Who is a reasonable person? A reasonable person, simply put, can make commonsense decisions just as you or we would. We have handed the American legal system that legacy, in the form of a standard of behavior: what would a "reasonable person" do in this legal dilemma or that situation? What would that same "reasonable person" consider to be a "reasonable and ...
You can be forgiven for thinking lawyers could write a 180-page handbook for using shampoo. Legal "briefs" tend to be anything but brief, and legal pads are deliberately three inches longer than regular pads because, well, words, words, words. So, when you examine a Virginia court's child support order, you may be surprised at how much is left out, considering ...
A nation's children are its future. From that simple idea, we get laws that protect children above all, as in Virginia's "best interest of the child" laws found throughout Virginia Code. This precept crosses state boundaries, too, in the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA). Orders for child support are, by virtue of this federal umbrella act that compelled all 50 ...
“White tie and tails” is the most formal of looks for men. It is rarer and more formal, than black tie events like weddings and galas. At the other end of the fashion spectrum, many a Virginia man enjoys his sweatpants and tee-shirt. A Virginia man can swap formal for informal clothing in minutes; changing an informal child support agreement into ...
Nobody can pass a tax law without creating victims and victors. The changes to our tax code brought about by the recent Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) highlight this. Gone will be the deductions for spousal support payments by the payor (in Virginia, usually the man), and the recipients (in Virginia, usually the woman) will not have to declare ...
Children are a kind of illusionist’s trick. They seem to exist with no visible means of support, much like the magician’s mysteriously floating person. Feeling the need to show the greatness of his trick, the illusionist passes a metal ring up and down the floating assistant’s horizontal body, proving no wires hold her up. And yet, just as with our ...
For anyone struggling to keep home and hearth together, the recent “news” and other sources that poverty affects decision-making is no news at all. Virginians who depend on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) know that getting out of the grind of poverty is hugely challenging. Adding divorce and child support to the mix only makes every move more complicated, ...
Afficianadoes of a certain Saturday morning cartoon may remember the villain’s constant refrain, “And I would’ve gotten away with it too, if it hadn’t been for your meddling kids!” With imputed income, any harebrained scheme to shortchange your children on child support will definitely be foiled by Virginia’s divorce or juvenile and domestic relations courts. Bringing Home the Bacon During ...
Virginia Dads often forget, in their understandable shock and anger toward their ex-wives, that child support payments are not intended to keep the ex-wife floating in crème de menthe mints and caviar. A Virginia Circuit Court judge ordered child support payments to benefit your children, not you or your ex-wife, so you have a responsibility to aid your child. If ...