Silly you, you thought learning ended at high school or college graduation, didn’t you? Then a boss handed you a computer program’s 300-page manual and said, “Spend your weekend learning this program so you can use it Monday.” Then your staff sergeant informed you that you’ve “volunteered” for special training. Then a Virginia judge told you to attend parenting classes. ...
Guardians ad litem in Virginia seem to hold great sway over family law cases. Perhaps you are concerned about a court-ordered investigation and report issued by a guardian ad litem (GAL) and you wonder, can you do anything about it? What’s a GAL? A guardian ad litem (GAL) is a court-appointed legal representative whose client is your child. In any ...
January 1, 2018 was monumental for many reasons. For many a bleary-eyed party-goer, the day started late and held such auspicious news as a new world darts champion and California’s move to legalize recreational cannabis. And, of course, the United States military inaugurated its Blended Retirement System. Happy New Year! BRS – The Blended Retirement System It’s our beloved military, ...
We went to visit one of Virginia Beach’s psychic readers the other day. We knocked on her door. From somewhere inside she asked, “Who is it?” So we left. How good could she be? Anyway, even though child support calculations can seem to be the stuff of crystal ball gazing, they really are not beyond your abilities to understand. Let’s ...
Everybody likes parties. New Year’s Eve parties, office parties (look, there’s cake!), birthday parties. In the law, however, you can have one party or two parties. Here, we’re talking about consenting parties to recording. And Virginia is a one-party consent state. Wiretapping in Virginia The colloquial term, “wiretapping,” actually has a legal definition, too. Under Code of Virginia § 19.2-62 ...
If good manners are the grease to keep society’s wheels turning, then regulations and rules are the guardrails to help us all stay on track. Laws, rules, regulations, guidelines; they all provide for predictability and stability. Everyone agrees to “play” by the rules, even when we’re not playing games. That is why continuances in Virginia family law cases must be ...
Here’s a mathematical puzzle to nudge your noggin: how can you take $8,800 and turn it into $7.5 million? Ben Franklin knew the trick; he left $4,400 to Boston and the same sum to Philadelphia, leaving the heavy lifting to compound interest. Exactly 200 years later, Boston had a tidy sum of $5 million, with Philadelphia reaping about $2.5 million. ...
Custodial parents in Virginia truly represent the original meaning and heart of the word, “custody.” Starting around the 15th century, the word meant “guarding, watching, keeping.” That’s what custodial parents do, though the term makes the non-custodial parent sound like a freeloading oaf. We know you’re not. But what rights do you have as the non-custodial parent? Can you sign ...
You’re nothing special. Sounds harsh, right? Well, for a sliver of Virginia’s men, that’s actually good news. If you’re an alcoholic, you might think you are a rare misfire, a faulty launch. You are neither, since roughly 5.9 percent of Virginians and U.S. adults said they were “heavy drinkers,” according to the 2017 State of Virginia Epidemiological Profile: Alcohol (the ...