Inside Rivers Casino Portsmouth you can hear two very different phrases about houses: “bet the house” and “play against the house.” We do not advise you to bet the house on your next wager, since it means you risk everything. And you should know the house, the casino, always has an edge. Playing against the house puts you behind from ...
The chasm between what the general public “knows” about law and what the law actually says is sometimes wider than the Grand Canyon of the South1. Take “community property,” for instance. Community property refers to assets acquired during marriage and split perfectly equally between divorcing spouses. Only nine states have community property laws. Virginia is not one of them. Jump ...
Not much is left of Basic City, Virginia. It was whole and happy for only around 34 years before being consolidated with its neighbor in 1924. Basically, the town was a wild-and-wooly alternative to dry, conservative Waynesboro. At least while it lasted. Being basic wasn’t enough for Basic City, just as a basic separation agreement may not be enough for ...
Dunnington Mansion is what real estate agents would call “charming.” The abandoned mansion, in Farmville, Virginia, is still beloved enough to have its own foundation (the charitable kind; we assume it already has the stone kind). But it does need a bit of work. It requires the kind of sweat equity you would also put into your own DIY quick ...
You and your spouse are seeking a divorce. Your friends encourage you to take your spouse for all she’s worth: “Hire a lawyer with fangs and claws!” Your extended family just wants everything behind you: “Walk away! Just roll over!” But what does your lawyer say? Experienced family law attorneys will often suggest you and your departing spouse settle out ...
“Never interfere with your enemy when he is making a mistake.” Napoleon Bonaparte may or may not have said it. But the concept is sound, no matter who said it or when. What happens, though, when you are your own worst enemy? Hoping to snag a “quick divorce” in Virginia, you can often stand in your own way. Jump to ...
What has 40 names but is invisible in Virginia? The mountain lion, which holds the Guinness World Record for the mammal with the most names. Pumas were last reliably reported in the Commonwealth in 1882, though rumors still swirl of catamount sightings. We mention the painted cat’s many names because a particular legal document is like the cougar: the divorce ...
Sultan Moulay Ismail Ibn Sharif, 17th century ruler of Morocco, holds the record for siring the most children in history, at 867. He was not a man to cross; he had four wives and 500 concubines and killed any man who looked at them. Not much is said about his 525 sons and 342 daughters, but you just know he ...
Gristmills are still scattered across Virginia1, though they have had little or no role in grinding our wheat into flour for about a century. We mention gristmills because, in the third century a Greek philosopher2 came up with the catchy phrase, “The mills of the gods grind slowly, but they grind small.” That has come down to us as, “The ...