Waiving child support in a Virginia separation agreement I hear the same objection all the time: "But my husband says he won't sign an agreement unless I waive child support." They're upset. They're scared. They don't know what to do. Most are loathe to accept any kind of financial assistance from their child's father anyway, but they're still not quite sure how they'll make ends meet WITHOUT child support. "What can I do?" they ask me, tearfully. So, it's a loaded question, and one … [Read more...]
Custody and Visitation: Bad Result in Juvenile Court
On Wednesday, we talked about your first custody court date – otherwise known as your initial appearance – in juvenile court. You know, that first date in, where you presented the details to the judge and set a trial date. It’s a common misconception that the first custody court date is going to be the custody trial date, and that just isn’t so. It’s just the opportunity for the parties to come and explain the issues to the judge (not to really present evidence, just to lay it all out there … [Read more...]
Should shared custody be the new norm?
When it comes to custody, there are a lot of opinions out there. If you’ve stumbled across our site, you’re probably one of us. That is to say, you’re likely an advocate for women in divorce and custody cases. Custody cases are hard. There are so many emotions involved. And, unlike in divorce, there’s no hard and fast rules about how things are divided. After all, you can split a pension, but you definitely can’t split a baby. …Right? More and more of the time, we’re seeing shared custody … [Read more...]
Moms Versus Dads in Virginia Custody Cases
Full Disclosure: Our firm represents women exclusively in divorce and custody cases. If you’re looking for something written by activists for Father’s rights, you’re in the wrong place. Custody cases are complicated and constantly changing, which probably explains why there is so much misunderstanding out there. I meet with one woman who tells me she knows she won’t lose custody because moms always win, and another who tells me that her child’s father says he’s going to take the child and … [Read more...]
Handling Holiday Custody and Visitation
Things always get more difficult around the holidays. People who are thinking about divorce don’t really tend to take action at this point; for the most part, they keep it together for their families through the holiday season. But for the people who have an existing divorce or custody case, it tends to become more emotionally charged as parents face the possibility (or the probability?) of spending at least one major holiday without their children. It’s a daunting thought. As a mom myself, I … [Read more...]
What to Expect at a Virginia Custody Seminar
Custody cases are scary, and, whether you’ve hired an attorney or are hoping to handle your case yourself, you probably have a lot of questions about what to expect. Obviously, you’ve also heard that there’s a seminar for Virginia moms facing custody cases, so now you’re probably wondering whether a Virginia custody seminar is going to have the answers for your questions and, ultimately, help with your case. Am I right? Well, you’re right to wonder, and it’s also normal to wonder what to … [Read more...]
Why Good Moms Lose Custody
I’ll let you in on a secret: good moms lose custody. It doesn’t happen all the time. It doesn’t even happen most of the time. But, sometimes, good moms lose custody. Yes. Seriously. Sometimes, it happens that, even though a mom is a good mom, she loses custody. Why? Well, it really all depends on the unique factors in each case, but there are some similar themes we tend to see among cases like these. How are custody cases decided? When custody cases are litigated (meaning they go in … [Read more...]
Planning for Holiday Custody and Visitation
Today is Halloween which means, to me, at least, the kick off of the holiday season. From here on out, it seems like everything is holiday themed. And, don’t get me wrong, I love it. I love every single minute of it. This year, in fact, it’s even more special to me, because I’m pregnant with my first child. I’m not due until March, but in a lot of ways my life has already changed. It’s amazing how fast that happens, isn’t it? How quickly you can go from “I can’t imagine how I could go to a … [Read more...]
Self Help Custody: DIY Virginia Custody Resources
Though I think it’s awesome that so many more places are offering resources for people planning on trying to represent themselves on their own, I think the site created by the Virginia Judicial System (though helpful in essentials) is definitely lacking when it comes to providing Virginia women with the information that they need to actually be able to represent themselves in their upcoming custody cases. You’d think that’d be the whole point of a do it yourself site: to help make it so that … [Read more...]
Custody and Visitation of Babies in Virginia
“I don’t want to send the baby to his father,” mothers often say to me. They can cite a bunch of reasons, from the fact that he hasn’t yet changed a single diaper (a single one!), that he isn’t vigilant about avoiding her allergens, he doesn’t stick to the schedule with respect to her medication, and that, really, he hasn’t spent hardly any time alone, one on one, with the child. Whether she’s currently breastfeeding or not, mom is always worried—and more than a little reluctant to hand the … [Read more...]
