Virginia Family Law: How to Get Child Support

Raising children can be very expensive. Food, clothing, hospital bills, extracurriculars and unreimbursed medical expenses can make it very difficult for a single mother or single father. If you are no longer living with the other parent, it is important to know how to get child support and how child support is calculated.

How Do You Ask For Child Support in Virginia?

If you are looking for help paying for your child'ren’s living expenses, the best way of getting help is to ask for child support from the other parent. If you do not yet have a child support order in place, you would need to either open a case with the Department of Child Support Enforcement or file a Petition for Child Support.

The first thing you would need to do is go to the Clerk’s office where you live or to call the Richmond Office of the Department of Child Support. They can walk you through the paperwork required to start receiving child support.

How Much Child Support Will You Get?

In order to get the most child support you can, you need to make sure you have all your receipts for your expenses ready for the Court or Child Support to review. They will want to see the cost of your insurance, your pay stubs, and day care expenses.

All of those expenses get factored into the amount of child support you are entitled to. Once you do file, the other parent will be required to provide their earning statements to the Court for calculation.

Why You Need a Child Support Lawyer.

A child support lawyer can help you get all the documentation ready to file with the Court and maximize the amount of child support you will receive. If the other parent is working under the table or is self-employed, your lawyer can help you get that information in front of the Court. So make sure you talk to a child support lawyer if you need help with paying for raising your children.

Virginia Family Law: What is Sole Custody?

In Virginia custody cases, there are two types of custody: physical custody and legal custody. There are three different subcategories: sole, split and joint custody. Many people come to my office asking for “full custody” or “sole custody.” It is important to understand what that word means and the situations in which the Court will consider giving sole or full custody.

So what is sole custody, and how does it work?

What is Sole or Full Custody?

Sole legal custody means one parent makes all the legal decisions for the child. Where they go to school, what doctor they go to, what surgeries they have, and what church they go to. Being a sole legal custodian means you do not have to consult with the other parent to make these decisions. The Court rarely grants sole legal custody.

Sole physical custody means that one parent is the one that has most of the parenting time with the child. The other parent has less than ninety (90) overnights with the child.

When Will the Court Award Sole or Full Custody?

The Court will consider sole legal custody when one parent has a history of not being able to making rational decisions for the child. Maybe they have a substantial history of mental health issues or substance abuse issues. If they are unable to be involved in making decisions the Court will not let them. Alternatively, if the parent has historically not been involved at all and has showed no inclination to be involved, the Court may also restrict that parent’s legal custody.

The Court will consider sole physical custodoy when the other parent is unable to provide for the needs for the child. For example, if they work night shift and cannot get the child on the bus. Or maybe they live several hundred miles away and cannot be involved in the day to day needs of the child. Those are the situations in which a Court will consider sole physical custody.

Why You Need a Custody Lawyer.

A custody lawyer will be familiar with the types of cases that your local judges will consider appropriate for sole or full custody. Not at all cases are eligible for sole or full custody, so it is important to talk to an experienced, local attorney to explore what might help in your case.

Virginia Family Law: What is Joint Custody?

In Virginia there are many different types of custody arrangements available for Juvenile Court judges to meet the needs of children. One of those types of custody arrangements is “joint custody.” Many clients say that they want joint custody. However, not all of them understand what it means to be a joint custodian or what you have to prove to the Court to be awarded joint custody. So what is joint custody, and what does the Court look for?

What is Joint Physical Custody?

The first type of custody is known as physical custody. Physical custody is primarily where the children reside. If two parents have joint physical custody, it means that they are equally sharing parenting time with the children.

The two most common schedules used in joint physical custody arrangements are week on/week off arrangements and week-day splits (3-2-2-3 or 5-2-2-5). The Court is essentially dividing all the time in half.

What is Joint Legal Custody?

Legal custody is who makes decisions about where the child goes to school, who their doctor is, and what church they go to. Joint legal custody means both parents have equal say, and one parent cannot make major life decisions without consulting with the other parent. Unfortunately, many parents who get joint legal custody do not properly consult with their ex, often resulting in major conflicts in court.

How Do You Get Joint Physical Custody?

In order to have joint physical custody, you need to convince the Court that you are able to provide for the children. For example, you must be available to drop the children off at school, pick them up, and take them to appointments. You also have to have a track record of being involved in doctor appointments or therapy sessions.

