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...]
Virginia Relocation Cases
Virginia Relocation Cases Virginia relocation cases are always among the hardest. Though I understand why they come up so frequently (especially in an area that has such a high concentration of military families), I can also understand why the courts are so hesitant to allow one parent to relocate with the child. Like most other things, there are standards that apply when a parent wants to relocate. The standards come from case law (other cases Virginia courts have decided related to … [Read more...]
Emergency Custody Hearings
If you’ve found your way to this page, you probably already know that, in most jurisdictions, it can take several months to get a hearing schedule on custody and visitation petitions with a juvenile court. In Chesapeake, for example, it takes 90 days for the court to review the petitions, and usually another 90 to get a hearing scheduled! For most people, when they seek legal help, it’s because they’re at the end of their rope and they just don’t know how to proceed. Having to wait another … [Read more...]
Visitation with Sick Kids
There’s nothing worse than seeing your kids sick. Unless it’s having sick kids and knowing that, under the current custody and visitation order/agreement, they’ve got to go to their dad’s. Whatever your feelings about or your relationship with your child’s father, having your children away from you while they’re sick is not at all ideal. If you’re like me (and because you’re reading this post, I kind of assume that you are), you want your children with you especially when they’re sick, no … [Read more...]
Ballpark Virginia Custody Case Fees
Everyone (and I do mean everyone) wants us to give them just a “ballpark” figure for how much their case might cost. In some cases, that’s an easier thing to do than others. But, even so, costs can be a difficult thing to estimate. There are a lot of variables involved. There are a lot of things that, try as I might, I just can’t control. And there are some things that, even if an issue may seem simple up front, that doesn’t necessarily mean things will resolve quickly, easily, and … [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...]
Special Issues in Virginia Child Custody Cases
Custody cases are tricky. Like divorce, custody is one of those areas of law that varies pretty dramatically from state to state. There’s not a lot of standardization from place to place. Though almost all states have some iteration of the “best interests of the child” factors (here are Virginia’s ten best interests of the child factors), how those factors are interpreted and applied can be really different from state to state. (And, even within Virginia, from court to court – because the … [Read more...]
Parental Kidnapping in Virginia
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 without a paddle. Parental Kidnapping in Virginia They’re your kids, so you can’t kidnap them, right? I mean, the whole idea is just ludicrous isn’t it?…Except it’s not. Just like you have a … [Read more...]
Relocation and Custody
Relocation cases are some of the most difficult custody cases to win – in Virginia at least. And, probably, they come up in Virginia with more frequency than they do in some other places because we’ve got such a disproportionately high number of military service members. I get it, of course. What worked when you and your child’s father were together is different than what works after you split up. When you lived together, you had a little extra support—support that has now, in most cases, been … [Read more...]
Can I move with our child in Virginia?
If you’re feeling unsafe, it’s only natural to want to run away—particularly if the very person who is making you feel unsafe is your child’s father. In my career, I’ve heard some pretty awful horror stories about the situations that have made my clients feel like they have no choice other than to flee. Usually, they run away to somewhere safe—like their parent’s home. In fact, recently I’ve had a number of cases like this, where my client took the child to another state where her parents lived … [Read more...]
