When there are disputes over custody and visitation, they are often physical, rather than legal, custody issues. Physical custody refers to where the child(ren) spend their time and it can be awarded as either primary physical, shared physical, or split physical custody. Legal custody, though, refers to the right of parents to make three types...
Legal Custody in the Commonwealth of Virginia
While things are pretty go, go, go for us through most of the year, there’s no question that – sometime round about the fourth quarter – there’s a slowdown, too. The reality is that most people don’t really want their divorce or their child custody case to be at the forefront during the already exciting...
Once you realize that your marriage is over, you want the rest of your life to begin as soon as possible. But many women don’t know where to start and what their first steps should be. So, what should you do? In Virginia, you are legally separated when (1) you form the intent to end...
It’s always hard to navigate the transition from married couple to separate households, especially when you and your soon-to-be ex share children in common. For stay at home moms, the transition is often even more pronounced because most of their lives, up until this point, has been spent caring for the kids. After separation...
Men delay the inevitable – divorce – for a million different reasons, but one of the most classic reasons is the most obvious one. As long as he’s delaying, he’s not paying. It’s kind of kin to the old adage “it’s cheaper to keep her,” which I admit – I loathe. He’s not paying in...
There are only two ways to resolve a divorce or custody case: either the parties negotiate an agreement, or they go to court and litigate. This is true no matter what the issues are, but there is a sort of third, hybrid option, which includes the possibility of a “reservation” with respect to a certain...
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...
Because of the tie to child support, it’s pretty common that dads will ask for more parenting time than they intend to exercise. Sometimes, they just won’t show up at all. In other cases, though, they’ll take their parenting time, only to ask someone else (usually, their mother or a new girlfriend) to watch the...