For equitable-distribution purposes, the circuit court erred in failing to determine the amount of a husband’s student loans as of the date he and his wife separated. Under the circumstances, it was within its authority to re-open evidence on that ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Family Law Judge Marla Graff Decker Unpublished Opinion Virginia Court of Appeals

Despite significant compliance with social services requirements to reunite with her five living children, a mother had not substantially remedied the conditions that required them to be placed in foster care. She had not seen the children since they were ...

Tagged with: Family Law Parental Rights Per Curiam Opinion Unpublished Opinion Virginia Court of Appeals

If facts could be gleaned from the existing record, a father seeking to modify support obligations wasn’t necessarily required to put on evidence of his children’s current needs, since the Child Support Guidelines include a rebuttable presumption of such needs. ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Evidence Fairfax County Circuit Court Family Law Judge David Bernhard Virginia Circuit Courts

A husband facing a possible overdue support obligation of up to $238,000 can breathe a little easier with a judge’s ruling that his long-term reconciliation with his wife invalidated her claim for the support arrearage. The husband’s return to the ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Fairfax County Circuit Court Family Law Judge David Bernhard

After a divorced couple’s former residence was significantly damaged by fire, the husband was entitled to reimbursements from the wife for his outlays to return to property to saleable condition. The trial court did not err in decreasing the wife’s ...

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

The circuit court did not err in modifying a husband’s spousal support obligation from about $7,800 to $4,800 based on his ability to pay, but it also properly declined to make the modification retroactive. Background Husband and Wife married in ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Family Law Judge Rudolph Bumgardner III Virginia Court of Appeals

The circuit court did not err in concluding that, despite their willingness to care for a child, the mother’s relatives were not suitable placements due to concerns about their age, health, living conditions, potential criminality, and attentiveness. Background Appellant Paula ...

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

The trial court erred in holding a father in contempt for failing to notify the mother of their child of the date of their son’s first communion. Background Father and Mother, who separated in 2008, are subject to a final ...

Tagged with: Civil Procedure Domestic Relations Family Law Judge Rosemarie Annunziata Virginia Court of Appeals

Despite a support order entered in 2004, a husband didn’t owe arrearages dating to 2006. He’d stopped paying when the couple reconciled, resumed living together as husband and wife, and had two more children supported solely by the husband’s income. ...

Tagged with: Contract Domestic Relations Fairfax County Circuit Court Family Law Judge David Bernhard Virginia Circuit Courts

A wife was entitled to enforce a marital agreement’s division of assets in the event of divorce. The evidence did not support her husband’s claim that she fraudulently induced him to sign the agreement by misrepresenting her intention to continue ...

Tagged with: Contract Domestic Relations Family Law Judge Michelle J. Atkins Norfolk Circuit Court Virginia Circuit Courts