To cut to the chase and state the obvious as simply as possible: if there’s no custody order in place (as in, you and your child’s father have never (1) been to court to let a judge determine custody, and (2) you’ve never signed an agreement related to custody and visitation), both you and your...
Virginia Custody Issues: He won’t let me see the kids
In family law cases, it seems to happen fairly often that, in litigated cases, you come before the same judge several times. Most courts, of course, do this on purpose – in order to minimize the amount of time needed at each hearing that the judge needs to familiarize himself with the facts of the...
If you’ve found your way to this page, you probably already know that, in most jurisdictions, it can take several months to get a hearing schedule on custody and visitation petitions with a juvenile court. In Chesapeake, for example, it takes 90 days for the court to review the petitions, and usually another 90 to...
When it comes to facing a custody case, you probably feel like a fish out of water. And, honestly, if you don’t feel that way, you probably should. I don’t say that to scare you – I don’t ever want to just scare anybody – but only to make you aware that things that you...
I feel like there’s a whole list of things I shouldn’t have to say about what to wear when you go to court, but, then again, people wear things sometimes that make me shake my head. Whenever I’m in juvenile court, it seems like there’s always someone who thought it was appropriate to roll out...
I get asked all the time whether the court will make my client or prospective client do something lifestyle-based, like go back to work, put their kids in daycare, quit working, stop breastfeeding, stay in the same city as their ex husband, etc. In general, the answer is pretty clear. There’s not much that the...
If things aren’t working out between you and your child’s father and you’ve got a newborn in the house, you’re not alone. But you’re probably feeling pretty alone, and overwhelmed, and, if you’re like every other mom in that dreaded 4th trimester, more than a little hormonal. Besides that, you’re exhausted, and that just doesn’t...
Why don’t you do free consultations? We get phone calls all day long asking about free consultations and pro bono legal services. It’s understandable. Facing a divorce or custody case is a pretty scary thing, and there aren’t court appointed attorneys to help in these types of cases. You may have heard all those Miranda...