Dealing with a Family Member’s Arrest
You’ve received that phone call where the loved one on the other end of the line says, “I’ve been arrested.” Now what do you do? Remain Calm The first recommendation is to remain calm. Your loved one needs your strength now, so help them calm down as well. Ask them to be respectful with the […]
Protect Yourself During Times of Charitable Giving
December could be known as the “giving season” because that is when many people’s thoughts turn to gift giving and charitable donations. You may also see that charities use this time of year to solicit donations. This is where you need to be careful, and do your due diligence to discover whether this organization is […]
Protective Orders for Spouses or Children in Virginia
A protective, or restraining, order is a court-issued legal document designed to protect the petitioner from of violence, abuse and threats for a fixed period of time. It is designed to protect the safety and health of any person who is placed in fear or threat of bodily injury. 3 Types of Family Abuse Protective […]
Legally Changing Your Name in Virginia
There are a number of reasons people change their name: marriage, divorce, adoption, escaping domestic violence, privacy/anonymity, difficulty in spelling, ethnicity, or for no other reason than they choose another. Wanting to change your name, and legally doing so, involves—no surprise—paperwork and fees. Getting Married or Divorced Virginia allows people to change their last name […]
How to Handle a Surprise Divorce
You think things are fine with your marriage, and then your spouse suddenly says they want a divorce. Although you may have suspected that there were issues within your marriage, you are completely thrown by their announcement. Negotiating your way through a divorce is never easy, even when both sides agree to the split. Navigating […]
Child Emancipation in Virginia
Until a person is 18 years of age, the legal age of majority in Virginia, their parents or guardians have the right to both custody and control. They have legal responsibility to provide the child with shelter, food, clothing, medical care, supervision, and education, and are legally responsible if the child breaks the law. Once […]
Appraising Your Estate for Transfer, Divorce or Inheritance
When it comes time for disposal or transition of your marital property due to divorce or property inherited by you from a deceased relative, one of the first things you may need to determine is its appraised value, whether for re-sale or buy-out purposes. There are many items to consider within a marital or probate […]
What You Need to Know about Adoption in Virginia
If you are considering adopting a child, there are several routes you can take to expand your family. The first step is to decide what type of adoption works best for you. You can opt to adopt through a public or private agency that can facilitate the entire process, from locating birth parents to terminating […]
Setting Up a Memorial Fund
Setting up a memorial fund is one of the best and most rewarding ways to pay tribute to a loved one who has passed away, and to help keep their legacy alive. With a memorial fund, families can both preserve the memory of departed loves ones and make a true difference in their community. There […]
You May Be Liable For Your Minor Child’s Actions
Children get into trouble; it’s a given part of their growing-up process. However, when their actions cause damage to someone else’s person or property, many parents may not realize that they too could be liable for their child’s actions. The courts decided long ago that it was unfair for someone to bear the financial burden […]
Explore the Tax-Saving Strategy of Lifetime Giving
Giving money or assets to your loved ones during your lifetime rather than having them wait until after your death to collect, is defined as lifetime giving. It is an estate-planning strategy used to reduce estate taxes by spreading gifts throughout your lifetime using certain exemptions created by the federal gift tax laws in the […]
The Pros and Cons of Marriage Counseling
Once couples realize that something is wrong with their marriage, there are a number of choices they can make: they can read self-help books and try to fix it themselves, they can seek advice from friends and family, they can engage with a professional marriage counselor, or they can do nothing—each with varying results, with […]
Legally Establishing Paternity
A new baby always creates excitement within a family, with doting parents, grandparents, siblings and extended family members sharing the joy. In most cases, parentage is well known and accepted. However, in others, the identity of the father might be in question. Under Virginia law, only one man can possess paternity of a child at […]
Estate Planning When You Own a Business
When you own a business, a large part of your family’s income and wealth is most likely tied up in the business. Therefore, you need to plan what will happen to that business following your becoming incapacitated or your death. This type of estate planning is often called succession planning. You may want to keep […]
Domestic Violence Should Not Be Kept Quiet
Although we all want our happy ending, domestic violence happens. It can begin with verbal abuse such as shouting or name calling, then escalate over time to pushing, hitting, and sometimes even death. Within the Cycle of Abuse, your abuser apologizes for his or her actions, begging your forgiveness and promising never to do it […]
The Act of Revoking or Changing a Will
Once you have prepared your Will, whether through a trusted attorney or by using an on-line software program, there may come a time when you need to update or change it. Since life is never stagnant, you should ensure that any life changes appear in your Will so that your wishes are carried out following […]
Post-Nuptial Agreements – Could a Contract Save Your Marriage?
