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Do I have to respond to my child’s father’s requests for information?

By Katie Carter | June 7, 2019

When your child’s father abandons you, there are hard feelings. I’ve heard some pretty horrific and heart rending stories throughout the course of my career, and, even though I’ve been doing this a pretty long time at this point, it still weighs on me. A woman I talked to the other day told me how, […]

Overnight (Romantic) Guests After Divorce

By Katie Carter | June 3, 2019

There are a lot of things that are often important to my clients when it comes to custody post-divorce, but one of the first things they mention (particularly if their divorce is related to some sort of adultery) is that they don’t want overnight guests of the opposite sex while the child is in the […]

Will my child’s father get visitation if I’m breastfeeding?

By Katie Carter | March 27, 2019

Breastfeeding is something that comes up pretty often when we’re talking about custody and visitation of infants – and sometimes even toddlers and beyond! With the wealth of information that is available to us nowadays, most people are aware of the fact that the benefits of breastfeeding extend for as long as mom and child […]

Drug or Alcohol Use in My Virginia Custody Case

By Katie Carter | February 13, 2019

Drug or alcohol use can pose problems in a Virginia child custody case, as you can probably pretty well imagine. Judges – who are notoriously conservative, especially in Virginia, and especially when it comes to things like drug use – don’t like it. In Virginia (as in pretty much everywhere), custody cases always comes down […]

My Guardian ad litem is SO biased!

By Katie Carter | January 11, 2019

Working with a Guardian ad litem (an attorney appointed to represent the interests of the child to the court in a custody and visitation case) isn’t easy, to put it mildly. And, if you’re one of the many, many, many women I’ve worked with or talked to over the years who hates your Guardian ad […]

Dealing with narcissism in your Virginia divorce

By Katie Carter | June 11, 2018

Narcissistic husbands are tricky. (And trust me, you’re nowhere near the only one dealing with issues stemming from a marriage with a narcissist!) But recognizing your husband’s condition is so helpful, even though it might not feel that way to you right this minute. Knowing how he operates, how he makes you feel, and how […]

Parental Kidnapping in Virginia

By Katie Carter | August 21, 2017

It happens semi regularly that we end up with a client who has moved with her child (or children) to another state over dad’s objection. If dad doesn’t care, it’s not a really big deal. If he does, though, and he files an emergency petition for custody, you could find yourself up the proverbial creek […]

My child’s father isn’t involved. Can he get custody?

By Katie Carter | October 7, 2016

It seems like we have a couple of cases like this lately. Dad wasn’t involved in the child’s life (and when I say wasn’t involved, I mean, like, he was completely and totally uninvolved) until, suddenly, he decided that he wanted to be. And not just that he wanted to see the child on occasion […]

What if he kicks me out?

By Katie Carter | September 2, 2015

The early days of a divorce or separation are the worst. It’s when both fears and tempers are at their worst, which causes lots of otherwise perfectly rational people to make decisions that they wouldn’t ordinarily. Under normal circumstances, idle threats wouldn’t cause a World War III level fight; in the beginning of a divorce […]

Can my husband make me get a job after divorce?

By Katie Carter | May 15, 2015

In divorce, everything changes, especially the finances. Going from two incomes (to maintain just one household) to one income (maintaining the same household) can be jarring, especially if children are involved. When you add to it the costs of moving (including first and last month’s rent, security deposits, down payments, whatever), replacing the things that […]