The Court will not give an absent parent joint physical custody, because they do not have the track record to make it work. Nor will they give someone with night shifts joint physical custody, because you are not available to take care of the children.

Preparing to ask for joint physical custody means reaching out to the school and the doctors and being actively involved.

How Do You Get Joint Legal Custody?

Courts routinely grant parents joint legal custody. Both parents have a say in raising their children. Courts start at joint legal custody, and only revoke that if one parent has a bad track record of making bad decisions.

You Need a Custody Lawyer.

If you are interested in joint custody or the other side is pushing for it, it is important to hire someone who knows what judges are looking for. They can help present the case and get the best result for your child.

Virginia Divorce Law: Types of Retirement Accounts

If you are going through a divorce case and have retirement accounts of any kind, it is important to know how those retirement accounts will be treated by the Court and common strategies for minimizing the impact on your retirement plans. Retirement accounts come in many different types. Retirement accounts can also be different depending on if you are a government worker or private sector.

So what are the most common types of retirement accounts, and how are they treated by the divorce court?

How Are Defined Contribution Plans Divided in a Divorce?

A defined contribution plan is a type of retirement account that you put money into over the course of your employment. That money is held until retirement age or a number of specific factors are met. There are many different types of defined contribution plans including 403(b) accounts, 401(k) accounts, SEP accounts, VRS accounts and TSP accounts.

Defined contribution plans may even have a match system depending on the employer. If you put so much of your paycheck into a defined contribution plan, your employer may have a matching policy.

Once you put those funds into a defined contribution plan, they get invested by a plan administrator in various types of assets. The type of plan you have will dictate the types of investments available. Different types of defined contribution plans have different rates of return and different tax advantages.

In a divorce case, the Court will look to see how much was contributed to the plan during the marriage. The Court will then divide this “marital share” and add any gains or losses that have happened since the separation based upon the market performance. These gains and losses are only based upon the contributions made during the marriage.

How Are Defined Benefit Plans Divided in a Divorce?

Although they are becomming more rare, many different types of employers are still offering these plans. These are essentially pension plans. Depending on how long you work for your employer, you may be entitled to monthly payments after you retire.

In the private sector, union jobs are largely the only remaining fields that have defined benefit plans. Government workers may still have defined benefit plans in the form of a FERS account.

In a divorce case, Virginia judges will typically use a formula to determine how these pensions will be divided:

PRESENT VALUE X (TIME WORKED DURING MARRIAGE/TOTAL TIME WORKED)

The best way to understand how this calculation works is to contact your plan adminstrator. They can potentially calculate the monthly benefits.

How Can a Divorce Lawyer Can Protect Your Retirement?

There are two very helpful type of people to have on your side if you are planning for retirement and divorce. You should have both a CPA and a divorce lawyer walk you through the types of retirement accounts available, their tax advantages, and whether it is a good idea to diversify your retirement. Even if you are not coontemplating a divorce, make sure to contact your CPA to understand your retirement plan and how to plan for the future.

Virginia Family Law: How to File to Modify Visitation

Do you have a custody or visitation order that is sveral years old? Maybe you are the non-custodial parent and the other parent has threatened to move out of state. How do you get in front of the judge to make sure your rights are protected?

What are the Required Forms to Change Custody or Visitation?

In order to change a custody or visitation order, there are a few forms that you will need to fill out with the juvenile and domestic relations court. These forms are:

• Motion to Modify : This document notifies the Court about which portion of the order you are wanting to change and what you want the new language to include. For example, if you are looking to change the visitation schedule you would identify the current schedule and the schedule you are seeking. You must also identify why you are looking to change custody or visitation.

• Service Member Relief Affidavit: This document is required to confirm whether the other parent is a member of the armed forces. If they are, that may delay your case if they are on active duty. It is a required document for the Court.

• UCCJEA Affidavit: This document notifies the Court of all the places the children have lived over the last five years. The raeson for the form is to make sure you have chosen the right Court to file the paperwork in.

• Motion to Enjoin: This document notifies the Court that you are trying to stop another parent from moving out of the area with the children.

• Motion to Expedite: This document notifies the Court if there is an emergency that needs to be taken care of if the children are not safe.

There may be other forms required depending on what you are trying to accomplish.

How a Family Lawyer Can Help

These forms can be complicated to fill out. If you file them improperly it can result in your case being delayed or the Court not taking your request seriously. Makre sure you hire a local attorney to help you prepare the paperwork properly.