Separation isn’t always the road to divorce. For some couples, probably for more couples than I even realize (because, let’s be honest, I have an unbalanced sampling), separation ultimately leads not to divorce but to reconciliation. That’s as it should be. I believe that women who want a divorce should be able to get one,...
Reconciling After Separation
Once you have an appointment – like an initial consultation – with a lawyer, that lawyer cannot meet with, give advice to, or represent the opposing party. In a divorce or custody case, if a wife meets with five of the top local divorce attorneys, none of those five will be able to represent her...
Emotionally, going through a divorce or custody case (or, worse, a divorce AND custody case) is easily one of the most difficult things that you will face in your adult life. Many therapists even liken the experience of going through divorce to a death – it’s just that traumatic. Even a good divorce –...
Kids keep you busy. If it’s not one season, it’s another. And between the after-school events, social activities, birthday parties, sports, summer camps, classes, and other activities, it can be overwhelming shuttling the kids to and from all of it. Keeping up with the calendar alone can be challenging enough, but for separated and divorced...
Divorce is hard enough in normal circumstances, but when you don’t know where your soon-to-be ex is living, it’s even harder. You may be surprised, too, to find out how often it happens! The biggest issue associated with not knowing where he is has to do with service of process. Basically, it’s a Constitutional requirement. When...
I don’t want to mislead you, so I’ll tell you from the first sentence: I am not aware of any reputable Hampton Roads, Virginia-based family law attorneys that take payment plans. I know – hiring an attorney is expensive. Generally speaking, family law attorneys work on retainers, which means that you have to pay a...
It’s hard to transition from having custody of your child full time to sharing custody, no matter what specific allocation of time your child’s father gets. Sharing holidays is a challenge, especially when you consider that it means that there will be major holidays that you’ll spend alone. Any deviation from the standard schedule...
Sometimes, I think I hate going anywhere. But then I do, and I’m so glad I did. If you’re thinking about going to Girl’s Night Out but you’re just not sure, I’m talking directly to you. I know it can be scary to go somewhere new, especially if you don’t know a lot of other...