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...
Can I draft my own custody agreement?
Childcare is one of the most difficult parts of parenting. It just is. I think that is true across the board, regardless of whether you are married to your child’s father, never married your child’s father, divorced your child’s father, are separated from your child’s father, or your child’s father is totally MIA. It’s really,...
Divorce is hard enough in normal circumstances, but when you don’t know where your soon-to-be ex is living, it’s even harder. You may be surprised, too, to find out how often it happens! The biggest issue associated with not knowing where he is has to do with service of process. Basically, it’s a Constitutional requirement. When...
It’s hard to transition from having custody of your child full time to sharing custody, no matter what specific allocation of time your child’s father gets. Sharing holidays is a challenge, especially when you consider that it means that there will be major holidays that you’ll spend alone. Any deviation from the standard schedule...
The military has all sorts of policies which can make separation, divorce, and child custody especially confusing as a military spouse. On top of the military policies, too, there are many laws at the state level that will impact how your separation, divorce, and/or custody case will proceed, some of which supersede the military policies. ...
Few things in the world are scarier than facing a custody and visitation case. Few things, too, are more difficult to gather up-to-date, state-specific information about – at least, if the information you’re looking for is also credible. There are a lot of non-attorneys out there offering advice and opinions, much of which – though...
Divorce is, historically speaking, one of the busiest months of the year for divorce. For the most part, November and December are generally the slowest; after all, who wants to get divorced during the holidays? It’s not so much that I think divorce is somehow tied to a new year’s resolution – though it certainly...
Is it time to separate? That may be a strategic question and not just an emotional one. In Virginia, we classify separate property as anything that was earned, purchased, or acquired before the marriage or after the date of separation. (We also include anything you inherited in your sole name, anything that was a gift...