Bilboes, Brands, and Branks may sound like a competing Virginia law firm, but it’s really a list of three punishments once meted out in Colonial Williamsburg1. Bilboes (long iron bars affixed with shackles), brands (heated irons for human flesh), and branks (“scold’s bridles,” head-sized metal cages with iron tongues) were brutal punishments. They are directly related to a subpoena, since ...
The Firm For Men is proud to have sponsored FM99's 2022 Putts & Pints at Red Wing Golf Course in Virginia Beach this year. The tournament is one of our favorite local tournaments, and the reasons are obvious: beer, golf, and great friends. Other sponsors included Rock Bottom Golf, Pretty Ugly Distribution, Cycle World, Southern Material Handling, Virginia Clinical, Bob’s ...
What’s your favorite color? If you’re like most people, it’s blue. That is not likely to be the kind of question a Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court (JDRDC) judge will ask during a child custody hearing. Here’s what she or he will ask. How Common is it for a Judge to Interview a Child for a Custody Case? When ...
Virginia offers separating and divorcing parents several options with child custody. The law reads, “The court shall consider and may award joint legal, joint physical, or sole custody, and there shall be no presumption in favor of any form of custody.” One option is 50/50 physical custody, under which both parents enjoy their children half the time. But child custody ...
Most of us recount having to “call” possessions as a kid. You know: “I call that chair,” “I call the back seat in the car, in the middle, my feet on the hump.” Do you have to do the same thing as a married Virginia man? Can your wife clean out your home when you are away? Well, no, she ...
Today’s vocabulary word is “continuance.” A continuance is, according to Black’s Law Dictionary, “The adjournment or postponement of an action pending in a court, to a subsequent day of the same or another term.” You need to know this word if you have waited until the last minute to deal with a family law issue and still have no attorney. ...
Talk about dicey situations. You take your tiny tykes to their mother’s house for parenting time, and you definitely smell alcohol on her breath. Oh, she claims it is strong mouthwash, but then when you pick them up later, you glimpse the disheveled mess over her shoulder: plastic cups, empty liquor bottles. What can you do? Plenty! Softball: First, Have ...
What’s the worst four-letter word? Nope, it’s not that one, that one, or even the c-word. It’s “just,” as in “I just want to make some adjustments to the materials, color scheme, timeline, and budget of my home remodeling project.” Ranking up there, too, are phrases like, “We could just make a few dozen changes to the legally binding agreement ...
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 ...