Kristen Diane Hofheimer’s Answers

I am unsure from your question whether an order was entered as a result of the 2011 custody petition or if his petition was simply dismissed. If there is an order from 2011, then he has to prove a material change in circumstances from the time the custody order was entered and now. If he is able to prove a material change in circumstances, then the court will do an analysis of the best interests of the children based upon the 10 custody factors outlined in Virginia Code Section 20-124.3 (you...

Relocation out of Virginia is very difficult when the non-custodial parent lives here. I suggest talking to your daughter's father before getting the court involved to see if he would be willing to sign an agreement allowing you to move and giving him summers and alternate holidays. If he does not agree and you have to go to court, you will have to prove that the move is in the best interest of your daughter by showing that the move benefits your daughter independently of the benefit to you....

If the house was bought during the marriage but only in the name of one spouse, then the other spouse has a marital interest in the property but cannot get the house itself, only a monetary award based upon the equity in the property that is attributable to the marital investment that was made. If, for example, a downpayment was made on the house using marital funds (funds that were earned during the marriage) and/or the principal on the mortgage was paid down using marital funds, then a...

It can be very difficult to relocate outside of Virginia and keep custody if the other parent lives here and objects to the move. You have to prove that the move will benefit your son independently from the benefit of the move to you (presumably the increased income/benefits from your husband's new job). It is helpful if your ex has not been taking advantage of his visitation while you are living here - it shows that the disruption to visitation resulting from the move will be less than if your...

I agree with the answers below, with some caution. Many judges do not understand the concept of attachment parenting and you cannot assume that they "get it" or agree with it. If you have to go to trial over this, you want to have some expert witnesses to educate your judge on the benefits of breastfeeding and attachment parenting. I have included a link below to a law review article that I wrote on the subject. I would have a lactation consultant testify about how let down and lactation works....

First of all, if you were in Juvenile court, you can appeal it to the Circuit Court and you basically get a do-over (except that you have to live under the current order pending the appeal and if there was a GAL you will most likely have the same GAL for the appeal). The hitch is that you have to note your appeal within 10 days of the entry of the juvenile court's order. So you should go to the clerk's office right away and file your notice of appeal. I cannot tell you how what happened...

If you currently have a custody order that simply says that both of you have joint legal and physical custody, you may not need to do anything. However, if there may be a future dispute over your 12 year old, you are better to protect yourself at least with a written and signed custody agreement that gives your ex physical custody of your 17 year old and you physical custody of your 12 year old. To best protect yourself, you and your husband can both sign consent orders to be filed with the...

The court will consider 10 factors in making a determination of what is in the best interests of your daughter. These factors can be found by googling "Virginia Code Section 20-124.3." The fact that you have been your daughter's primary caregiver and her father has hardly been around will help you, provided he hasn't been around by his own volition. If you have denied him visitation, that will hurt you in almost every instance. However, that does not mean that you will automatically get custody...

As the other poster has stated, legal custody has to do with making major decisions in your child's life, whereas physical custody and visitation have to do with how much time your child spends with each parent and under what conditions. While it does seem that your concerns have more to do with physical custody and visitation, it also seems as though your child's father does not have the best judgment and that goes to the issue of decision making. You said that you have been to court...

Your course of action depends on what you are trying to accomplish. If what you want is to prevent this from happening to other people, then a complaint to the co-parenting counselor's licensing board is probably your best course of action. If you are trying to sue for money, then you are probably out of luck. Because the counselor was appointed by the court, he is protected by sovereign immunity. However, I suspect that what you really want is to undo the damage that was done when he testified...