather up-to-date, state-specific information about – at least, if the information you’re looking for is also credible. There are a lot of non-attorneys out there offering advice and opinions, much of which – though...
It’s October again, which means that it’s domestic violence awareness month. Before I started working in family law, I’m not sure I realized how prevalent domestic violence actually is. It’s not all dramatic cases where there are protective orders, either. I can’t get over – even now, after over 12 years in practice –...
After an absence of several years, we’re bringing back Custody Bootcamp for Moms! Like so many things, Custody Bootcamp was a casualty of the pandemic. We knew we had to change the way that we offered the seminar – and, anyway, it was in need of some fresh new updates – but the world stayed...
Parenting Plans and Parenting Time These days, its probably safe to say that shared custody is more the norm than primary physical custody, except in cases where the parties agree otherwise. There is no explicit, legal presumption for shared custody in Virginia, though; in fact, the law only provides that the judge should consider “all”...