Virginia Recent Legal Answers from Lawyers

I would think that the date would be controlling and you should have a good claim against them for any damages you incur as a result of their breach of the contract.  However, it's possible that it would be considered a mutual mistake of fact, in which case they may be able to wiggle out of it.  It's an interesting issue and may require additional legal research to see if any courts have addressed this before.... Read More

In order to divorce you he would have had to provide you legal notice, so either he served papers on you somehow and you were not aware of it - perhaps he had them posted on the door of an old address and you were no longer there - or he could have noticed you by publicaiton in the newspaper if he said that he did not know where you were living or you were living out of state.  If he served you by publication you have 2 years in which to reopen the case and address any property or support issues.  You can also hae a case reheard within 2 years if there has been a fraud on the court.  So if he served you at a bogus address I'm not sure if that would qualify, but it might.  Since you are still just within that 2 year window you will want to act quickly.  However, the fact that you have been living without spousal support for the past year-and-a-half would seem to indicate that you don't need it.  You usually have a better chance of getting alimony if you ask for it right away and you'll have to explain why you did not.  But it should not bar you gettnig it, if you truly need it and he has the ability to pay.  ... Read More

When you physically separated from your spouse with the intention that the separation would be permanent you become legally separated for purposes of seekig a divorce in Virginia.  You do not have to do anything to formalize it, although many people enter into Separation and Property Settlement Agreements.  You would need a written agreement like that if you have no kids and want to get divorced after only a six month separation.  Otherwise, if you have no written agreement or if you have kids you have to wait a full year of being separated in order to file a no-fault divorce.  You can file sooner if you have fault grounds, such as adultery, cruelty, or desertion, but these typically do not get you divorced any faster, as you must then go through the contested litigation process and have a full trial to prove your grounds. Aftere your separation period you can file for divorce and at your final hearing, which can usually be done by deposition or affidavit these days, you will testify under oath about the date of your separation.  You will need a witness who can verify the date of separation.  So in terms of what you can do now to document your separation, the best thing you can do is think about who your witness will be and make sure they are familiar with your living situation, so that they can personally observe that you are not living with your spouse. In the meantime you can try to negotiate any financial issues, but you can't force the other side to settle.  If you need monetary support you can file for that in the Juvenile & Domestic Relations District Court at any time following separation, without having to have grounds for divorce.  If you have children, yuo can also file for custody, visitation, or child support in the JDR Court.  Any property issues that can't be worked out will have to be decided in the divorce court (Circuit Court).... Read More

If you have lived in the motal room for at least 90 days then you are considered a tenant under the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act.  This means that they can't just lock you out if you don't pay the rent, but they woudl have to go through the legal eviction process, which is generally going to take a month or more.  Even if you have stayed there less than 90 days the landlord still has to give you a 5-day notice before locking you out.  So you should have some time.  If you have lived there more than 90 days and they lock you out that is illegal.  If that happens, call the Sheriffs and show them Virginia Code 55-248.3:1 - subsection D 3 and 4: 3. If a person resides in a hotel, motel, extended stay facility, vacation residential facility, including those governed by the Virginia Real Estate Time-Share Act (§ 55-360 et seq.), boardinghouse, or similar transient lodging as his primary residence for fewer than 90 consecutive days, such lodging shall not be subject to the provisions of this chapter. However, the owner of such lodging establishment shall give a five-day written notice of nonpayment to a person residing in such lodging and, upon the expiration of the five-day period specified in the notice, may exercise self-help eviction if payment in full has not been received. 4. If a person resides in a hotel, motel, extended stay facility, vacation residential facility, including those governed by the Virginia Real Estate Time-Share Act (§ 55-360 et seq.), boardinghouse, or similar transient lodging as his primary residence for more than 90 consecutive days or is subject to a written lease for more than 90 days, such lodging shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter. I would call the Sheriff rather than the police only because they are the ones who oversee evictions and so they are familiar with the process and should know what is legal and not.  Also if the landlord locks you out it is not criminal, it just makes them civilly liable.  Not criminal means the police won't care or know what to do about it.  Hopefully the Sheriff's office will help you, although they might just tell you to take it to court.  ... Read More

There is no automatic spousal support in Virginia.  The court must look at a variety of factors in determining how much support to award and for how long.  There is a general rule of thumb that if you were married for more than 10 years you could be looking at lifeime support, but even that is not automatic and could depend on your abiility to pay and her ability to improve her own earning potential, among other things.  With a 21-year marriage, if you were the primary breadwinner and supporting her throughout the marriage then there is a very good possibility you will be ordered to pay lifetime support, which means until one of you dies or she remarries or lives in a relationship analogous to marriage for more than one year.... Read More

