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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
In July of 2021, an astounding $15 billion went out to the parents of 60 million American children through the Advance Child Tax Credit. The individual amounts are helpful: up to $300 per month for each child under age 6 and up to $250 per month for each child ages 6 through 17. But what if you got a check ...
If you tell a group of people that today has a 50 percent chance of rain, a handful of them may actually think that means it’ll rain for half the day. That’s not how percentages work. Similarly, 50/50 custody may confuse some parents. Types of Custody Virginia’s family laws provide for a wide range of custody arrangements after separation and ...
The Articles of Confederation, our nation’s first “constitution,” were badly flawed. Each state could have set up tolls and tariffs at its borders, so a sack of Virginia peanuts traveling to New York could have had an expensive and perilous journey. Today interstate laws provide for the smooth flow of goods and services between the states. That flow includes child ...
One of the best ways, when working through separation and divorce, to support your children and maintain those all-important family bonds is through open decision-making and clear communication. Whether that means joint physical custody or shared legal custody, or even sole physical custody with thorough, informal discussions, both parents must agree to work in the best interests of the child, ...
You think you live in Virginia and the other parent of your kids thinks she or he lives in South Carolina. You’re wrong: you both live in UIFSA. UIFSA has only one state and expects parents owing child support to pay it, regardless of either parent’s address. UIFSA: The Uniform Interstate Family Support Act UIFSA stands for the Uniform Interstate ...