Not every case can be negotiated – this we all know. But, in an ideal world, you and your soon-to-be ex would negotiate, because this is going to give you the most control over how your case will be resolved. No matter what issues are involved, you have essentially two options: agree, or go to...
Negotiating an Agreement v. Litigation
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...
The whole point of a legal contract – any contract – is to establish specific terms governing a certain situation. When we’re talking about divorce, we use a separation agreement. When it comes to custody and visitation, we’re either talking about an initial determination or a modification, but the same goal exists: to agree, rather...
Grandparent visitation is often a hot button issue – especially when parents separate and/or divorce. In general, grandparents don’t have a lot of rights to custody and visitation of minor children which, in my opinion, is as it should be. The parents are the ones who are tasked with making the day to day decisions...
No sooner than you and your child’s father separate than you suddenly start dealing with all sorts of issues that would never have been issues before – one of them, or at least one of the ones that I often come across, is related to medical testing and diagnoses. Maybe you’ve suspected for years that...
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...
It is incredibly difficult to go through a separation and/or divorce (or even a breakup, if you and your child’s father never married) when you have children in common. Going from ‘you’ time and ‘me’ time to ‘your’ time and ‘our’ time is a huge change. There’s not enough said about navigating those complicated and...
Sometimes, the most frustrating things about coparenting aren’t even necessarily the legal issues. Sure, the legal issues themselves can be difficult to resolve but, for many families, once that initial hurdle is crossed, things settle down a bit. That doesn’t mean that all is well and everything is harmonious. In fact, in many cases –...