The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs has an unusual section, the Office of Children’s Issues, that oversees international parental child abduction. Few matters in a man’s life could be more serious than a problem requiring the full weight of the State Department. Your ex-wife can only take your children out of Virginia if she is not in violation ...
Splitting up with your spouse is hardly ever the clean break both parties want it to be. It can get downright dirty if your wife is out to ruin you financially. Credit can be an often overlooked device a spouse can use to ruin their estranged lover. In fact, it’s a tactic that can leave you in a terrible situation. ...
Whitney Houston reminded us that children—your own and any other Virginian’s—are our future. Her message1 may have mostly spoken to eighth grade girls singing to themselves in mirrors, but children really are the future. We want them to not only enjoy their childhoods but grow to be responsible, contributing citizens. To get them through childhood usually takes both parents working ...
Property, assets, and possessions are some of the most highly sought-after items during divorce proceedings. Each party seemingly has a claim against the other for what he or she rightfully deserves in the proceedings, but what happens when these material possessions aren't so cut and dry? Who actually owns the property in a marriage? Who owns property before the marriage? ...
In many Virginia families, grandparents play a central role in their grandchildren’s lives. When parents divorce, grandparents on both sides still prize their connections to their children’s children. The Virginia courts, too, recognize the rights of grandparents. With grandparents’ rights, however, come responsibilities to defend those rights. Grandparents’ Rights Enshrined in Virginia Law If you, as a grandparent, have “a legitimate ...
Albert Einstein is famously credited with the quotation, “When you sit with a nice girl for two hours you think it’s only a minute, but when you sit on a hot stove for a minute you think it’s two hours.”1 A divorce can feel like that, too; sometimes the process skips along and you see a quick end. Other times, ...
Most private investigators will tell you their work is hardly as glamorous as Hollywood makes it out to be. For one thing, there’s no suspenseful soundtrack, and Virginia’s usually too hot for trench coats. You just go about your day, taking pictures of people and standing on public property. You are not squirreled away in a closet or renting adjacent ...
Advertising by Virginia lawyers is tricky stuff. The Virginia Bar Association has very strict rules (and a handy checklist!)1 about what, exactly, its members can and cannot say in their blogs, with advertisements, and on diner menus. First insider’s tip: avoid lawyers who advertise on diner menus. This comes up because most of the lawyers who routinely solicit business by means ...
Virginia has a problem with parents falling behind in child support payments. Virginia’s Division of Child Support Enforcement (DCSE) reports1 374,000 children living in Virginia are owed more than $2.64 billion in unpaid child support. This is clearly a social mess that needs addressing, but your ex-wife is not a caped crusader; she cannot refuse visitation because you have not ...