When he has filed for divorce – but you don’t want a divorce Sometimes, divorce and custody cases can be a little bit bizarre. I recently talked with a lady at Second Saturday who had the strangest story to tell. She and her husband are military, and he’s PCS’ing (getting a permanent change of duty station). She stayed behind and was closing things out in the home they were renting, but planned to join him. About a week before she planned to leave, she was served with divorce papers. She – I … [Read more...]
Lori Michaud to teach Virginia CLE for Local Lawyers
Lori Michaud has practiced law for over thirty years, so it should probably come as no surprise that she has learned a thing or two in that time. She is somewhat unique to our firm in the sense that she has such a wide array of experience; she has worked for very, very large firms (doing corporate litigation, no less!) in New Jersey and New York before relocating to Virginia to run her own successful law firm as a solo practitioner, and, finally, joining our family to represent women exclusively … [Read more...]
Sheera Herrell to Teach Virginia Lawyers Continuing Education
Not all attorneys are created equal. You know that, of course, but that doesn’t mean that it’s easy to just know who these superior attorneys are. Well, lucky for you – I’ll tell you. The cream of the crop are often the attorneys who are selected to present continuing education classes (CLEs, we call them – for continuing legal education) to other local area attorneys. We all have to attend them; in fact, we’re required to have 12 hours of continuing education classes each year to keep our … [Read more...]
Grandparents in Custody and Visitation Cases
At this point, very little that I see is something that I’m seeing for the first time. Most of the time that’s good, because it means I have a level of familiarity with a lot of different scenarios, and I at least have some experience to draw on, even if the combination of circumstances is unique in each case. Sometimes, though, even when things are NOT new or unusual to me, I still find it surprising. One of those things is when my client tells me that her parents were abusive – and then, in … [Read more...]
What is a corroborating witness in Virginia? Who can be one?
What is a corroborating witness in Virginia divorce? Who can be one? In Virginia, you often need a corroborating witness in your divorce case. You can use a corroborating witness for all sorts of things, but usually its related to providing that your grounds -- whether fault or no fault – are proven to the satisfaction of the judge. It’s not enough for you to testify to some fact or other, and, actually, it’s not even enough for your husband to agree that what you’re saying is true. To prove … [Read more...]
Karaoke Night: Coming Up Soon!
Karaoke Night: Coming Up Soon! If you’ve been watching us for a little while, you probably already know about our Girl’s Night Out events. I don’t mean to toot our own horn or anything, but they’re kind of a big deal. Actually, no other family law firm is doing anything like this; well, to be fair to them, it’d be hard to do, because no one else in Virginia exclusively represents women. (Can you imagine how weird it’d be if a husband and wife accidentally showed up to the same … [Read more...]
Super Dad: A Virginia Custody Phenomenon
Watch out for Super Dad! “Super Dad” is a special kind of phenomenon that is unique to custody and visitation cases. In most families, while mom and dad are together, it’s the mom who bears the brunt of the parenting responsibility. It’s normally mom who drives the carpools, attends the parent teacher conferences, schedules all the doctors appointments, never forgets a birthday, runs out for poster board the night before the school project is due… and on and on and on. Both the physical and the … [Read more...]
Custody Issues: Back to School Drama
Custody issues: back to school drama Back to school often raises a whole host of issues for parents who are separated or divorced. Really, any time there’s a big change with the kids, it can pose issues for separated or divorced parents, but I feel like back to school is often one of those points that, year after year, we run into the same issues. I get it: it’s challenging. And married, separated, divorced, whatever – raising children is hard work. There’s no instruction manual. And so much … [Read more...]
Will I have to get a job after divorce?
Will I have to get a job after divorce? In a marriage, you make all sorts of decisions every single day. At some point, a decision that a lot of married couples make, especially if they have children together, is whether one parent should stay at home to care for the children. It’s not an easy decision, but it’s one that, for one reason or another, a lot of families make. When it starts looking like a divorce is imminent, though, it’s easy to regret that decision. After all, no job makes … [Read more...]
Self Defeating Things Divorcing Women Say
Self Defeating Things Divorcing Women Say I hear you; this is hard. Divorce is scary. It’s overwhelming. It’s so wide-reaching, too! Buying a house or car is expensive, but a divorce divides EVERYTHING you’ve earned, purchased, or acquired (including debt, including calculating support, and including custody and visitation) during the course of your entire marriage. If that’s daunting, well, that’s a pretty normal thing to be feeling. You’re not alone, and it’s normal if you feel like it’s … [Read more...]
