Blogs from May, 2022

Many families choose to relocate and get a fresh start when schools are out for summer. Whether you move for a new job, to be closer to your family, or just for a change of scenery, relocating after a divorce is complicated when there are children involved. In some circumstances, this change can affect your custody arrangement, so knowing how to prepare and what to expect is crucial.

So, what are the requirements for relocation in Virginia?

Rules of Relocation

When a custodial parent plans to relocate with their child, Virginia law requires that they provide 30 days of advance notice to the court and the other parent. This may sound simple, but complications can arise if the other parent does not approve of the move. If you expect any objection or pushback from your child’s other parent, be prepared to defend your decision to relocate.

You’ll be expected to justify your reasons for moving. The most important thing you’ll need to prove is that this decision is in the child’s best interests. Specifically, there is a set of factors that a judge will want to evaluate. These include:

• The physical and mental condition of each parent;
• The age, condition, and needs of the child or children;
• The role each parent has played thus far in the child’s care;
• The relationship between each parent and the child; and
• The willingness of each parent to foster a healthy co-parenting relationship.

There are many other factors and details that can impact a judge’s decision in these matters. Our dedicated team of attorneys has over 25 years of combined experience at our disposal to help you with your child custody case. We can answer any questions you might have about Virginia’s laws and how they may affect your plans to move.

Establishing Jurisdiction

In the event you do relocate with your child, how long must you live in your new home for court jurisdiction to be established? That answer can be complicated. The Uniform Child Custody and Jurisdiction Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) was enacted to create a set of rules for all states to follow in situations like this.

The UCCJEA says that the court with jurisdiction over a custody case is the one where a child has lived, uninterrupted, for six months or more. However, if there is already a custody or visitation order established in another state, and the other parent continues to reside in that state, then jurisdiction will remain there. To make things even more complicated, there is also an exception to this rule that involves factors like the length of a child’s residency in Virginia, domestic violence issues, and the financial status of the parents.

The Law Offices of Daniel J. Miller can help you navigate the complexities of Virginia’s child custody laws. Call us today at (757) 267-4949 or contact us online to set up an initial consultation.

Cinco de Mayo is right around the corner. Over the last few years, the holiday has earned a reputation as one of the most dangerous days to be on the road. According to a 2021 AutoInsurance.org report, Cinco de Mayo is now ranked as the fifth most dangerous holiday for driving. That’s up five spots from the previous year, and it’s earned that spot due to the high frequency of drunk driving-related fatal crashes.

Being involved in a drunk driving accident can completely change your life, regardless of your role. If you’re the drunk driver, you could be looking at license suspension, fines, and possibly jail time on top of a potential lawsuit from the person you hit. If a drunk driver hits and injures you, no doubt you’ll deal with physical and emotional trauma. After you’ve sought out medical attention, you may want to consider legal action.

Being injured in a drunk driving accident entitles you to compensatory damages and possibly even punitive damages. The compensatory damages will help you receive compensation for medical bills, lost wages, physical injuries and pain, and even inconvenience. Punitive damages penalize the defendant for their actions and are paid in addition to any compensatory damages.

Not everyone involved in a drunk driving accident is eligible for punitive damages. In 1994, the Virginia legislature introduced a law that made proving punitive damage claims more uniform from case to case. In order for a plaintiff to pursue a punitive damage claim, three criteria have to be met.

The first is that the defendant’s blood alcohol content at the time of the crash meets or exceeds .15%. Second, the defendant knew or should have known their ability to operate a vehicle would be impaired. And third, the defendant’s intoxication was the cause of the plaintiff’s injury or death.

Being involved in a drunk driving accident can change your life permanently. If you’re in need of representation, please give our office a call.

Back in the day, if you wanted to get somewhere and you didn’t have a car or didn’t want to drive your own vehicle, you would call a taxi. While taxis can be incredibly convenient, they are not available everywhere in the country and rates vary from service to service. In 2009, Uber was just getting started and was unaware of just how much they would change the transportation industry. Now that Uber and other rideshare services are mainstream, we’ve discovered an added bonus these companies provide.

Recently, the Journal of American Medical Association published a study showing that Uber’s presence in a city helps reduce the rate of accidents involving drunk drivers. In the study, researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston examined DUI arrests and serious motor vehicle incidents in Houston between 2007 and 2019.

Their research found that after Uber came to Houston in 2014, motor vehicle collision traumas decreased by almost 24% on Friday and Saturday nights for all ages. For those under the age of 30, this number decreased by nearly 40%. Additionally, DUI arrests dropped significantly for every day of the week, and weekends saw the greatest reduction. In Houston’s city center, which had higher usage of Uber than the suburbs, all categories of impaired driving arrests decreased.

Uber says it has also gathered information from its rider base via surveys that shows riders who use their service avoid drinking and driving. Brooke Anderson, Uber’s director of product communications, has previously stated that “80% of riders say that Uber has helped them personally avoid drinking and driving.”

On the opposite side, a study published back in 2016 by the American Journal of Epidemiology found that the rise of Uber didn’t correspond to any decrease in fatalities because the people riding in an Uber were more likely to take taxis or public transportation instead of their own cars anyway.

While contradictory arguments continue about the effectiveness of rideshare services in decreasing drunk driving accidents, one thing is for sure: If you’ve been drinking and need to get somewhere, it’s much safer to take an Uber or other rideshare to your destination than drive yourself.