Have you ever been to a Virginia civil court proceeding? It’s truly wild, with fans shouting and a court clerk wandering the crowded aisles shouting, “Fresh laws! Get your fresh, new laws here!” No. It’s not like that at all, even when a law is straight out of the sausage factory in Richmond. The law we’re thinking of was newly ...
Montgomery Gentry wrote a song about it. “I’ll Keep the Kids” tells of the whole package: separation, divorce, child custody. But what happens outside of a Nashville recording studio, out here in the real world, when your wife up and leaves, and you have the house, the dog, and the kids to care for? This Little Thing We Like to ...
Everyday conversation is (unfortunately) littered with references to mental health. We routinely call people crazy, nuts, and cray-cray. We claim our spouse is a loon, a nutcase, a psychopath, or a sociopath. These may work in casual chatter but mean nothing in a court of law. Mental health evaluations are often pivotal parts of child custody and other family law ...
Wanna put an unpleasant divorce behind you? Consider moving to Tristan Da Cunha, in the calm and lovely brutally harsh South Atlantic Ocean! Tristan Da Cunha, the most remote place on earth, is 1,750 miles from South Africa. It’s as good a place as any to move if you hope to transfer your child out of school to a spot ...
Once you become a parent, whether as a mother or a father, something primal emerges. Mamas become terrifying tigers; Daddies become beastly bears. Nothing — no danger or insignificant official — will stand between parents and their children. Pitting Mom against Dad, then, is a bit like watching Muhammad Ali take on Joe Frazier in the ring. What kind of ...
To have and to hold. Those are part of many traditional wedding vows. That word, “hold,” is directly related to another word: tenant. Tenants — folks renting a space from a landlord — are named from the Latin word tenere, “to hold.” Unless your wife is a tenant in your marital home, you have no legal right to kick her ...
Open communication is key to a good marriage. Communicating openly and privately with your family law attorney is key to a good separation and eventual divorce. Privacy Matters During Divorce When you buy your ticket on the emotional roller coaster that is separation and divorce, you need to change some of your behaviors. You are no longer partners with your ...
The phrase, “legal separation” is a Virginia myth on par with the Richmond Vampire. Like the Vampire, it seems never to die, it changes over time, and it has a tiny kernel of truth at its core. First of All, There’s No Such Thing Nothing in Virginia law enshrines “legal separation” as a concept. In Virginia, you are either: ...
Virginia’s legal system provides Guardians Ad Litem (GALs) in all cases involving children (and incapacitated adults). Most often, the GAL represents the child. Ideally, the GAL works as a professional by appointment of judges in Juvenile & Domestic Relations Courts, District Courts, and Circuit Courts. What happens when that ideal falls short? Working with a GAL A GAL is appointed ...