Gearing up to face a custody case – especially if you can’t afford to hire an attorney to help you – is pretty terrifying. Though there’s no question that divorce cases are difficult, both emotionally and financially, it’s the custody cases that tend to make otherwise sane people totally panic. It’s completely understandable. Until you and your child’s father separated, time with the kids was family time. Everyone was welcome. But now, thinking about what’s happening and what might be ordered … [Read more...]
We’ve been ordered to try mediation in our custody case. Is that okay?
Judges don’t love to decide cases, especially in family law. It’s not that they don’t care, it’s just that they know that they don’t really have the full scope of the situation (how can they?), and prefer, instead, for people to do all that they can to settle their disputes BEFORE coming to court. That way, they reserve their time for the cases that absolutely, positively cannot be settled without their involvement, and people are generally happier with the resolution of their cases. A judge … [Read more...]
Custody Bootcamp for Moms Scholarship Program
Since we represent women exclusively, we get lots of questions from women asking us to help them with their divorce and custody cases. Though we can’t take on entire cases pro bono, there are a lot of programs that we offer in an effort to make sure that Virginia women are as informed as possible when it comes to divorce and custody cases. That’s a big part of the reason we teach seminars on divorce and custody cases in Virginia. Our custody seminar, Custody Bootcamp for Moms, is actually … [Read more...]
Preparing for a Virginia custody case when you can’t afford an attorney: Custody Bootcamp for Moms
A custody case is bad enough, but preparing to face a custody case when you know full well you don’t have the money to hire an attorney is gut wrenching, especially if you know your child’s father has hired an attorney to represent him in court. It’s intimidating. If you’ve ever been to court before (even on a different kind of issue, like a traffic violation), you know that it’s not the kindest, most user friendly venue imaginable. In fact, it’s kind of the opposite. Clerks don’t know the … [Read more...]
What does primary physical custody mean in Virginia?
The other day, I had a debate with a couple of the attorneys in the office. It’s interesting; we’ve been practicing so long, side by side, and yet, in some ways, our experiences (and, as a result, our professional judgment) are completely different. Okay, so here’s the issue. Mom and dad have joint physical custody, and mom wants to enroll their child in therapy. Dad says no. The order of the court (vis a vis the separation agreement, which was incorporated as an order of the court in the final … [Read more...]
Hofheimer Family Law Mother’s Day Promo
If you’re a mom, you’ve made a lot of sacrifices for the sake of your kids. It started from the moment you found out you were pregnant, and started eating insane amounts of broccoli and discussing the benefits of folic acid to anyone who would listen. It carried through your pregnancy, to every single glass of wine, cigarette, or sugar laden dessert you turned down in order to keep your body as healthy as possible for your growing baby. You thought you worked hard then, but then the baby came. … [Read more...]
Virginia Custody and Visitation Agreements
Even though not all parents stay together forever, not all parents need to go to court to have a custody and visitation arrangement set in stone, either. In fact, lots of parents are ultimately able to decide among themselves (or just let things work out on the fly). Of course, there's no right or wrong way to parent, and it can often be an evolving process. What worked when your child was an infant might not always work and, at some point, you may be grateful for the intervention of a judge … [Read more...]
New Year’s Resolutions (Divorce and Custody Law Style)
The new year is a time when a lot of people take a good hard look at their lives, and make decisions about what they want in the future. If you, like others, are taking a hard look at your life and thinking that maybe your marriage just isn't panning out the way you thought it might, this article is for you. It's pretty scary for anyone whenever they start to think about ending their marriage. It's scary particularly because, for most people, there are just so many unknowns. It can be … [Read more...]
Child Support and Deployment
Most of the time, child support is easy peasy. It’s based on a formula, so, basically, we just fill in the blanks and the number pops up. Of course, if yours is a shared custody situation, it can be a little more complicated than in a traditional primary physical custody type situation. How so? Well, with primary physical custody, the non custodial parent has 89 or fewer days with the child in a calendar year. As far as it relates to child support, with primary physical custody, it doesn’t … [Read more...]
Stepparent Adoption in Virginia
Most of the time, we deal with sad stuff—divorce, separation, and custody. Of course, from our perspective, most of these things are positive. Even though there’s no question that our clients are going through something profound and traumatic, we like to think that we’re providing them a sense of strength and empowerment, and the opportunity for a second chance. It feels good, doing what we’re doing, and I’m proud to work for a company that allows me to help women in such a way. Still, there’s … [Read more...]
