New Virginia Laws: 2023 Family Law Edition

Every year, the General Assembly (the Virginia Legislature) considers new laws that are proposed by lawyers, interest groups, and private individuals. These new laws take effect on different dates throughout the year, but the most important date is July 1st. Several new laws were passed this year that you should be aware of. Below is a summary of various new laws passed involving divorce, custody, support and other family law issues.

1. Medical Records - One of the major things the court can consider in custody and visitation cases is the mental and physical condition of both parents. A new law has been passed that has made it easier for parties to submit those records to the Court. The updated version of the law (16.1-245.2) makes it easier to present reports to the court from medical providers. If medical records are an important part of your custody case, make sure to hire a lawyer familiar with these new requirements.

2. Divorce Court v. Custody Court - The General Assembly also passed a law that made it easier to kick out a custody case if a divorce case is filed in the Circuit Court. The Circuit Court is a higher level court in Virginia than the custody court. If a divorce case is filed, certain steps can be taken to kick out a pending custody case. Make sure that your lawyer knows these new laws and how to take advantage of them.

3. Pregnancy costs - In response to a growing number of concerns about pregnancy and delivery, Virginia has passed a new law that makes it possible for a mother to ask for reimbursement for costs associated with pregnancy is there is a dispute as to who the father is.

These are only the biggest new laws for family law. There are many others. If you are looking for a divorce lawyer to help you out with your case, make sure you find one familiar with these new laws and how they may effect your case.

Virginia Personal Injury Law: The Slip and Fall

The purposes of a personal injury lawyer is to help someone who has been wrongfully injured to recover money from the person or business that caused that injury. There are many different types of injuries. This post contains basic information about the “slip and fall.” So what is the slip and fall, and how can a personal injury lawyer help you if this happened to you?

What is a Slip and Fall Case?

The most common type of slip and fall is a case where someone was in a grocery store or some other retail store. While walking through the store, that person might slip on a wet or slippery surface. Maybe a water heater was broken and dripping water on the floor. Maybe an employee came through and forgot to mop up a spill from another guest.

There are many other scenarios where these kinds of cases come up, but the essence of a slip and fall is that you are on someone else’s property, you slip, you fall, and you are injured.

What Do You Have to Prove to Have a Good Slip and Fall Case?

In order to be successful in a slip and fall case, there are a number of obligations Virginia law places on the injured person. The injured person has to prove that:

1) A dangerous condition existed at the property;

2) The owner of the property (or agent) either had direct knowledge of the condition or the condition was so obvious they should have known;

3) The owner of the property (or agent) failed to fix the condition;

4) The injured person slipped and fell because of that conditiion;

5) The injured person sufferred an injury as a result of the slip and fall.

Why You Need a Personal Injury Lawyer.

Virginia law makes it complicated and very difficult to get money from a business as a result of a slip and fall. These businesses keep an army of lawyers on stand by to fight these claims and to minimize the amount they have to pay. Because of all these pitfalls, it is important to have a personal injury lawyer help you as soon as you are the victim of a slip and fall.

The personal injury lawyer can walk you through what actions to take to maximize your chances of recovering money from the business by getting the documentation related to the incident, helping walk you through talking to a medical professional for further diagnosis, and negotiating with insurance providers.

Make sure you talk to a personal injury lawyer ASAP if this happens to you.

Virginia Divorce Law: What is Separate Property

A lot of people contact me asking questions about whether or not certain types of property will be divided during a divorce. The most common examples may include inheritance, businesses and real estate. Some people come into a marriage with a lot of property while others do not have a lot of assets when they get married.

Regardless, when two people get a divorce property will get divided into three separate types of property: Marital, Separate and Hybrid. So what is separate property, and what are some common examples?

What is Separate Property in a Divorce?

Virginia law actually has a legal definition of separate property. Virginia law defines separate property as:

1. All property, real and personal, acquired by either party before the marriage;

2. All property acquired during the marriage by bequest, devise, descent, survivorship, or gift from a source other than the other party;

3. All property acquired during the marriage in exchange for or from the procees of sale of separate property so long as that property was maintained as separate.

4. Income derived from separate property so long as not attributable to labor from during the marriage;

5. Increase in value of separate property unless contributed to during the marriage

These are the five most common types of separate property. This is a lot of legal jargon to say that separate property is essentially those items you bring into a marriage that you keep separate and do not comingle or contribute marital funds or labor to.

What Are Examples of Separate Property?

A good example of separate property is a business that you start prior to marriage. That business starts out as separate property, and would normally not be divided during the marriage. The income from that business would also not be divided, nor would increase in value, unless you make substantial marital contributions to that business.

For example, if your spouse invests in your business after you are married, you add your spouse to the business as a joint owner, or you take out additional financing during the marriage then that may turn the business into joint property that has to be divided.

Another example of separate property is a house that you owned prior to marriage. So long as you do not add your spouse to the house and it is owned outright, you normally would not have to reimburse your spouse anything during the divorce unless there were major renovations or marital investments in the property. If the house is mortgaged and you pay it down during the marriage, then substantial portions of those mortgage payments would get divided since you are investing marital funds into the property.

Why You Need a Divorce Lawyer.

