I’m lonely. Will dating impact my child support?

We talked the other day about how dating might impact an award of spousal support.  I had originally intended to write about both child and spousal support in the same article, but it just ended up being too complicated, so I split into the two articles.  You can check out the spousal support article here....

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Breaking up with your child’s father makes a difference to your life in a million different ways.  Ultimately, your estate plan is one of those ways that – though it may not immediately be apparent to you, if you’re young-ish and in relatively good health – can sneak up on you later.  Regardless of your...

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Up until the court formally decides custody and visitation – or, alternatively, the parties enter into a signed custody agreement – there’s no formal child custody, visitation, or child support. For many couples, especially the ones that stay together (regardless of whether they’re married), that’s enough and it doesn’t go further than that.  Even for...

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Even if you’ve been unhappy for a really long time, it’s sometimes hard to put a label on your relationship, especially if that label is “abusive.” Its kind of like rape.  We all understand what it is, but, at the end of the day, often have a hard time describing our own experiences in these...

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Custody and Visitation of Grown Children

As you’re probably more or less already aware, custody and visitation of children – whether as a standalone custody case or part of an underlying divorce action – really only deals with minor children.  In Virginia, child support ends when a child turns 19 or graduates from high school, whichever occurs first, and you lose...

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The internet is a dangerous place.  It’s a place where its difficult to tell an expert from a novice, and where each freely, generously, and emphatically give their own opinions.  Sometimes, the two coexist side by side, and it can be hard to determine which is correct. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve...

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Virginia Divorce After 15 Years of Marriage

By any reckoning, 15 years is a fairly lengthy marriage.  At some point – and I’d theorize that’s somewhere along the ten year mark – there comes a time when, even if you break up, you and your soon-to-be ex owe something to each other. The longer the marriage, the more difficult it is to...

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Virginia Divorce After 10 Years of Marriage

They say that marriages fall apart in increments of 7 – 7 years, 14 years, 21 years, and so on.  It’s where the whole “Seven Year Itch” thing came from.  In a lot of ways, I see it.  Even though the first year of marriage is sometimes tumultuous, people tend to settle into a groove...

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