Couples often split because they can’t work things out, but – when children are involved – the parties continue to be connected even after the relationship ends. Separation or divorce creates a whole new host of issues requiring cooperation and agreement between the parties. And, if ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Family Law in Virginia Melissa VanZile

The circuit court’s equitable distribution and support determinations were not in error, and the wife didn’t proffer for the appellate record purported after-acquired evidence of additional property that could have merited reconsideration. Background The parties were married in 1999. Husband ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Family Law Judge Marla Graff Decker Virginia Court of Appeals

For equitable distribution purposes, a retired professional athlete’s line-of-duty disability benefits were correctly evaluated similar to pension benefits under Code § 20-107.3(G), rather than personal injury compensation under subsection (H). Background The parties were married in 1999 and had two ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Family Law Judge Marla Graff Decker Virginia Court of Appeals

A jury should have been allowed to consider whether it was reasonable for the defendant, charged with possessing a firearm while subject to a protective order, to believe that a JDR court had dissolved the order. Background While Appellant Nicholas ...

Tagged with: Criminal Domestic Relations Judge Mary Grace O'Brien Virginia Court of Appeals

Despite the divorcing parties’ substantial marital debt, Husband’s decision to sell their assets for less than their value – without obtaining wife’s approval – was contrary to an existing court order and constituted waste of marital assets for equitable distribution ...

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

The circuit court erred in holding that a father’s payment to his ex-wife, purportedly in satisfaction of the final divorce agreement and decree, was actually a “gift” made to the couple’s adult son. The father made the check out to ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Family Law Virginia Court of Appeals

Evidence didn’t support the circuit court’s ruling that a mother failed to remedy past conditions of child abuse. The record also didn’t support affirmance on the alternate ground of inadequate parenting skills advance by the Department of Social Services. Background ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Family Law Judge Wesley G. Russell Jr. Parental Rights Virginia Court of Appeals

The court of appeals could not review the trial court’s fee award because it arose out of the trial court’s unreviewable decision that a party was not in contempt. Background In 2013, the parties entered into a separation agreement, which ...

Tagged with: Civil Procedure Domestic Relations Family Law Judge Robert P. Frank Virginia Court of Appeals

Because a wife executed a property settlement agreement with her husband after deliberate negotiations, with assistance from a mediator and a Navy JAG officer, and without relying on any misrepresentations, her waiver of any share in her husband’s pension was ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Family Law Judge David W. Lannetti Norfolk Circuit Court Virginia Circuit Courts

Even if the circuit court erred in admitting a psychological evaluation that had not been considered by the Juvenile & Domestic Relations Court, the totality of evidence supporting termination of parental rights made any such error harmless. Background In 2003, ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Domestic Relations Evidence Family Law Parental Rights Per Curiam Opinion Virginia Court of Appeals