3 Things to Keep in Mind When Refinancing Your Home Real property is often one of the biggest items to address in divorce and we have to figure out what will happen to it. A lot of our clients tell us they want to keep living in the former marital home after the divorce, which typically involves a refinance. There are things you need to keep in mind when making that decision: The first question to ask is” Do I Need to Refinance?” If you and your husband are listed on the mortgage and deed, and … [Read more...]
Spousal Support and Abuse
Spousal Support and Abuse Abuse is, for me, always one of the harder subjects to discuss. It's not that it makes the law complicated, or really that it changes what a person might be entitled to receive -- but maybe that's part of the problem for me, too. Abuse changes a person. After years and years of it, it slowly, subtly, completely changes a person. If you've suffered years and years of abuse at your husband's hands, you probably feel like a shell of the person you once were. You're … [Read more...]
My juvenile court case got appealed! What now?
My juvenile court case got appealed! What now? The downside of the juvenile court is definitely the appeals situation. Well, that’s the downside if you won in the juvenile court, anyway. If you lost at the juvenile court level, well, then, it’s absolutely your right to appeal! (Funny how there are two sides to every coin, right?) But, today, I’m really talking about what happens if you won in juvenile court, and the opposing party notes an appeal. It can be incredibly frustrating, especially … [Read more...]
Successful Coparenting
Successful Coparenting Working together with your child’s father isn’t easy, especially after you’ve decided that your future plans really don’t include each other. Breakups and divorces happen all the time, but, ultimately, the impact that these things have on your children is up to you. You know, or at least you probably already suspect, that your future life WILL include your child’s father – that particular fact is something that you probably realized right around the time you birthed your … [Read more...]
Will the judge agree with my Guardian ad litem?
Will the judge agree with my Guardian ad litem? Guardians ad litem are great. Guardians ad litem are terrible. There’s almost no middle ground, and certainly won’t be for you if you’re in the middle of a custody case. Most of all, guardians ad litem are terrifying, because they get involved in your case and, ultimately, make a recommendation about what, in their opinion, is best for your children. I’m a mom, too, so I get how you’re feeling. I can even imagine, though not from personal … [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...]
My Guardian ad litem is SO biased!
My Guardian ad litem is SO biased! Working with a Guardian ad litem (an attorney appointed to represent the interests of the child to the court in a custody and visitation case) isn’t easy, to put it mildly. And, if you’re one of the many, many, many women I’ve worked with or talked to over the years who hates your Guardian ad litem with a fiery passion you didn’t know you could feel for another human being, just know – you’re not alone. If I had a dollar for every time I heard that the GAL … [Read more...]
Adultery, Spousal Support, and Custody
Adultery, Spousal Support, and Custody We talked Monday about adultery, and the difference between filing a divorce (which is a civil case) using adultery as your grounds and an actual criminal prosecution on adultery (which is a level IV misdemeanor in Virginia). The purpose of that article was to alleviate concerns I see around adultery cases. I received a call just the other day from a woman who was worrying about the potential impact to her career stemming from a divorce action that … [Read more...]
Staying in an Unhappy Marriage for the Kids
Staying in an Unhappy Marriage For the Kids I get it. Your kids are your life, and there’s nothing you wouldn’t do for them, including (but not limited to) staying in your unhappy marriage. But what’s the right choice? Do you stay, knowing that it’s entirely possible that your kids are aware of more tension than you even realize? Or do you go, knowing that you’ll forever change their family dynamic and force them to adjust to a new – potentially harmful – normal? No one can make that … [Read more...]
Custody and Visitation on Halloween
Custody and Visitation on Halloween Holidays are hard. They’re always hard. I field questions about holidays probably almost every single day. Generally speaking, holidays are alternated between parents. We alternate legal holidays – the Fourth of July, Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving. We usually alternate Christmas and Spring Break, too, to varying degrees, both to reflect the need for both parents to be able to spend time with the children during the holidays, but also to reflect … [Read more...]
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 11
- Next Page »
