“I plead the Fifth.” It refers to Amendment V of the beloved and revered United States Constitution. Can the Fifth Amendment help your Virginia divorce case? Amendment V Our very own James Madison, esteemed Virginia lawyer, signer of the Constitution, and fourth president of the United States, penned Amendment V: “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, ...
How many words would you need to explain one word? Virginia’s Supreme Court took 544 words to explain their disapproval of the word “shall.” Let’s see how many we need to ensure you completely understand how a Virginia property settlement agreement — also called a separation agreement — gets you to your uncontested, no-fault Virginia divorce. What is a Property ...
Parents protect their children. All mammals — otters, ocelots, wombats, numbats — worry over and coddle and defend their offspring. Instinct makes a Virginia parent especially sensitive to risk during a pandemic. Intentional or not, some Virginia custodial parents are withholding visitation and parenting time. What risk does that bring, and what is a better way? Let’s Focus on Science, ...
Virginia boasted of 745,886 small businesses in 2019, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. Together they accounted for 47.2 percent of all Virginia employees. The odds are, if your wife owns a Virginia business, she owns a small business (fewer than 500 employees). And, odds are, if you and she are divorcing, you have your eye on that business. ...
COVID-19 is terrifying a lot of Virginians, and rightly so. Some hunker down, adopting a bunker mentality that preserves the home as a virus-free safe zone. Some seek to escape, by packing the kids in the family car and heading off to surrounding states. Some seek to escape their marriage at the same time. COVID-19 Ground Conditions As of August ...
Dr. Phil is not a medical doctor or licensed psychologist. He has a doctoral degree in clinical psychology. Having said that, and acknowledging he is not any more qualified to offer psychology than your local bartender, he does speak plain truths to complicated people. Want to watch him skewer selfish parents dealing with divorce? You can watch the drama here, or ...
This article is not about money. We know, child support means money, but the root of this issue is paternity, not money. If you are paying child support for children who are not yours, you have a paternity problem that has created a money problem. Here is what you can do about both. Asserting Your Rights Without appearing to be ...
Financial gurus will tell you: a new car purchase is really three deals (sell the old car; buy the new car; arrange the financing). Car dealers want all that to happen on their lots. Financial advisers tell you to keep the three deals apart. The principle holds true with divvying up marital property during separation and divorce: keep the deals ...
The 4th century BCE Daoist book, Zhuangzi, holds a parable called The Empty Boat. A boater on a swift-flowing river must contend with an empty boat that bangs against his. He deals with it, calmly calculating how to move the empty, drifting boat out of his path. Consider, though, if he would have done the same thing if the other ...