Virginia Family Legal Questions

This sounds like a very unfortunate and sad situation, but it is difficult to answer your question with further information.  If the things he is saying about you are false, you may have a case for defamation.  Defamation cases can be hard to prove and it is difficult to obtain monetary damages unless you can show that you were harmed monetarily.  A court cannot stop him from making such statements.  This is where the law of defamation comes up against the First Amendment right to freedom of speech.  Regarding your visitation rights with your granddaughter, any person with a legitimate interest can petition the court for visitation.  This would be filed in the Juvenile & Domestic Relations District Court of the county in which the child lives.  Grandparents in general have little right to visitation, especially if the child's parents are united in denying it.  Because you are not related by blood, you may have an even harder time.  You would have to show that you have been very involved in the child's life and that it would detrimental to her not to see you.  This answer is given in accordance with the laws of Virginia and may not be applicable in any other state.  It should not be construed as legal advice, as that would require a more thorough analysis of all of the facts involved in a specific case. ... Read More

Mistakes are made on birth certificates all the time and they can be amended later.  The birth certificate itself does not prove who the father is and who ultimately has responsibility for supporting the child.  The mother cannot collect support from more than one person, so as long as the presumed father is paying support, she cannot seek it from you.  But if he has been released from the child support obligation based on a DNA test, then she can seek support from the true natural father.  If she sues you for child support, you have the right to demand a DNA test to determine whether you are the actual biological father of the child or not.  If it turns out that you did father this child, then you have a legal obligation to provide financial support for the child.  If another man has been assuming this obligation for your for the past nine years, then you just got nine years for free and should consider yourself lucky. She cannot go back in time and collect those nine years from you retroactively, if she did not file for support from you until now. This answer is given in accordance with the laws of Virginia and may not be applicable in any other state.  It should not be construed as legal advice, as that would require a more thorough analysis of all of the facts involved in a specific case. ... Read More

If you have not already done so, you probably want to contact your local Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court to file a Petition for Custody.  Once you have a custody order in place, you can allow the father to visit the child without worrying that he will keep her.  If he did so, he would be in violation of the court order and you would have the full force of the law behind you to retrieve your child.  There is no procedure by which he can "sign over his rights" to the child.  He could sign an agreed order for custody, but that's about it.  Termination of parental rights is a long and complicated procedure that is only done in cases of severe abuse or neglect.  Usually, every other alternative is exhausted before a court would terminate someone's parental rights.  As far as the DNA test, he is entitled to this if you are seeking child support from him and he disputes paternity. This answer is given in accordance with the laws of Virginia and may not be applicable in any other state.  It should not be construed as legal advice, as that would require a more thorough analysis of all of the facts involved in a specific case. ... Read More

The usual answer to this question is that you had better work out an agreement with the other parent if you want to move out of state with the child or you risk losing custody.  However, I have seen in several rare (and shocking) cases where the judge will allow the custodial parent to take the child and move, even when the other parent has an order allowing regular visitation and has been actively involved in the child's life.  It is all going to come down to the facts of your specific case, your reasons for moving, how important it is that you move, and ultimately what is in the child's best interest.  If it is in the child's best interest to move out of state, not just yours, then it may be allowed. This is given in accordance with the law of Virginia and may not be applicable in any other state.  It should not be construed as legal advice, as that would require a more thorough analysis of all of the facts involved in a specific case. ... Read More