Articles by Emily C. Baker

The American legal framework regarding the custody of children when their parents divorce has undergone tremendous change since the years when the “tender years’ doctrine” and the “maternal preference” favored the mother if parents could not agree on how to resolve custody issues.  In addition, in the past, custody was…

When a military member and his or her spouse divorce, one important objective is to divide military retirement benefits in a manner which recognizes the contributions and sacrifices of both parties during the marriage.  Yet achieving that objective can be extremely complicated, and a decision of the US. Supreme Court…

We live in an interconnected world where now more than ever many of our Virginia divorce clients are married to or have a child with a person who holds a passport issued by another country. If you are in this situation and your marital or intimate relationship appears to be…

As a party who has had a protective order entered against you, are you limited in your ability to own a firearm? If you live in Virginia, the answer is now yes. To provide some background, a protective order is a court order in a civil (not criminal) proceeding which…

Being “served with papers” can be quite a jarring experience, especially if a lawsuit against you was unexpected.  It is normal to feel anger, betrayal, fear, and a host of other negative emotions upon reviewing the papers.  You may be wondering why the opposing party took such an aggressive course…