“No one takes marriage seriously anymore!”

“No one takes marriage seriously anymore!”

I’m always surprised when people say to me that no one takes marriage seriously anymore. It’s usually either from someone really old or someone who is (generally) happily married. The old people, it seems to me, have a different view of marriage. Basically, that it’s to be endured, no matter what. Because you said vows,...

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What happens in Virginia divorce court?

It’s intimidating to go to court. It’s intimidating to do anything, really, when the process and routines are unfamiliar to you, but it’s especially true when those processes result in splitting the assets and liabilities you’ve spent your adulthood accumulating, not to mention determining custody and visitation of your minor children. There’s a lot at...

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Most people have a lot of questions about the divorce process – even if they understand the basics. After all, there’s a lot that is really fact specific, and it can be hard to apply a general principle to a specific situation. Even if you can sort of guess what the answer might be, you...

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  The way I see it, it goes one of two ways. Some women cannot wait to get back out there and find Mr. Right – or even Mr. Right Now. Other women tell me, in no uncertain terms, that they will never – and I repeat EVER – date anyone ever again. In both...

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  On Wednesday, we talked about the dangers of talking to your children about your divorce or custody case. (Spoiler alert: Though it can be tempting, don’t do it!) One of the hardest things to handle, though, is when your child’s father is talking to your children in a way that you feel is inappropriate....

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  I think most parents know that they really shouldn’t be giving their children information about their ongoing divorce or custody case, especially if what they’re saying is (1) a lie, or (2) disparaging to the other parent. And, yet, it still happens. Like, every day. You’re human. He’s human. You’re under incredible amounts of...

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Knowing which court does what and where to file your petitions is anything but easy, especially in family law. Our cases are handled both in the juvenile courts AND the circuit courts, and there can be some interplay between the two, depending on the specifics of each case. Let’s talk about it. What petitions do...

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Constitutional Rights in Family Law

We’re all used to the idea that, by virtue of the Constitution, we have these certain, unalienable rights. And it’s true – we do. But the reality of what those rights are, and what they mean, and how and when they apply is a little bit more complicated.  In a lot of ways, family court...

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