Domestic violence is everywhere. It’s a lot more prevalent than most people think, which is pretty alarming. When I started here, over a decade ago now, as a brand new baby lawyer, I was definitely surprised at how often it really happens. When I speak to women who have suffered from domestic abuse, they often...
Domestic Abuse and Divorce
One of the more annoying features of the law is that it changes. It changes with some frequency, and usually on July 1st of each year. The changes in the law that are implemented don’t always have to do with us, but sometimes they do – and then, of course, whatever I’ve written up...
Once you (and your spouse) have made the decision to divorce, you start to worry. How long is it going to take? How much is it going to cost? Will I have enough money to survive on after this is all done? In most cases, the tensions escalate before they deescalate, and there’s a...
One thing to remember about custody and visitation cases in Virginia (and everywhere else) is that you’re playing a long game. So many parents get wrapped up in the next court hearing and tie all their hopes and dreams on it, when, in reality, contested cases usually play out over years and years of hearings....
When it comes to raising children, we all have a million different ideas about how it should be done – and, the thing is, they can vary pretty dramatically from one person to the next, or from one family to the next. As a mother myself – and a family law lawyer dedicated to...
We encourage our clients to think of their separation agreements as their own document. Though we have a form agreement that we base all of our agreements off of, there’s often a fair amount of customization that takes place. That’s the most ideal scenario. We take a document that we know already has some of...
Spousal support is one of the trickier areas of law. For one thing, husbands don’t want to pay it. A few years back, the law was changed so that spousal support is no longer tax deductible. Though that sounds like a good thing – who doesn’t love money that the IRS isn’t counting towards your...
In a divorce, a lot comes down to the decisions that you make at the beginning of the process. I feel like I say this a lot, but I say it because it’s true. There is almost always a tense, emotional, complicated time between when you decide to formally separate and end your marriage,...