It’s no one’s business how you spend your child support

I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but people LOVE to tell other people what to do and how to spend their money, and that definitely includes child support. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that a mom should have to account to dad for how the child support is spent each...

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Do i have custody of my child?

People care for children every single day and haven’t been to court to have custody and visitation determined. In most cases, those people don’t really worry about custody; they just have their kid, and they take care of him (or her). Things only really start to become a problem when there’s turmoil in the relationship...

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In Your Virginia Child Custody Case, Forget Fair

It’s a tough pill to swallow, but it’s a truth that you should accept, and the earlier the better. Custody cases are not about fairness. There are lots of things about custody cases that are “unfair”. It’s not fair that he can petition, over and over again, for a modification based on a material change...

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Do I Want a Guardian ad Litem Appointed?

A Guardian ad litem is an attorney appointed on behalf of a child in a custody case. We really don’t bring kids to court to testify; there won’t be a moment where the child has to tell the court whether he’d prefer to live with mom or dad. That just doesn’t happen. But, of course,...

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It’s not the first time I’ve written about JAG attorneys, and it probably won’t be the last, especially given that these same issues keep popping up time and time again in my practice. I’ve said it before: JAG attorneys are usually not licensed in the state in which they are stationed. If you’re military (which...

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What are your retainer fees?

If that’s not a generic question, I don’t know what is! I know there’s a lot of confusion out there about how attorneys bill and what we charge for. I also know that there’s often a general feeling that we’re not all that willing to give straight answers. In law school, the joke was always...

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While there are very, very few (if any) attorneys who’ll actually take on an entire divorce or custody case pro bono, there’s tons of free divorce and custody information out there. After all, having the right information is critical, because it will help ensure that you make the best decisions for yourself (and your children)...

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I hear the same objection all the time: “But my husband says he won’t sign an agreement unless I waive child support.” They’re upset.  They’re scared.  They don’t know what to do.  Most are loathe to accept any kind of financial assistance from their child’s father anyway, but they’re still not quite sure how they’ll...

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