The NLADA recently produced a webinar on new child support regulations most of which go into effect this month. The new regulations require that the states make changes in their policies and procedures to improve the processes states use to collect and distribute child support.  They direct a few issues about child support collection that have created problems for some parents. The states are required to make  changes in their guidelines that address incarceration and unemployment among other issues.

Tomorrow I will be joining several colleagues as we travel to Calhoun County, West Virginia for two days to meet with community leaders, education professionals, and law enforcement to discuss the potential applications for restorative justice in the community. 

After you've injured your back or neck in a car wreck, you may be wondering what's wrong with me? Can you feel better? How long will it take? First of all, let me remind you: I am not a physician, and this is a blog post that does not include legal or medical advice. You should always talk to your doctor and design a treatment plan that is best for you. In this post, I’m going to list some of the kinds of treatment that clients in my legal practice have told me that they find helpful for their back and neck injuries.  

January is a popular month to file for divorce.  Why?  For many people, the new year is a time that they reevaluate their lives and decide to make changes.  Perhaps they have waited or tried to make a marriage work for some time and the new year seems like a good opportunity to go ahead and pursue divorce.  Others may want to wait until after Christmas to plan for their a divorce. Some people postpone divorce into the new year for economic or tax reasons.  Whatever the basis, if you have decided to divorce in 2017, should you file?

On December 7, 2016,  I’ll be joining Howard Zehr for a webinar on Restorative Lawyering.  Restorative Lawyering is a model of practicing law that I have been developing along with colleagues such as Marshall Yoder and Susan Marcus.  Restorative lawyering adopts the guiding principles and values of restorative justice.  In doing so, we look at each situation, problem, or conflict and often start by asking,  “Has there been harm that needs to be addressed?” and “What can be done to make right the wrongs?”  These fundamental questions, central to restorative justice, change the focus from what statute or rule has been violated to what can be done to make things better.  

Over the past few months on this blog, I’ve covered many of the issues that we consider in mediation when a couple is planning to file for divorce.  My posts in this series have examined everything from how to divide marital property, how to calculate child support, and how to make schedules for holidays for the children.  Along with resources such as the free forms from the West Virginia Supreme Court, these posts may help you decide whether or not you want to retain a lawyer, reach an agreement before you select a lawyer or file for divorce, or if you want to consider collaborative law.

Father's Day is Sunday---which brings up the question:  How do we divide holidays in the parenting plan?  Whether you are working with a mediator, with your collaborative attorneys, or on independently, once you have worked through the decision-making part of your plan and the primary custodial time, you are ready to work on holidays and vacation.  Here are some ideas on how you can divide those times to maximize the time that your children spend with their parents. 

In today’s post, I’ll continue to share ideas on how to develop a custodial schedule in your parenting plan.  Once you have the decision-making portion of the parenting plan developed, have agreed on some of the objectives and conceptual details about custodial time, you might stumble when creating a calendar, due to unique problems in your family.  In this post, we’ll address some of the challenges I’ve seen parentings struggle with and how they’ve resolved them.

With your decision-making parenting plan in one hand and the answers to some important questions about jobs and schedules in the other, you are ready to start marking up a calendar to decide how to divide custodial time.  You might want to print out some calendars and mark them up with different schedules.  Printed calendars make it easier to evaluate the possible plans.

When you are working in mediation or collaborative law, you can create most any schedule you want to create to suit your families' needs.  

The schedules I’m describing in this post are examples of what has worked for some families. Of course, if you cannot develop a plan through mediation, negotiation, or collaborative processes, you will be stuck with a schedule that a judge creates that may or may not be as tailored to your families’ needs.  

Last week we looked at how to create a parenting plan to divide your decision making after divorce. Establishing details and processes for decision making is the foundation of a terrific parenting plan.   Create a plan with the help of an experienced mediator, family counselor, or collaborative attorney to draft a strong agreement-- built to withstand a lot of wear of tear!  Next, you’ll develop the second part of your parenting plan, a schedule outlining what nights your child is sleeping at each house—or “allocation of custodial responsibility.” 

In the last several months, I’ve blogged about how to get divorced in West Virginia without a lawyer.  The series has addressed everything from working out an agreement to filing the paperwork with the court.  During May, my blog posts concern issues about children.  Today’s post provides an overview of five things to consider when filing for divorce (with children) without a lawyer.  In subsequent posts the month, I’ll provide some guidance so that you can develop your own, unique parenting plan.  Are you thinking about filing for divorce without a lawyer?  Think about this:

Today’s blog post is another in the series recognizing April as National Crime Victim’s Rights Month. In today’s post I will address five things that every victim should know:

• Medical bills can be paid by the crime victim’s fund in most states.

• The prosecutor is not the victim’s lawyer.

• Most cases do not go to trial.

• Restorative Justice may provide you with more options than the conventional judicial system.

• When an offender is incarcerated you should sign up for a notification if he or she is released.

The final session of the Virginia Mediation Network spring series is open for registration.  In the session  participants will be introduced in how to construct a mediation process that is trauma-sensitive and trauma informed.  This webinar will focus how members may come into mediation with experiences of trauma, how mediators are affected by secondary trauma, and how the court system can be traumatic and thereby impact some participants in mediation.  While the speakers will address the impact on children, they will also provide a broad overview of the topic of trauma and mediation. The speakers will include Jamie E. Austin, the Regional Director for Pathways in Culpepper, Virginia and Shannon Sneary, a mediator with the Fairfield Center in Harrisonburg, Virginia.  Due to the nature of the webinar, pre-registration is required no later than May 1!  (The cost is only $10.00 for VMN members!)  You may register by visiting the VMN website.

Between mediations, court appearances and the Virginia Mediation Mini-Conferences, I missed writing my monthly post on how to get a divorce without a lawyer.   I’m back and this week is National Crime Victim’s Rights Week. All of my posts during April will focus on crime victims. Today, I’m addressing whether or not you can get a divorce without a lawyer when you, or your child, are a victim of crime and the offender is the other parent, or a stepparent.  

This weekend I will be joining lawyers from all over the United States in Harrisonburg, Virginia to participate in a symposium, “Restorative Justice’s Role in the Expanding Concepts and Structures of the Practice of Law in the United States.” Sponsored by the Campbell University College of Law and the Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice, we will be addressing topics such as “A Trauma-Informed Legal Practice” and “How Restorative Practices are Affecting Systemic Change.”  Of course, I am most excited to hear what Professor Zehr will bring to the symposium during Friday night's  session, “Restorative Justice: Continuing the Conversation.”    

This week I return to my monthly series blog posts about filing for divorce without a lawyer in West Virginia. This post applies only to West Virginia! Details for the District of Columbia and Virginia are located elsewhere on my blog. Previous posts addressed where to file for divorce, reaching an agreement, and filing initial pleadings. Today we will be addressing some questions about the financial statement.

Brenda Waugh, Attorney at Law, L.C. offers free informational sessions for folks who are considering filing for divorce.  The sessions are offered monthly in Martinsburg and Charles Town and provide a forum for parties to learn about the options available when considering divorce.  

In the last few months, I've been working on a series on how to file for divorce without a lawyer in West Virginia.  Next week, I'll continue in that series with a post on the hearing.  However, I'll pause today and remind readers of some of the mistakes you can make when filing for divorce without a lawyer.