In the breakup of a cash-poor but land-rich couple, a Norfolk judge has ordered the wife to advance legal expenses for the husband, with a right of reimbursement on final divorce. Norfolk Circuit Judge David W. Lannetti took the unusual ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Judge David W. Lannetti Norfolk Circuit Court Real Estate

A three-year family fight over owner­ship of a matri­arch’s home in the Rich­mond suburbs may be starting over now that the Supreme Court of Virginia has ordered a new trial. The court reversed a Henrico County judge’s decision to ex­clude ...

Tagged with: Beverly Gelber Domestic Relations Gregory D. Foreman Henrico County Circuit Court Judge Gary Hicks Justice Elizabeth A. McClanahan Meryl Glock Supreme Court of Virginia

A divorce court could proceed with trial even though wife had appealed a non-final order denying her a continuance, the Court of Appeals holds; the trial court also did not err in denying wife a continuance on the scheduled trial ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Judge William G. Petty Virginia Court of Appeals

The Court of Appeals upholds an order allowing a stepfather to adopt appellant’s two children, with whom he had little contact before and during his prison sentence on drug charges. Appellant failed to preserve his claim that the trial court ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Per Curiam Opinion Unpublished Opinion Virginia Court of Appeals

The Court of Appeals summarily affirms a circuit court order dismissing mother’s appeal from a juvenile and domestic relations court for failure to appear and prosecute her case. The child was born while mother was committed to Western State Hospital ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Per Curiam Opinion Unpublished Opinion Virginia Court of Appeals

A father who declined to sign the circuit court order reinstating the monthly child support obligation of $3,500 included in the final divorce decree, and who failed to make the same arguments on appeal he made before the circuit court, ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Per Curiam Opinion Unpublished Opinion Virginia Court of Appeals

In ruling on father’s petition to modify child support, the circuit court abused its discretion by averaging father’s income from a film production company for the past four years, instead of basing its calculation on father’s current income; however, the ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Judge Jean Harrison Clements Virginia Court of Appeals

A battle over a father’s financial legacy based on accusations of attorney misconduct has moved from an arbitration panel to circuit court and now to the Supreme Court of Virginia. Jackie Bogle Meuse – one of two daughters of the ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Jack Bogle Jackie Bogle Meuse Supreme Court of Virginia

By Erik Baines Statutes and the common law govern the court’s authority to seal (or sequester) its re­cord. See generally Shenandoah Pub. House, Inc. v. Fanning, 235 Va. 25 (1988). The common law has long-recognized a public right to access ...

Tagged with: Common Law Domestic Relations Erik D. Baines Fairfax County Circuit Court Family Law Family Law in Virginia Sponsored Content

By Melissa VanZile Third-party custody and visita­tion are among the more chal­lenging custody issues for family law practitioners and courts, as they involve people who may not be a child’s parent but a per­son who has usually played an ac­tive role ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Family Law Family Law in Virginia Melissa VanZile Sponsored Content Supreme Court of Virginia