Practice area
Divorce
We are here to help you navigate through every step of the divorce process.
It is never easy when a marriage ends. But, no matter how painful a divorce is, we can assure you that there are happier times ahead. Surround yourself with positivity and rely on friends and family during this difficult time. And don't be so hard on yourself! A divorce is a time of grieving and it is important to give yourself grace, as your entire life has been turned upside down!
We realize that the process of filing for a Divorce can be a long and stressful process: trying to keep up with the paper work, filing dates and the constant back and forth between you and your spouse. We will help you determine whether you fall into the Contested or Uncontested Divorce category. This will make a difference in regards to what needs to be filed with the court. During the process, we will ensure that your rights are protected and help to minimize the amount of contact with your spouse and stress that may be involved.
“Divorce isn't such a tragedy. A tragedy’s staying in an unhappy marriage, teaching your children the wrong things about love. Nobody ever died of divorce.”
(Jennifer Weiner)
Child Custody
Situations dealing with child custody have to be handled with absolute delicacy. Children deserve to be treated with compassion, and any ruling needs to have your child's best interest in mind.
In addition to the financial obligations of both parents to their children, both parents deserve to maintain a relationship with their children. Child custody and parenting plans establish how the child's time is spent and which parent makes daily and major decisions.
Changes in circumstances, such as changes in careers, relocation, remarriage, and other issues can raise the need for modifications to these arrangements.
•Physical custody
•Shared custody
•Visitation
•Parenting plans
In many situations, we can help you SAVE time, money, frustration, and emotional difficulty by handling the entire process outside of the courtroom.
Don't wait when you need to establish a safe, stable home for your child. Call us for a FREE consultation so we can begin working on your representation.
“This is probably one of the most difficult challenges any parent could face - learning to love the other parent enough to make the children first.”
(Iyanla Vanzant)
Adoption
Adoption is a process that involves very specific rules and procedures, and adoption law is one area of family law that can be particularly difficult to navigate without legal counsel. There are many types of adoption, each with their own set of procedures, making adoption an often complicated process.
Adoption procedures can be confusing both for the biological parents and the adoptive parents. All parties to an adoption case should be informed about their rights, how the adoption system works, and how best to keep the child’s best interests protected. Adoption is often an experience that results in the happiest of endings, and with the help of a knowledgeable adoption lawyer the road to a new family can be made clearer.
It is important that you have a basic knowledge of adoption, regardless of whether you are welcoming a child into your family or securing a new family who will provide a good life for your birth child.
“Whether your children are yours through biology or adoption, they are yours through love.”
(Sadia Rebecca Rodriguez)
Guardian Ad Litem
The best part of my practice is serving as a Guardian ad Litem (GAL) because I get to be the
voice for the only person who has been blameless in arriving at the present court strife: the child.
I started my practice in 2013 as a “private/retained” attorney for parents and, in 2019, I had a client who needed to fire me. That happens from time to time in
family law practice, as some clients cannot accept that the judge weighs certain factors to determine what is in the child’s best interest, not just simply picking which parent more emphatically asserts he or she “knows” that answer already. It was in the moments of attempting to explain that the judge did not, in fact, have to analyze the case the way she did and that their child did have the right to love all people that both of her parents had told her she could love before their divorce that I decided I was completely content with encouraging
her to find another attorney who “got it from her perspective” and that GAL work was for me.
It is my role as GAL to investigate for the court, talking to anyone involved in the child’s life from teachers to counselors to step-parents, requesting records from sources subject to my subpoena powers, and gathering information that may never be admissible in court but is
absolutely relevant to the child’s well-being. If my child client is of an age to express a reasonable preference, it is my responsibility to communicate that preference to the court; it must be a reasonable preference, and if I disagree with the child’s preference (or that it is
reasonable), I must state that, as well as my reasons therefor, to the court. When parents learn
that their child’s preference is considered by the Court, sometimes they “encourage” or “discourage” the child with regard to the content of our discussions, or request that he or she state a preference for that parent’s home. This is entirely inappropriate, as children do not
decide their living situations until 18, and to indicate to them otherwise makes them “responsible” for “choosing” one parent over the other. Further, I have the same “attorney powers” for my child clients that I do for my adult clients; one of my favorite “attorney powers”
is the cross-examination of an adult who has questioned (or threatened to punish) my child client with regard to the substance of our privileged conversations.
Currently, most of my GAL work comes from Hopewell and Chesterfield, both with the Department of Social Services and private cases, as well as Sussex, Surry, Prince George, Greensville/Emporia and Brunswick. I am proud of my work thus far as a GAL and am tremendously grateful for the trust the courts have placed in me. My reputation as a fierce and protective GAL is one I will continue to work to build in the coming years.