Virginia’s laws are full of odd expressions: in loco parentis; legitimate interest; confirmatory adoption. Sure, they all mean something to someone, but most Virginians can live their entire lives without ever stumbling into these words. Unless you are a stepfather or a nice guy trying to do right by a woman you love by acting like a father to her ...
In Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale,” a lowly shepherd discovers an abandoned baby. He says, “Mercy on ’s, a bairn! A very pretty bairn. A boy or a child, I wonder?” And the audience laughs, because “boy or child” sounds like an actor forgetting his lines. But in 16th century England, a “child” was a girl. And today, in Virginia, an ...
Newborn human babies are evolutionary throwbacks. Helpless, unable to walk or run after birth, and cognitively stunted due to limited brain size (according to Scientific American), human babies vividly demonstrate the biological battle between mom’s pelvic size and a baby’s big head. So who is better equipped to take custody of a newborn human? Mom, or Dad? Look to The ...
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 ...
Heritage seems to be a watchword in Virginia these days. Heritage symbolized in statues, or flags, or skin tone. Our American justice system has its heritage, too. It is a roughly equal mix of ancient Roman law, British Common Law, and American innovation. Parental rights have walked the long path from Roman custom through British ancestry to today’s completely American ...
Wives become ex-wives. Convicts become ex-convicts. Serve your time and you’re an ex-convict. But felons? A felon is a felon for life. So, when your ex-wife starts dating a felon, are you cool with that? What can you do? How can you protect your kids? Two Different Issues You learn your ex-wife is dating a felon. Is this felon around ...
Who you gonna believe, a buncha statistics or your own eyes? Weirdly, it really comes down to that choice when you try to measure your odds (chances) of getting full custody of your children in a Virginia divorce. Why? Because, while fathers are still statistically unlikely to get full custody, the cause may surprise you. A Buncha Statistics Folks in ...
COVID-19 is terrifying a lot of Virginians, and rightly so. Some hunker down, adopting a bunker mentality that preserves the home as a virus-free safe zone. Some seek to escape, by packing the kids in the family car and heading off to surrounding states. Some seek to escape their marriage at the same time. COVID-19 Ground Conditions As of August ...
Today's Latin lesson brings us the word “putativus,” which comes from a Latin stem meaning to believe or suspect. From this we get putative, as in Virginia's putative father registry. Lawyers love Latin. Putative means “generally considered or assumed to be.” As in, you are the child's putative father. How Virginia Birth Certificates Work We think of birth certificates as a legal magic wand, casting ...