The short answer is yes – you can choose to give your child your last name at birth. The longer answer, of course, is that this can be complicated. For unmarried mothers, particularly ones who exclude their child’s father from the birth, this is easier. We don’t necessarily assume that a child should be given...
Can I give my child my last name – and not dad’s?
There’s an easy answer to this question. There’s also a harder answer. Let’s get into it, though, and talk more about dating after separation and divorce. Dating after separation: the easy answer The easy answer is that life is messy. That marriages often end long before divorces are finalized. That, for many separated and separating...
Relocation is one of the trickiest areas of child custody litigation in part because there are no hard and fast answers. Whether you and your child’s father were married and are not separated and/or divorcing, or whether you were unmarried but share children in common, you will find that your ability to move wherever you...
In Virginia, you are married until you are divorced. While Virginia requires a fairly lengthy period of separation before you are legally permitted to finalize your divorce, being legally separated is not the same as being actually divorced. Separated is still married. In fact, the entire point of requiring a period of separation is so...
As you probably already know, not all wives are SAHMs. Goodness knows I’m not! From a divorce perspective, having access to your own income, benefits, and opportunities is so critically important. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – one of the biggest evils when it comes to divorce and child custody cases...
Yes, I’m back, and I’m still talking about costs in your divorce or child custody case because there is (still) more information that I could share that might impact the choices that you make in your case, at least when it comes to whether to hire an attorney (and if so, whom). We’ve already talked...
It is always hard to ascertain, especially ahead of time, exactly how much your family law case – whether divorce or child custody – will ultimately cost. Even though I do this day in and day out, and have for over fourteen years now, it’s hard for even me to help give people the “ballpark”...
The elephant in the room, when you’re talking about a family law case, is always going to be the lingering question of how much it will cost. One part of that will be – if you choose to retain counsel – exactly how much that representation will cost. But there are other costs, too, and...