Child Support and Shared Custody

Child Support and Shared Custody

Today, I’ve been practicing family law, representing women exclusively, for a little over 9 years. I’m inching ever closer towards a decade of dedicated, women only, divorce and custody practice. There are still new, novel issues that present themselves – I am told, from veterans like Lori Michaud and Sheera Herrell, that it is always this way, even...

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In many types of cases, we can do a basic cost benefit analysis to determine whether something is worth pursuing in litigation. For financial assets, because they can be valued (even when “value” is a range, or there’s some kind of intrinsic sentimental value), that’s more or less easy to achieve. We can tell, at...

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Do Virginia Family Courts Get It Right?

Recently, on Facebook, as I mindlessly scrolled (come on, you know you do it, too) I saw a video that showed a child fighting a visitation exchange. The video alleged that the child was resisting going to spend time with her mother, because her mother’s boyfriend abused her. The end of it – the moral,...

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What is a reasonable agreement when it comes to custody and visitation? This is a question we get a lot – hey, I understand! – from concerned moms who are wondering what’ll happen after they separate from their child’s father. What should a custody and visitation agreement look like?  How much time with my kids...

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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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Common Mistakes in Parental Alienation Cases

If your child’s father has accused you of parental alienation, you’ll want to tread carefully. Even though it’s a really common allegation, and disproving it can be difficult (check out our article from Friday for more information on what parental alienation is and how you can combat an allegation of parental alienation), you will need to...

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Parental Alienation in Virginia Custody Cases

One of the sharpest swords in a dad’s arsenal when it comes to custody cases is often a parental alienation claim. It’s an easy thing to claim, and it often creates a really tricky “he said, she said” situation that can make it hard to asses the truthfulness of anyone involved. That’s the problem with...

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I hate these cases. Really, really hate them. I see moms with some frequency who come in and tell me that they were trying not to make any future issues with custody and visitation, but that their child asked them to intervene for one reason or another. Usually, these children are older teenagers (15+) and...

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