If asked six months ago, many parents could have recited their family’s weekday routine: children go to school, parents go to work, and family time is enjoyed at night—rinse and repeat. COVID-19 has forced parents to restructure that routine and navigate through unprecedented times structuring their family’s day. This can be especially challenging to those parents co-parenting with a not-so-cooperative parent, or for those parents in the midst of separation. The largest and most impactful variable of them all is the uncertainty surrounding the new school year, and the numerous options available to parents in many school districts. This poses many questions: who gets to decide what learning option is best for the children? If the children are distance learning, who is responsible for supervising that? What about the parent’s day job?

Who gets to decide what learning option is best … Read More »

Livesay & Myers, P.C. proudly announces that 13 of our attorneys have been named 2020 Super Lawyers or Super Lawyers Rising Stars.

Super Lawyers selects attorneys using a patented multiphase selection process. Peer nominations and evaluations are combined with independent research. Each candidate is evaluated on 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement. Selections are made on an annual, state-by-state basis. The result is an objective, comprehensive listing of the top lawyers in each state.

The selection process for the Rising Stars list is the same as the Super Lawyers selection process, with one exception: to be eligible for inclusion in Rising Stars, a candidate must be either 40 years old or younger or in practice for 10 years or less.

Every year, no more than 5% of the lawyers in each state are named Super Lawyers, and no more than 2.5% … Read More »

Navigating through a divorce can be overwhelming for many people. Adding the complexities of military benefits, pensions, and acronyms on top of everything can add a tremendous amount of pressure to an already stressful situation. Both servicemembers and their spouses rely heavily on their friends and family for support during the difficult time of separation and divorce. However, many military families go through a divorce while stationed in another state, apart from their support networks.

Each state has its own set of laws governing divorce, and Virginia has a very particular set of divorce laws. However, the benefits to which servicemembers and their spouses are entitled both during and after a divorce are based on federal law—meaning they will remain the same in every state.

Given the complex interaction between state and federal law in every military divorce case, a large number of … Read More »

Marriage Story was released on Netflix in late 2019 to tremendous critical acclaim. The beautifully heartfelt film depicts the devastating unraveling of the marriage of two people, portrayed by Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver. Marriage Story artfully captures the emotional turmoil faced by many people after they make the decision to pursue a divorce.

If you are a Virginia resident facing a divorce, not everything you see in Marriage Story will apply to your own case. The film gets some details right, but other things that happen in the film are legally questionable, or at least would not apply to a case in Virginia. But, we can identify four lessons from Marriage Story that you can apply to your Virginia divorce.

Interstate Custody Jurisdiction

One legal detail that Marriage Story seems to get wrong relates to interstate custody jurisdiction. The child custody battle in … Read More »

Mediation has long been a popular alternative to drawn-out, costly and emotional contested litigation in Virginia family law cases. However, mediation has up until recently most often been an avenue that the parties themselves must proactively elect to participate in. This has generally required that (a) the attorneys involved in the case be proactive about discussing and promoting mediation with their clients, (b) both parties in the case be receptive to the discussion and open to a form of alternative dispute resolution that occurs outside a courtroom, and (c) a mutually agreed upon mediator be selected and a mediation date be set prior to the final trial date in the case.

Recently, however, some courts in Virginia have begun making mediation a mandatory part of the litigation process for some cases, with the goal that the parties will be able to … Read More »

Under Virginia law, cheating on a spouse is illegal. In Virginia, any married person who voluntarily has sexual intercourse with a person who is not his or her spouse is guilty of adultery, which is punishable as a Class 4 misdemeanor. The maximum criminal penalty for adultery is a $250 fine, but the ramifications in a divorce action may be much more severe. Adultery can be used as a fault ground to obtain a divorce, may be a bar to spousal support and can be considered regarding child custody and equitable distribution of marital property.

Even so, what happens when a cheating spouse invokes his or her Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination? In Virginia, a party can exercise his or her constitutional privilege against self-incrimination in both criminal and civil actions. Depending on the circumstances of the case, a cheating spouse’s … Read More »

The Supreme Court of the United States issued a landmark decision on June 26, 2015 when Obergefell v. Hodges, 135 S. Ct. 2584 (2015) allowed for same-sex marriage in all fifty states. What this opinion did not address, however, was parentage of children born into those same-sex marriages or legal rights of non-birth parents to children born into those marriages through assisted conception.

Under Virginia law, a marriage creates a presumption of parentage. Virginia Code § 20-158 states that the gestational mother or “birth mother,” and the spouse of a birth mother, are the two parents of a child resulting from assisted conception. This allows for a birth mother and her wife to both be listed on their child’s birth certificate when the Department of Vital Statistics records the child’s information.

However, the presumption of parentage does not necessarily convey legal … Read More »

Now that you are separated from your spouse, you may be asking yourself: “I want to move on with my life and meet new people. Can I reenter the dating world? What happens if I become romantically involved with someone?” Unfortunately, under Virginia law there are no simple answers to these questions. For those who are currently separated and either dating or are thinking about dating, there are several factors to consider.

First, unlike some states, there is no such thing as a “legal separation” in Virginia. Under Virginia law, you are either married or divorced, so even though you may be separated from your spouse physically, you are still married in the eyes of the law. With that being said, no one can prevent you from dating during your separation. It is not a crime to do so, and … Read More »

Custody disputes can be very contentious and it is often the case that at least one of the parents is dissatisfied with the court’s decision once all is said and done. However, the dissatisfied party can take some solace in knowing there is additional recourse available to them. That recourse is to appeal the decision of the court that entered the custody and visitation order to a higher court. The process for appealing a custody and visitation order in Virginia differs based on whether the order was entered by a juvenile and domestic relations court (“J&DR court”) or circuit court.

Appealing a J&DR Court Custody and Visitation Order

In the event your custody and visitation order was entered by a Virginia J&DR court, you have the automatic right and option to appeal the order to circuit court. See Virginia Code § 16.1-296(A). The right to … Read More »

What happens to a custody order when you move from one state to another with your child(ren)? If you have moved from another state to Virginia and have a child custody order signed by a judge in your former state, you will probably want to register that order for enforcement in Virginia courts.

The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) provides that one state court will recognize the custody order of another state court if the order has been properly registered. The Commonwealth of Virginia has adopted UCCJEA provisions into the Virginia Code. As set forth in Virginia Code § 20-146.24, a court of the Commonwealth has a duty to enforce a child custody determination of a court of another state if either the “latter court exercised jurisdiction in substantial conformity with the UCCJEA,” or “the determination was made under … Read More »