You are obviously going to want to hire a lawyer to represent you in this, since there is so much at stake.  Your attorney may be able to work something out with the prosecutor so that you can keep your record clean.  This is such a minor charge that it seems likely your lawyer will be able to resolve it.  If not, there may be grounds to fight it at trial.   ... Read More

If you have a 2014 injury and did not file a claim for this injury with the Virginia Workers Compensation Commission the two (2) year time limit may have expired. You need to call the Commission to find out the statuf of your claim: 1-877-664-2566. If you have an award for this injury at the Commission, then file a claim to get this bill paid with the Commission. ... Read More

You need to contact an  experienced workers compensation lawyer. In order to have a claim, you need to have had an "accident at work" that caused the back injury ono the 18th. It does not help that no one saw your back injury. If you promptly reported it, then that is a good think. Hopefully, in your report, you specified a specific incident that caused your back injury. You can contact me for further advice about this matter. ... Read More

If there is a court order that she has violated then you can seek to have her held in contempt of court. If your custody agreement has not yet been reduced to an order then you should seek to have a custody order entered. If there is no court order yet or if there was a previous court order entered in another state then you will  likely have to proceed in the state that your daughter is living in. If there is a current Virginia order in place then you can proceed in Virginia. ... Read More

You can submit a petition to modify or amend an existing custody/visitation/child support order any time there has been a material change in circumstances since the last valid court order.  Unless there has been an 'emergency' situation, the courts will not usually accept a case until the current order has been in place for at least 6 months. Your real problem here is that nothing has really changed since May of 2017 (which was only 3 months ago at most), and the fact that your child care was not included will not be considered yet.  This is one of the reasons that attorneys can be helpful to people who may not be aware of the consequences of proceeding without an attorney to help them. I don't know if you are using DCSE (Department of Social Services, Division of Child Support Enforcement) to assist you in your child support case, but I often encourage all of my parents to use them.  If you are the paying parent, they keep great records of what was paid and when, so there is no question about whether payments were made on time or not.  If you are the receiving parent, they will see to it that you get the proper amount of support (based on the support order and the actual payments being made by the paying parent).  DCSE will also play the role of 'bad guy' and can and will file a show cause motion and take the paying spouse to court for non-payment.  DCSE also has power as a government agency to have tax refunds diverted to pay for support and to have driver's licenses suspended for non-payment. Medical expenses are considered part of child support and if the order says you are to receive reimbursement for 76% of those expenses, and those expenses have not been paid, you can also file a 'show cause' motion with the court for non-payment.  You will need to prove that the expenses were incurred and that you had notified the other parent and that payment has not been made.  Copies of medical bills and copies of letters mailed to the other parent showing that you provided that parent with the bills and are requesting reimbursement will be very helpful (and possibly necessary).    The letter requesting reimbursement does not need to be long and involved.  Something along the lines of 'Here are copies of the medical bills I have received and paid on behalf of ______ (child's name).  According to our Divorce Decree section ____ you are required to provide reimbursement for these charges within ______ days.  Please provide the payment to me by ____  (usually 30 days from today).' As for the visitation, a court order actually gives a 'right' to visitation, but it is not really a legal requirement.  While the courts really want both parents to be involved in their children's lives, the court cannot force anyone to be a parent or to see their child when scheduled.... Read More

I can not give you specifics on what to say without seeing the actual wording of the order that says that the parents are to notify the courts of any change in income.  This is not something that I normally see in a child support order.  That being said, for the motion for show cause, you would need to quote the actual wording of the existing order and then in the next portion of the motion you would explain why that has been violated.  It would then be up to the court to determine whether or not the other parent is in violation of the order.  However, this would be a only for contempt to obey and order of the court and would not result in a recalculation of the support amount. Your other option is to file for a motion to modify or amend child support.  When the case is heard, the court can recalculate the child support based on the currrent incomes at the time of the hearing.  There can be an award of the modified amount retroactive to the time of the filing of the petition (or the service on the other parent, which is usually within a few days).  However, you can not request a payment for what you belive to be overpayments prior to the filing for the adjustment. I also suggest you look closely at the guideline calculations and perhaps have a consultation with a child support attorney to make sure that you will get the result you anticipate.  I have often had cases where the non-custodial parent was in your situation, and thought that his child support would be reduced when his child's mother got a new job with a raise, but in actuality the child support amount increased.  Remember that child support is based on a percentage of gross income of both parents and sometimes a smaller percentage of a larger number equals a higher child support obligation.... Read More