Blog
When your child’s dad is a deadbeat in Virginia
It’s probably not what you envisioned when you thought about what life would be like as an adult. The marriage, the home, the 2.5 kids, the golden retriever… but, then again, so many things are different than what we envisioned, and that doesn’t necessarily make them any less wonderful (or, conversely, make them less…
Grandparent and Non Parent Rights in Custody Cases Part 2
On Friday, we talked about custody and visitation cases where a grandparent – or other non parent – petitions the court for custody and/or visitation. The cases I described on Friday are otherwise normal custody cases, where mom and dad share custody and visitation of the minor children in question. In those cases, grandparents (or…
Grandparent and Non Parent Rights in Custody Cases
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that children are wonderful. Well, unless they’re terrible, because sometimes that happens, too. But, regardless of how terrible they might be on any particular day, they’re certainly loveable, and they wiggle their way into our hearts – and the hearts of lots of other people that they come into contact…
Virginia Name Changes and Stepparent Adoptions
So, your child’s biological father is a deadbeat, and now you’ve found Mr. Wonderful (not Mr. Wonderful of the Shark Tank variety, to be clear). He is willing to adopt your child, and to have her assume his last name. Isn’t it amazing? But is it really that easy? In most cases, no! It’s actually…
Non Parent Rights in Virginia Custody
Everything changes when mom and dad can’t make it work. Things that used to work out and were generally accepted sometimes don’t continue to work, especially where nonparents are concerned. Specifically: grandparents. Here’s the typical scenario: mom and dad are happy together (married or unmarried, it’s irrelevant). Mom’s mom is super active in the kid’s…