Custody cases are some of the hardest. Even in cases that – to me, at least – seem more or less routine, there’s still the fact that parents who otherwise would have had (and probably did have, up until recently) complete autonomy over how their children were going to be raised are going to suddenly...
Drinking and New Boyfriends in Virginia Custody Cases
Separation agreements are great, because they allow parties to reach an agreement about how their divorce will be handled, rather than litigating things and ultimately leaving it up to a judge to decide. Judges are super smart and all that, but (1) they don’t know your case as well as you do, and (2) don’t...
In a lot of cases, everything is pretty cut and dry—except custody. In a lot of ways, everything else sort of handles itself. And, besides, it’s just money; there’s a certain amount that people will spend fighting over money (usually, only up to a certain percentage of the value of the asset). Though it’s true...
One of the questions I get all the time is, “What if my child doesn’t want to go to visitation?” Or, “if she’s sick, do I have to make her go?” In general, “Do I have to make my child go?” is a big one, and it can crop up in all sorts of different...
Before there’s a specific custody agreement in place, everything is in flux—including custody and visitation. In fact, before this, you probably never thought of things like parenting time, custody, or visitation, you just did what you had to do to make sure the kids were adequately taken care of. Well, now, everything has changed, and...
Whether you or your child’s father originally filed custody petitions, it’s a pretty scary process. If he has an attorney and you don’t, it’s probably especially scary. Though there’s no rule that says you have to have an attorney in any divorce or custody cases in Virginia, navigating the system on your own can be...
When things don’t work out between you and your child’s father, it often leads to a tumultuous transitional period. Whether you were married or not, separating often means finding a new place to live. Depending on your socioeconomic and employment status, finding somewhere new may be a more difficult proposition for you than for others...
Divorce and custody cases do all sorts of things to people. Things that, before the case were on the horizon, would have seemed unthinkable—in both good ways and bad. One of the most annoying things that happens is when a formerly deadbeat dad decides that he now wants custody, or at least wants more parenting...