The VLW Blog

A husband who voluntarily paid a $3 million equitable distribution award and $72,000 of wife’s attorney’s fees has forfeited his right to challenge the court-ordered payments on appeal, the Court of Appeals said yesterday. But the husband got a consolation prize. The appellate panel in Stephenson v. Musgrave said a Roanoke County Circuit Court erred [...]

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When arriving at an equitable distribution of a couple’s property, it’s only logical to start with the presumption that assets and debts acquired or incurred during the marriage are marital rather than individual, right? Logical perhaps, but the Supreme Court of Virginia says today that Virginia Code § 20-107.3 creates the presumption that assets are [...]

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The Virginia Family Law Coalition won one and lost one today in the Senate Courts of Justice Committee. House Bill 14 would have allowed a judge to draw an adverse inference if a party or witness refuses, on the ground of self-incrimination, to answer a question about adultery or certain other sexual crimes that remain [...]

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A bill to allow divorce judges to assume the worst if a spouse takes the Fifth on questions about adultery has cleared a House committee by a single vote. The measure, HB 14 , was passed by the House Courts of Justice Committee 49-48. It’s now in the hands of the Senate Courts committee, where [...]

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Del. H. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, and Del. David J. Toscano, D-Charlottesville, agreed that children can be kept in limbo far too long by proceedings to terminate parental rights. But they had different approaches to reducing the delay. Griffith’s House Bill 292 would have put jurisdiction over terminations in circuit court, rather than in juvenile and [...]

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Del. John M. O’Bannon III, R-Henrico, kicked up a lot of dust with a bill that would allow a judge to order child support for adult children up to age 23 if they are attending college.  The dust settled quickly, though, when O’Bannon allowed the bill to die in the House Courts of Justice Committee [...]

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Maybe it meant more to her than it did to him. Or maybe Michelle Baba was just looking for a way to re-do the post-nuptial agreement she signed with Roberto Baba after the parties separated in May 2007. The wife told Salem Circuit Court Judge Robert P. Doherty Jr. the parties had reconciled in November [...]

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For those tempted to finish this sentence with descriptions of quick departures or dismemberment, it might be enlightening to hear what a pair of experienced divorce lawyers would say to the bride of the Tiger. Kristen and Charles Hofheimer of Virginia Beach have provided just such counsel in a blog post here, based on Virginia [...]

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A Vermont judge has ruled in favor of the non-biological mother in a two-state battle arising from a same-sex partnership, reports the Rutland Herald . The dispute between Janet Jenkins of Vermont and Lisa Miller of Virginia has played out in courtrooms of both states for several years.  The couple split in 2003 and have [...]

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Although a wife didn’t earn income on her college degree until after the parties separated, she used her college loans for living expenses, and the Court of Appeals agrees husband must pay $11,000 of her college loan debt. Yesterday an appellate panel upheld a Montgomery County divorce court’s property split that gave the wife equity [...]

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