If you are going through a divorce and have substantial assets, then it is important to have a divorce lawyer to help you catalog all of your property and figure out how much of it will be divided and how much the other spouse is entitled to. The divorce lawyer can also make sure you do not waive any interest you may have in the other spouse’s assets as a result of marital contributions to the property. Make sure to hire a lawyer if you are considering a divorce.

Virginia Divorce Law: What is Marital Property

There are three types of property that have to be addressed in a Virginia divorce case: separate property, marital property, and hybrid property. This blog post is dedicated to the second type of property, marital property.

Marital property, generally, is property acquired during the marriage and the entire value gets divided in some form or fashion.

However, many people I talk to don’t understand how broad this category of property is. So what is marital property, and what gets divided in a divorce case?

What is Marital Property in Virginia?

Virginia law has a legal definition for marital property. The legal definition of marital property is:

(i) all property titled in the names of both parties, whether as joint tenants, tenants by the entirety or otherwise,

(ii) that part of any property classified as marital pursuant to subdivision 3, or

(iii) all other property acquired by each party during the marriage which is not separate property as defined above.

In basic terms, most property acquired during the marriage, regardless of whose name it is in, is considered to be “marital property.”

Some common examples of marital property that often surprise people include:

1. If your spouse has a Kohl’s credit card you were entirely unaware of, then you could be responsible for portions of this as “marital debt” even if your name is not on the card.

2. If you purchase a vehicle during the marriage but your spouse’s name is not on the vehicle, then your spouse could be entitled to money if you decide to keep it.

3. If you purchase a house during the marriage but do not add your spouse’s name, then your spouse could still be entitled to reimbursement.

4. If you have a separate bank account without your spouse as a joint account holder, then the money in that account added during the marriage could be divided.

5. If you are self-employed and started a business during the marriage, then your spouse may be entitled to compensation.

There are a lot of exceptions to these categories, which is one of the major reasons to talk to a lawyer.

Why It Matters Whether Property is Marital

Virginia divorce judges have to divide property that is considered marital in some form or fashion. If property is considered marital, then you have to start financial planning to determine what your ideal outcome in a divorce case will be. You may decide that selling marital property as part of the divorce proceedings makes more financial sense than offering your spouse a buy out to keep the property.

All of the marital property combined is what we call the “marital estate,” and understanding the size and make up of the marital estate is important to having a game plan for divorce proceedings.

Why You Need a Divorce Lawyer.

A good divorce lawyer is able to help you look at all the property you have and determine which items are marital property and which are not. They can also help you create a financial game plan for what happens during and after the divorce and to prioritize those property items that matter most to you. Also, a divorce lawyer can connect you with financial planners if you need additional assistance planning for life after divorce.

Make sure you call a divorce lawyer if you are looking at a divorce.

Virginia Family Law: The Role of DCSE

If you are currently receiving child support, ordered to pay child support, or just thinking about asking the Court for child support, you may come across a government body known as the Department of Child Support Enforcement (DCSE for short). DCSE serves may different roles in child support from setting out an initial child support obligation to helping you force the other parrent to pay their child support.

So what is DCSE and when should you consider reaching out to them for help?

What is the Virginia Department of Child Support Enforcement?

DCSE is a Virginia government agency whose job is to help people navigate how to ask for or enforce child support obligations. They employ several different types of professionals from lawyers to appear in Court to collections workers to help manage active accounts. They have office throughout Virginia and are able to help local clients with their child support needs.

DCSE does a few different things. If you do not currently have child support but are interested in asking for child support from the other parent, then DCSE can start the process. Once you open a case with DCSE, they send out letters to the other side. In these letters, they request financial information used to calculate how much child support you are entitled to.This is a great way of skipping the long waiting requirement of having to go to Court for child support.

DCSE also helps to enforce existing child support obligations. If you already have a court ordered child support obligation, you can ask DCSE to take money from the other parent if they are refusing to pay. They can take money from their job, their bank accounts, or even ask the Court to hold them in contempt and seek jail timime.

The Pros and Cons of Opening a DCSE Case in Virginia.

When it comes to child support, there are two major options. You can either go to the Court system and ask the Court to set up child support and ask the Court to enforce the obligation, or you can open a case file with DCSE and allow them to help with those things. There are benefits and drawbacks to both approaches.

If you decide to go through the Court system, you are on your own unless you hire a private lawyer. The Court system can be complicated and confusing to many people, and they may not be able to afford a private lawyer. However, going that route gives you more control over the outcome of any enforcement actions.

In contrast, DCSE is a free service to the person who is supposed to be receiving child support. It is a much cheaper option than hiring your own attorney. You also have knowledgable professionals helping with the child support obligation. The downside is that you lose control over enforcement actions and it is up to DCSE as to how strict or harsh they want to be when collecting child suppport. Further, you are limited on how often your case may come back to Court if you have an open DCSE case.

Consider Your Options When Hiring a Child Support Lawyer

DCSE is a tool available for people who want to save money and do not mind losing some control over their child support case. However, it does come with the drawbacks described above. If you are considering filing for child support, looking to enforce a support obligation, or are even interested in modifying your child support, it is important to talk to a local attorney beforehand to determine if a DCSE case is right for you.