Numbers are funny things. Take felonies and misdemeanors in Virginia, for example. If you do not know the difference between felony and misdemeanor, the worst possible way to learn this is by kidnapping your own child. Not only can you be accused of kidnapping your own child, you can be found guilty of it, too. A Virginia Class 4 felony1 can ...
Men of a certain age may aspire to be MacGyver. When he rolled out such improbable solutions as plugging a sulfuric acid leak with chocolate (sugar reacts with acid, forming carbon and a leak-stopping residue), couch heroes everywhere were wishing they had a paper clip and some gasoline so they, too, could perform amazing feats. Dads after divorce, desperate to ...
Men of a certain age—or their sons—know Jackson Browne. Songwriter, performer, Browne has sold more than 18 million albums. He is, for us, a triple threat in the best possible way: he wrote one of our favorite songs (“Lawyers in Love”1), he has been divorced, and he's a guy. He also wrote the anthem for divorced Dads seeking modifications in ...
As parents, we joke about how we might not miss seeing our kids from, say, when they are 13 through 17. Teenagers can be a handful, no doubt, but every parent wants to stay connected and involved with their children. Even divorced parents deserve to keep their family together in some way. Court-decreed visitation allows for that, but what is ...
Some events in life are routinely described as “new and exciting,” like fall’s new car models, a college graduation, or an around-the-world cruise. Other events are just “new,” like the first time you write out a check for child support, or work with your attorney to file for visitation. A recently divorced father is in uncharted waters, and needs the ...
In 1912, Robert Falcon Scott led a doomed party of explorers in search of the South Pole, only to find they were second to the spot (behind Roald Amundsen and his hearty Norwegians)1. History is littered with the vacant hulks of second place finishers. Fighting for shared custody may seem like settling for second. But looked at from another perspective, ...
Some fights you can fight for yourself: a disagreement at the grocery store over a coupon. Some fights you fight for your children: the coach who refuses to put your daughter in the game. One fight you have to fight for your children—but not by yourself—is the fight for equal parenting. Here you need a good child custody lawyer in ...
Latin may be a dead language, but its effects live on. Take the word “camera,” for example. It really just means a chamber, like a room. So an “in camera” interview simply means someone is chatting with—that might be too informal—being grilled by—nope, that sounds too harsh—discussing something with a judge. Oddly enough, in Virginia law1, an in camera interview ...
The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs has an unusual section, the Office of Children’s Issues, that oversees international parental child abduction. Few matters in a man’s life could be more serious than a problem requiring the full weight of the State Department. Your ex-wife can only take your children out of Virginia if she is not in violation ...