Virginia Child Custody Legal Questions

There are two things that you need to know in response to your question. First, in order to amend an existing custody order you need to prove that there has been a material change in circumstances that justifies the change. That means that the judge will probably not consider evidence of things that were already presented at a previous hearing six months ago. The circumstances have to be something new, that changes the situation in a material way. Secondly, typically there is no one factor on which the court will base a custody determination. So it is unlikely that the progress report was the only reason the court changed the custody arrangement six months ago. Joint custody is the arrangement that court's in Virginia favor. Usually the courts are willing to order joint custody unless there is some specific reason why it would not be in the best interest of the child.The court would have chosen this arrangement based on all of the factors taken as a whole. In order to determine whether the facts you stated above create a material change in circumstances to justify a change in custody is a fact specific determination that ultimately will be made by the judge. It is difficult to predict the outcome as every case is different. Your best best is to consult an attorney in your area to discuss your rights in this matter.    ... Read More

If you have an order giving you custody and visitation to father, you have the right to enforce that order.That order may or may not state when and for how long the visitation is to take place. If it does, you have the right to file what is called a "show cause" against him for failure to obey the court order. This is almost the equivalent of a criminal charge, but not quite. But it brings him before the court and the court will ask him to explain himself. If he cannot there will be consequences. Failure to obey a court order is called contempt of court and it is taken pretty seriously in some jurisdictions. Now, if you do not have a court order giving you custody and setting out a visitation schedule, there is very little you can do. And my advice would be to file a petition for custody and visitation as soon as possible. And to seek the assistance of an attorney in doing so.... Read More

Hello: If you have joint custody, there is probably a schedule set out in the order that states when the visitation with father is supposed to take place. If you feel like it is no longer in the best interest of the child to have visitation with father, or would like to limit visitation, you should file a motion for an amendment (change) to the current custody order. You will need to prove that there has been a material change in circumstances that justifies the change. But if this type of incident is a new development you should have no problem proving that. It also sounds like father may not challenge the amendment based on his statement.Typically when the two parties are in agreement on something, the courts have no problem granting it. Despite whether you have a custody order in place or not, you have the right to seek a protective order. What this means is that you can go to the office of the magistrate in your county, explain the situation and if they feel like your child is in danger, they may grant an order barring his father from contact for a period of time. This is another avenue you can pursue if you feel that it is necessary to protect your child.... Read More

You are going to have to file a divorce action to give the court a basis to sort out the property. The statute says that the court is to make a fair and equitable division of all of the property. There are a number of factors that the court is supposed to consider in reaching that division. If the court is going to divide the property, it first has to classify it. All of the property is going to be classified as your separate property, your spouse's separate property, or community property. Which of these classifications a particular piece of property falls into will depend on how and when the property was obtained. In most cases, property obtained during the marriage will be community property. Once the property is classified, how it gets divided will depend on a number of factors. Some of the factors that the court may consider are the duration of the marriage, the ages of the parties, the health of the parties, the educational background of the parties, the employment history of the parties, and each party's future prospects. The court then has to come up with what the court believes is a fair and equitable division of all of the property using these and other factors. Now, if there is enough community property so that the court can come up with a fair division using just the community property, the court will generally do that. However, if there is not enough community property for the court to reach what it believes is a fair division, then, it can invade separate property.... Read More

Generally, it does not matter who files first in a no-fault divorce. However, there may be some tactical angle to filing or not filing first based on the specific facts of your case. If you both agree and can get along in determining who gets what, including child custody and visitation, then you could seek mediation. But if you don't get along, or one spouse has an upper hand, then it would be wise to retain an attorney.... Read More