In a marriage, it is common for one spouse to take on most of the financial responsibilities. Perhaps they are more inclined towards math, so they keep track of all the couple's finances. This may seem innocent during the marriage. However, spouses who were not...
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Family Law
USDA promotes linking SNAP benefits to child support
Almost 40 million people in Virginia and around the country receive benefits administered by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to help them pay for food. The rules governing the program, which is sometimes referred to as food stamps, are laid down by SNAP...
Income and other factors in determining support
When Virginia couples get a divorce and one person has to pay child or spousal support to the other, the court will take several factors into account in determining the amount. In addition to the regular salary a person earns, a court will look at other types of...
Divorce and claiming dependents
When parents in Virginia file their federal income tax returns, they can generally claim their children as dependents. However, if they are divorced or separated, they should make sure that the other parent is not claiming the children as dependents as well. If...
Learning about child support
Virginia couples who split up after having kids will probably need to negotiate child support. This can be complicated for a number of reasons. However, there are some basic concepts related to child support that all parents should know in order to make the process...
Finding a new financial team after a divorce
Some former Virginia couples come out of a divorce after having had a relationship where the dependent spouse relied on outside sources for financial advice. When transitioning back to a single life, some dependent spouses prefer to continue to use the same set of...
Support modification only for big changes in circumstance
Generally speaking, courts in Virginia will consider modifying an order of child support when there has been a substantial change in the level of need of the child or in the payor's income. People who have been ordered to pay child support might be eligible for a...
How an ‘attractiveness gap’ could lead to divorce
There are a number of factors that can lead to conflict in a Virginia marriage, and some issues might be more complex than they appear on the surface. According to some researchers, men who marry women who are more conventionally attractive than them may have a higher...
Child support is rarely a simple matter
Child support is one of the most important pieces of a divorce proceeding in Virginia and elsewhere because it directly pertains to the best interests of the child. In most cases, child support payment schedules will be included in the final divorce decree when sole...
Evidence needed to prove alcohol abuse in child custody cases
Many factors lead couples in Virginia to pursue divorce, but the endangerment of a child adds urgency to the matter for a concerned parent. A recent letter to an advice columnist from a father worried about his child in the company of a heavy-drinking mother...