Does my teenager have to go to visitation with his father?

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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How child support is calculated: Part 2

On Monday, we started talking about child support, and how it’s calculated.  It’s actually pretty straightforward, though the child support guideline figures can vary dramatically, which makes it a refreshing area of law. We ran the guidelines a bunch of different ways, using the same income figures, to show you the difference between one and...

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How is Virginia child support calculated?

Child support is one of those refreshing areas of law where there are black and white, hard and fast answers. As long as we know what numbers – regarding your income and your child’s father’s income, daycare expenses, health care expenses, etc – we can quickly and easily compute child support. From that point, it...

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What is a typical custody schedule?

Well, first off, let me say: there is no such thing as a “typical” custody schedule. Though there are some arrangements that courts (and parents) favor over others, there are literally as many different types of arrangements with respect to custody as there are parents and children out there in the world. There’s no right...

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I’m a mom, too, so I get it. Protecting those little people is literally the only job in the world that matters, and when you feel like the health, safety, and well being of your children is threatened – well, it’s understandable if it makes you feel a little crazy. When the health, safety, and...

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Grandparents in Custody and Visitation Cases

At this point, very little that I see is something that I’m seeing for the first time. Most of the time that’s good, because it means I have a level of familiarity with a lot of different scenarios, and I at least have some experience to draw on, even if the combination of circumstances is...

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Super Dad: A Virginia Custody Phenomenon

“Super Dad” is a special kind of phenomenon that is unique to custody and visitation cases. In most families, while mom and dad are together, it’s the mom who bears the brunt of the parenting responsibility. It’s normally mom who drives the carpools, attends the parent teacher conferences, schedules all the doctors appointments, never forgets...

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Custody Issues: Back to School Drama

Back to school often raises a whole host of issues for parents who are separated or divorced. Really, any time there’s a big change with the kids, it can pose issues for separated or divorced parents, but I feel like back to school is often one of those points that, year after year, we run...

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