What are your retainer fees? If that’s not a generic question, I don’t know what is! I know there’s a lot of confusion out there about how attorneys bill and what we charge for. I also know that there’s often a general feeling that we’re not all that willing to give straight answers. In law school, the joke was always that the answer to every single question is “It depends.” Today, I’m going to explain to you what goes in to setting retainer fees, and the different types of cases that we … [Read more...]
Custody Bootcamp for Moms: Seminar for Virginia Moms
Custody Bootcamp for Moms: Seminar for Virginia Moms On Wednesday, I wrote about our divorce seminar for Virginia women. Today, I wanted to tell you a little bit more about our custody seminar. Our custody seminar in particular is really intense. It’s an intense, all day seminar, designed to teach Virginia moms what they need to know to represent themselves at the juvenile court level in a custody, visitation, and/or child support case. As someone who attended law school, I can tell you that … [Read more...]
Is custody included in my separation agreement?
Is custody included in my separation agreement? If you’ve never been through this before, you probably have a lot of questions. Of course you do! After all, it’s complicated, and even a bit scary. You’re dividing up your whole life, and you don’t know what that will mean or how it will impact your every day. I met with a woman the other day who asked me, “Should I file for custody and visitation, while we’re working on the separation agreement?” A perfectly good question, but one that showed … [Read more...]
Emergency Petitions for Custody in Virginia
Emergency Petitions for Custody in Virginia When I was a kid, I took the whole “boy who cried wolf” story a little too seriously. I vividly remember being told about 911, and how it was only to be used in emergencies. I vaguely remember a terrible impression that bad things happened to people who called 911 when it wasn’t an emergency. As an adult, I have a really difficult time, even now, classifying things as an emergency. I’m not sure if I’m scared I’ll appear melodramatic, or if someone … [Read more...]
Will my child’s father get visitation if I’m breastfeeding?
Will my child’s father get visitation if I’m breastfeeding? 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 continue to nurse. For a lot of moms (myself included), establishing breastfeeding is difficult and fraught … [Read more...]
Is it better to file first for divorce or custody?
Is it better if I file first for divorce or custody? It feels better to operate offensively than defensively, doesn’t it? One of the worst things about divorce and custody cases for many of my clients is that they just don’t know what their husbands/children’s fathers are up to. Things aren’t going well, and there are some major disagreements, so you’re worried that something bigger is afoot. Also, when you file first in court, you’re typically labeled the “plaintiff,” and the person … [Read more...]
Moving Away With the Children: Virginia Child Custody Issues
Moving Away with the Children Over time, the law changes and evolves. I see trends – even just in the 8 or so years that I’ve been practicing – come and go. It’s funny how that can happen, but, in custody cases, so much is left up to the judge’s discretion. These things really can be different year over year, and there can be seismic shifts in judge’s viewpoints. And not necessarily in just one court, either; sometimes, it seems like all the judges get a particular memo at the same time, while … [Read more...]
Emergency Petitions for Custody in Virginia
Emergency Petitions for Custody in Virginia When I was a kid, I took the whole “boy who cried wolf” story a little too seriously. I vividly remember being told about 911, and how it was only to be used in emergencies. I vaguely remember a terrible impression that bad things happened to people who called 911 when it wasn’t an emergency. As an adult, I have a really difficult time, even now, classifying things as an emergency. I’m not sure if I’m scared I’ll appear melodramatic, or if someone … [Read more...]
When coparents are petty
When coparents are petty I heard a new one the other day. It doesn’t happen all that often, at this stage in the game, but yesterday it did. I was talking to a woman who told me that her child’s father, after their divorce, tried to one-up her in every single way imaginable – even with the tooth fairy! My son is only two, so I don’t have to deal with the whole tooth fairy thing yet. It’s my understanding, though, that the going rate for teeth has increased since my childhood. When I was a … [Read more...]
Know Your Judge: Virginia Custody Cases
Know Your Judge: Virginia Custody Cases Judges – like all of us normal, regular people – are different. They bring to their job different opinions, and different interpretations of the law. They are subject to different moods, based on what is happening in their own personal lives. This probably isn’t shocking information. But it is pretty scary, to think that you could wait months and months to meet with someone who could be making decisions about you and your family on a day where he or she … [Read more...]
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