Child Custody

Hiring a Private Investigator: What You Need to Know

She left the rolled up Rembrandt in the Amtrak station in Newport News, along with the stack of bearer bonds. But what did she do with your grandmother’s heirloom jewelry and your 11 polo ponies? When you need to hire a private investigator (PI) in a family law or divorce issue, is it really as suspenseful and dramatic as it ...

By |June 6th, 2018|

Can I Take My Kids Out-of-State for Summer Vacation?

You and your ex-wife have worked out the bumps and edges of separation, divorce, and child custody. Now you are looking to summer, when the parenting time schedule you two worked out includes three whole weeks with your adorable children, June and Auguste. You are excited to have little Auguste and June for most of July, and plan to drive ...

By |May 30th, 2018|

Eleventy-Three Things Nobody Tells You about Being a Single Dad

Inspirational author Germany Kent said, “Don't live the same day over and over again and call that a life. Life is about evolving mentally, spiritually, and emotionally.” Single dads in Virginia would do well to consider his advice. Evolve, grow, and embrace the ups and downs of parenting. Being a single dad in Virginia is like riding one of Virginia’s ...

By |May 21st, 2018|

20+ Disturbing Facts about Fatherlessness

Perhaps as a way to make ourselves feel better, humans unscientifically invented the notion of “compensation” for deficits. We tell ourselves, for instance, that blind people have more acute hearing, or that hearing-impaired people are excellent lip readers (neither of which is true, says Michigan’s Community Service Commission). Often we drape the same socially comfortable cover over fatherlessness, trying to ...

By |May 11th, 2018|

Can Text Messages Be Used as Evidence in Family Law Court?

Virginia’s laws of evidence are described and organized in great detail in the Rules of Supreme Court of Virginia (616 pages and no pictures!). Thumb through to page 95 and you get to the Good Part, the Virginia Rules of Evidence, which continue along to page 175, a tedious and tiresome 80 pages. Clearly, if the ancients wished to hide ...

By |May 4th, 2018|

5 Big Benefits of Judicial Settlement Conferences (JSCs)

Though they may appear to never step down from their lofty perches behind the judge’s bench, Virginia’s judges really are just regular folks, aware of how little time other Virginians have for the often drawn-out pomp and procedures of a family law courtroom. A shortage of time is part of the reason for the 2003 creation of Virginia’s Judicial Settlement Conference ...

By |May 2nd, 2018|

What is Bird Nesting? Should My Ex and I Consider It?

After your divorce, who owns your home? Though financially and legally you or ex-wife may own it, you do have the option to let your kids have the house. Not unsupervised, like some 21st century version of The Little Rascals, but by having each parent take turns living in the family home during their parenting time. This technique, in which the ...

By |April 20th, 2018|

Quiet Divorce: 6 Tips to Keep It Under Wraps Until the Timing Is Right

Some surprises are happily wonderful, like U.S. Army soldier Brent Mount, fresh out of Afghanistan, surprising his nine-year-old daughter1 at her Virginia school. Some surprises are best kept under wraps because the news is not welcome, like you wanting to divorce your wife. Try these suggestions for keeping the word from spreading until you have everything arranged as you need for ...

By |April 18th, 2018|

Do Verbal Agreements Count for Custody & Visitation?

The character Roger “Verbal” Kint in Usual Suspects is a charade, disguising the evil genius of (spoiler alert) Keyser Söze in the same body. He is called “Verbal” because he can talk your ears off. He should, technically, be called “Oral,” but the connotation is a bit racey for the role, so Verbal it is. Verbal vs. Oral You see, ...

By |April 16th, 2018|
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