As strange as it may seem, a post-marital or post-nuptial contract might be the secret to a strong marriage. It could also heal the wounds that might otherwise result in divorce. This can be especially true for people who are re-marrying and bringing with them separate assets, an inheritance from a deceased parents, or children […]
Choosing a Power of Attorney
Quickly defined, a Power of Attorney (POA) is a powerful estate planning tool that allows you to appoint a spouse, trusted family member, or friend to assist with handling your financial and medical affairs during a period of disability when you might not be able to do this for yourself. This person may be referred […]
Grandparent Visitation Rights
Until as recently as 40 years ago, the legal concept of grandparent visitation rights did not exist. This is because parents have a fundamental right under the U.S. Constitution to make decisions regarding the upbringing of their children. There are a number of reasons why grandparents might be denied visitation by family members, including a […]
The Advantages of Domestic Partnerships
Not everybody gets married, and not everybody wants to get married or can get married. That is why as Family Law attorneys, we are called upon to create legal documents to protect parties in different types of relationships, such as Domestic Partnership. A Domestic Partnership, sometimes referred to as a Civil Union, is defined as […]
Modifying Your Estate Plan: How and When To Do It
Congratulations for setting up your estate plan. You have taken the right steps to insure that your estate is distributed as you wish following your passing. But how long ago did you create this plan? If it has been longer than three to five years ago, you might want to look at modifying it. Life […]
Did You Know that Your Attorney-Client Privilege Survives Even After Your Death?
As estate planning attorneys, we help our clients develop estate plans, or how they plan to manage and pass along their wealth and property after they die. What people may not realize, however, is that sometimes our job extends past death, as in the case of what happens when family members challenge the terms of […]
Alimony, Spousal Support and Imputation
Many issues can come up during the course of a divorce, one of which is imputation of income. For most people, this is not a common term, although it can be a common problem, so let me explain it. When two people divorce, one of the considerations is the payment of alimony or spousal support. […]
Pets are Family Members Too
When setting up a trust or will, many people overlook the fact that their pets are members of the family too. We know that their lifespans are generally not as long as humans, so we don’t think about what might happen to them should they outlive us. As such, their long-term needs must be considered […]
What You Need to Know About International Custody and Child Abduction
Child abduction is one of the most heartbreaking events than can happen to any parent and is one of the most emotionally-charged areas of family law. It can also involve diplomatic involvement, especially when different countries are involved. Some countries may protect a parent from being forced to return a child if the abducting parent […]
Why Parenting Agreements Are So Essential
Even though you are divorced or divorcing your significant other, you both will remain tied together as parents for the rest of your lives. That means that working together for the best interest of your child or children, no matter what your own differences are, as the Honorable Loudoun County Circuit Court Judge Burke F. […]
Don’t Let Errors Derail Your Retirement Income Plan
When people talk about retirement income planning, they are most often referring to the assets they have in their IRA and 401(k) plans, and how they will withdraw that money, transfer it, or move it from place to place. What they need to be careful of, however, is doing it properly. If done incorrectly, it […]
New Early-Detection Alzheimer’s Test May Enable Early Guardianship Decisions
When we talk about guardianship and conservatorship issues, a lot of questions are raised as to what conditions constitute having to necessitate a guardianship or conservatorship. One of these is Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s Disease A form of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative disease that starts slowly and worsens over time. Its symptoms can include […]
Virginia’s ABLE Act Offers Benefits to Families with Special Needs Children
Virginia was the first state to adopt into law the Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2014 (the “ABLE Act”) that provides a new avenue for parents in planning for their special needs child. However, the ABLE Act has its benefits and its drawbacks as described below, and should be used as a supplement […]
