When, not if. When is a far more compelling word than if. If is conditional; it may or may not happen. When is not conditional: it announces something as inevitable. When you go to jail for failure to pay child support in Virginia, you invite a whole lotta hurt. If you can bear to read about it, when you get ...
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 ...
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a safety net provided by federal tax dollars to prevent low-income elderly or disabled individuals, including blind or disabled children, from living on canned cat food. That may be a bit of hyperbole, but the poor (literally) folks getting SSI must have almost no other assets. So how does SSI figure in child support calculations? ...
Child support payments in Virginia are neither reward nor punishment. They are intended to keep children happily living the lives they came to expect before Mom and Dad went their separate ways. If both parents want to put a halt to child support, is Virginia okay with that? Okay, Why Child Support? Virginia requires child support payments so that Virginia’s ...
Parental alienation syndrome first got its label back in 1985, when Dr. Richard Gardner first described distinctive behaviors in children that included extreme (unwarranted) fear, disrespect or hostility towards a parent. That was 35 years ago, meaning we have had time to see and study the corrosive effects of this emotional abuse. What do we find in adults who had parental ...
Alongside the GI Bill, TRICARE is probably one of the best benefits this country has provided for its military men and women. This valuable, comprehensive health coverage provides military members and their families with dental, medical, vision, mental health, and prescription health insurance protection. It is so valuable, many divorcing couples in Virginia worry over keeping Tricare benefits after divorce. ...
Are you a glass-half-full or a glass-half-empty person? We ask because everyone has heard that old chestnut, “Half of all marriages end in divorce.” Well, that also means half don’t end in divorce. We are not half-full/half-empty people, though. We look at where that pitcher of our favorite beverage is, so we can top off the glass. People have other ...
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 ...
Birth records in Virginia were not required before 1912. In some ways, life was simpler then. A kid was your kid if you said she was your kid, and who was going to argue? With birth certificates, things got complicated and, sometimes, a little dicey. What if you put your name on the birth certificate and then found out you ...