Teachers often use teaching methods their own teachers used on them, sports coaches rely on outdated training from their own performance years, and parents discipline their children using techniques their parents used on them. Your wife may have been raised in a talk-it-out home while you suffered with The Paddle. What can you two do so you present a united ...
Most people seem to link messy with divorce, and then wrinkle up their noses. But another word reflects the undercurrent most people do not want to think about: expensive. Divorce is a costly proposition. One tactic to reduce the financial impact is to make the spouse pay for both lawyers, right? Well, that only works some of the time. Stacked ...
Cremation yields about five pounds of ash. Cremains are of no commercial value, which means the brouhaha in the news recently—a woman is accused of stealing her dead sister’s ashes—centers on sentimental value. Determining the value of household items (including Grandma in her urn) comes down to three decisions. How to Determine “Book Value” If you have ever bought or ...
Virginia’s laws are full of odd expressions: in loco parentis; legitimate interest; confirmatory adoption. Sure, they all mean something to someone, but most Virginians can live their entire lives without ever stumbling into these words. Unless you are a stepfather or a nice guy trying to do right by a woman you love by acting like a father to her ...
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 ...
In Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale,” a lowly shepherd discovers an abandoned baby. He says, “Mercy on ’s, a bairn! A very pretty bairn. A boy or a child, I wonder?” And the audience laughs, because “boy or child” sounds like an actor forgetting his lines. But in 16th century England, a “child” was a girl. And today, in Virginia, an ...
Step right up, ladies and gentlemen. See the amazing, the stupendous, the colossal Final Decree of Divorce. Behold the mysteries and secrets revealed right before your eyes! The Final Decree of Divorce, The Eighth Wonder As you work through all the stages of separation — the six-month or 12-month waiting period, filing for divorce, affidavits, depositions, evidence heard ore tenus ...
You (or your ex) are a convicted felon. You (or your ex) want custody of your child. What are the chances? Crimes Involving Morals and Decency If you or your ex have been convicted of any of 17 different sex offenses in Virginia, you operate under a different set of rules from the average parent. Virginia Code § 18.2-370.2 specifically ...
Virginia’s Circuit Court judges have a lot of power. Take, for instance, Roanoke County Circuit Court Judge Charles Dorsey, who ordered the Confederate statue outside the courthouse — or the courthouse itself — to be moved. As we say, judges have a lot of power. But is it limitless? Can you ask for a different judge in your Virginia family ...