I’ve heard so many different versions of the same story – a deadbeat dad, an abusive dad, a homeless dad, a narcissistic dad, an addicted dad – and desperate, terrified moms wanting to know what their options are. For one reason or another, many have asked me whether they’d get sole custody, whether they could...
Will my child’s father get parenting time?
One of the most difficult forms of abuse – whether it’s an ongoing pattern of abuse or whether it’s post separation abuse – is when dad refuses to allow mom to seek appropriate medical care for the child(ren) in her care. He either says he doesn’t believe the diagnosis, he disagrees with the type of...
In most cases, both parents will have the opportunity to have uninterrupted, unsupervised parenting time with their minor children, whether by agreement between the parties or by court order. In extreme cases, though, it is possible that the court would order one party or the other to have supervised visitation. This will usually be in...
Custody and visitation can be sort of a tricky subject and, if you look on the internet or poll friends on social media, you can get a wide range of (not necessarily correct) answers. It’s always wise to at least talk to an attorney when you have legal questions, rather than relying on (well-meaning) non-attorneys,...
Custody cases are some of the most dramatic, contentious, and stressful cases. I’ve written on this before, and I’ll say it again: Virginia is NOT one of the states in this country that mandates 50/50 custody as a starting point. In Virginia, we use the ‘best interests of the child’ factors, established by statute, as...
If you don’t want to have a trial in your court case, you have to settle your case first. In a divorce or custody context, settlement is achieved when there is a signed agreement negotiated between the parties. In a divorce case, you would sign and negotiate a separation agreement – a legal contract that...
Kids keep you busy. If it’s not one season, it’s another. And between the after-school events, social activities, birthday parties, sports, summer camps, classes, and other activities, it can be overwhelming shuttling the kids to and from all of it. Keeping up with the calendar alone can be challenging enough, but for separated and divorced...
When it comes to coparenting, there are a lot of issues that can come up. Of course, in some cases, there are a lot of issues that DON’T come up, because they’re already foregone conclusions that both parents take for granted. It seems like school enrollment is one of those issues that can find...