I get it. Lawyers tell you things sometimes that you just don’t want to hear. They give you advice and maybe, while you sat in your attorney’s office, you thought you were going to follow it. When you got home, though, other things confronted you, distracted you, and made it difficult for you to do...
Ignoring Your Lawyer’s Advice
On Monday, we discussed common situations that we see in divorce and custody cases, and when a person’s decisions can have unintended consequences. Most people realize that, when you talk with a lawyer, they’ll give you advice. Most people don’t think beyond that word – advice – to the fact that what the attorney...
Women ask me all the time whether they can represent themselves in their custody cases. I get it – attorneys are expensive. And probably fairly intimidating, especially if you don’t have much experience with the process. Technically, the answer is yes. You are allowed to represent yourself in a divorce or custody case (because, of...
I get it. Your kids are your life, and there’s nothing you wouldn’t do for them, including (but not limited to) staying in your unhappy marriage. But what’s the right choice? Do you stay, knowing that it’s entirely possible that your kids are aware of more tension than you even realize? Or do you go,...
Holidays are hard. They’re always hard. I field questions about holidays probably almost every single day. Generally speaking, holidays are alternated between parents. We alternate legal holidays – the Fourth of July, Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving. We usually alternate Christmas and Spring Break, too, to varying degrees, both to reflect the need for...
In custody and visitation cases, Guardians ad litem are some of the most passionately despised people, and probably at least once a week someone asks me what they can do to either get rid of their Guardian ad litem or request that they be sanctioned for their behavior. How do I sue my guardian ad...
Under the law, a child magically becomes an adult on their 18th birthday. But what does that mean, and how does it impact custody and visitation? When you have an older teenaged child, what options do you have? What does the court allow? These are all good questions, and, if you’re the parent of an...
Temporary Agreements are complicated issues in divorce and custody cases. If your husband (or child’s father) proposes one, you should proceed with extreme caution. That being said, we often use temporary agreements for all sorts of reasons. I’m working on one right now for a client who needs custody and spousal support determined on a...