Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

A former Secret Service agent must maintain the same support obligation as before he voluntarily retired. Although he had been depleting his savings and relying on his current wife to make payments, his ex-wife’s relative financial situation justified the status ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Family Law Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr. Virginia Court of Appeals

An adoption plan for children who suffered significant abuse and neglect while living with their biological parents will not be disturbed, despite the father’s new employment and substance-free status. Background Appellant Daniel Ray Essenmacher shared two minor children with Tymatha ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Family Law Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr. Parental Rights Virginia Court of Appeals

Termination of parental rights was not plainly wrong, despite the mother’s contention that the Department should have further investigated potential placement of her children with extended family members. Background Following an evidentiary hearing, the circuit court terminated the residual parental ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Family Law Judge Randolph A. Beales Parental Rights Virginia Court of Appeals

A circuit court’s decision was not grounds for res judicata in a separate action, when the earlier matter remained pending on the court’s docket and contained no other language indicating it was a final decision on the merits. Background In ...

Tagged with: Civil Procedure Contract Domestic Relations Family Law Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn Supreme Court of Virginia

The court found sufficient evidence to support the termination of Appellant Tasheika Deshae Davis’s parental rights as to D., Davis’s minor daughter. Code § 16.1-283(C)(2) provides that, in addition to being in the best interests of the child, termination of ...

Tagged with: Family Law Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr. Parental Rights Virginia Court of Appeals

The court of appeals upheld a decision to terminate the parental rights of Appellants Bettina and Daniel Dorr as to their autistic young son. The Dorrs are biological parents to D., born in 2012. Responding to a complaint in 2013, ...

Tagged with: Family Law Parental Rights Per Curiam Opinion Virginia Court of Appeals

R.H., a 9-year-old girl, had lived her entire life with her mother and maternal grandmother, in her grandmother’s spacious home. R.H. was in good health and well-adjusted, with no developmental delays. R.H.’s father, who currently lives in a one-bedroom home ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Due Process Family Law Judge David W. Lannetti Norfolk Circuit Court Parental Rights Virginia Circuit Courts

Despite the mother’s relocation to North Carolina, jurisdiction over divorcing parties’ child-custody dispute will remain in Virginia. After Plaintiff Devin Lipps (husband) and Defendant Amanda Lipps (wife) separated, wife moved to North Carolina with the couple’s minor child. In June ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Judge Michelle J. Atkins Norfolk Circuit Court Parental Rights Virginia Circuit Courts

Nash v. Arlington County Dept. of Human Services (VLW No. 017-7-286, 9 pp.) (Chafin, J.) Appealed from Arlington County Circuit Court (Fiore, J.) Va. App. Unpub. Holding: Following removal of her 8-month-old son after reports of drug distribution and domestic ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Judge Teresa M. Chafin Virginia Court of Appeals

Higgins v. Pearce (VLW No. 017-7-284, 11 pp.) (Alston, J) Appealed from Henrico County Circuit Court (Harris, J.) Va. App. Unpub. Holding:  Appellant parent challenges the trial court’s award of custody and visitation, contending that the court committed constitutional and ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr. Virginia Court of Appeals