Driving Under the Influence with a Child in the Car

No matter the circumstances, a conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs in Virginia brings serious consequences. Those consequences will become even more severe if you’re pulled over for driving drunk while transporting a person under age 18. Read on to learn more about the offense known as DUI child endangerment.

There are numerous ways that the offense of driving under the influence can be considered “aggravated” in some way, including by having a blood alcohol level of .15% or higher, or by causing serious injury to someone else in an alcohol-related crash. One particularly serious drunk driving-related charge is that of DUI child endangerment. Virginia residents who are convicted of DUI child endangerment, or driving with a blood alcohol level over .08% with a child passenger who is under 18, could receive a fine between $500 and $1000, as well as a mandatory minimum five days’ imprisonment, in addition to the standard penalties for being convicted of driving under the influence. For a second offense of DUI child endangerment, individuals could face 80 hours of community service in addition to the aforementioned penalties. If the child found in your car is your own child, you could even face serious consequences such as losing custody or visitation rights. The punishment will become even more serious if the child is injured in the crash. One local woman was recently sentenced to nine years in prison when she crashed her car while driving drunk, and the accident caused her son to become fatally injured.

According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, 20% of all children who were fatally injured in car accidents in 2012 were victims of alcohol-related crashes. Over half of all those children were passengers in the car of the person driving under the influence. These children are also less likely to be wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, further increasing the likelihood that they will be injured in a crash. If you face charges of DUI child endangerment, these sorts of statistics could cause a jury to assume the worst about you, without aggressive and intelligent representation before the court.

If you are facing criminal charges for DUI or DUI child endangerment, don’t risk losing your freedom or developing a criminal record; get help defending yourself against such charges by contacting the seasoned and aggressive Virginia criminal defense attorneys at the Pack Law Firm for a consultation, at 540-586-7225.

Defendant Faces Serious Consequences for Alleged Drunk Driving Fatal Crash

A recent accident in Campbell County resulted in one woman’s death, and multiple other injuries. Law enforcement have now charged the at-fault driver with driving under the influence, among other charges. Accidents resulting in injuries or fatalities which were caused by intoxicated drivers can have serious legal consequences for the driver.

On November 25, 2016, a Honda Odyssey van was traveling along Route 501 near Volunteer Road in Gladys. A Toyota Highlander SUV being driven by Anthony Chambers, 48, of Lynchburg, was traveling in the opposite direction. In an attempt to pass the car in front of him, Chambers crossed the center line, colliding with the Odyssey. Chambers, along with his four passengers, were all taken to Lynchburg General Hospital with injuries ranging in severity from minor to serious. The driver and front-seat passenger of the Odyssey were also taken to the hospital for their serious injuries. The Odyssey’s back-seat passenger, a 77-year-old woman, was taken to Lynchburg General, where she ultimately died later that evening. Chambers was placed under arrest for driving under the influence, and for driving on a revoked license, with possible additional charges to be filed pending an investigation.

The consequences for a Virginia DUI are severe, even when no aggravating circumstances are present. Those convicted of even a first-time DUI can face a suspension of their driver’s license for up to a year, which can have a serious negative impact on a career. However, the consequences become much more serious when a drunk driver causes serious or fatal injuries. If you cause an accident while drunk, and another person is killed in that accident, you could be charged with involuntary manslaughter, which is a felony. A conviction for involuntary manslaughter could carry a penalty of up to one year in jail. If the court finds that your behavior was “gross, wanton, and culpable as to show a reckless disregard for human life”– for example, by having an extremely high blood alcohol level at the time of the crash—then that prison sentence could balloon to 20 years. It is critical that you find an experienced Virginia DUI defense attorney when charged with a serious felony such as involuntary manslaughter.

If you’ve been charged with a crime in Virginia, such as a DUI or reckless driving, make sure your rights are protected before the court by contacting the Virginia criminal defense attorneys at the Pack Law Group at 540-586-7225.

Understanding How Court Orders Work in a Virginia Family Court Issue

When you’re in court on a family law issue, there may have already been court orders issued in your case. While you don’t need to understand all the legal jargon that comes up in your court case, court orders issued in your divorce or child custody proceeding can have a huge impact on your life, and it is important to understand what they are and how they’re created. Find out more about family court orders below.

Court orders are condensed versions of a judge’s decision, or of the agreement of the spouses or parents that have come before the court. Once a court order has been entered, the people named in the court order are legally required to abide by it. Those who disobey court orders can face fines or even jail time. We will discuss enforcement of court orders in a different post.

Court orders will cover a broad range of issues. The amount you’ve been ordered to pay in child support or alimony will be included in a court order. Your property settlement agreement, detailing how your marital property will be split between you and your spouse, will also be included in an order. After the judge rules on an issue, these orders serve as an official record of how the parties should act moving forward, and the details of the court’s decisions.

Divorce is not a speedy process in Virginia; spouses have to be separated for a minimum of six months, and often for a year, before they can file. As a result of this lag time, you may need the court’s help on legal issues before the divorce is final. For example, if your spouse is barring you from seeing your children, you may want the court to order your spouse to allow you visitation time. Likewise, if your spouse has stopped paying bills which are also in your name, you may need the judge to order your spouse to keep making payments while the divorce is ongoing. This sort of judicial action taken during the course of a divorce is known as “pendente lite” relief, or relief pending final resolution. Your attorney can file a motion for pendent lite relief, which is an expedited hearing process which offers temporary relief for a specific issue. The pendente lite order will no longer be in effect once a final order is issued.

Under ideal circumstances, you and your co-parent or former spouse will be able to negotiate the terms of your custody-sharing arrangement and the division of your marital property. In that case, your attorney will draft that agreement and have both parties sign it, and will submit that agreement to the court for approval. Assuming the court approves, that agreement will become an enforceable order in your case. If settlement isn’t possible, the judge will decide the issues after holding a trial or hearing, and will create his or her own order.

If you need aggressive, loyal, and knowledgeable legal help with your Virginia custody dispute or divorce, contact the family law attorneys at Pack Law Group for a consultation, at 540-586-7225.

Spousal Support to Adulterous Spouse Denied

There are very few states in the U.S. which continue to base the outcome of a divorce on fault committed by one of the spouses during the marriage. However, Virginia is an exception to this rule, and a recent decision by the Virginia Court of Appeals has denied spousal support to a woman who cheated on her husband during their marriage.

The couple at the center of the case titled Mundy v. Mundy had been married for many years prior to their divorce. According to the trial court, the husband had provided nearly all financial support for their family, which included a child in college and one in medical school at the time of their divorce. The husband had also contributed substantially to the care of the couple’s children, taken the family on vacations, and taken them on frequent trips to cultural events. The wife had graduated with a degree in engineering from Rice University, but had not worked outside the home since the 1990s, aside from a brief stint working in an art gallery. The court nevertheless determined that the wife could make approximately $22 an hour within a few months of entering the workforce. The wife admitted to numerous instances of adultery committed with a member of her rock band, as well as with her personal trainer. The wife conceded at trial that the husband had not committed a significant amount of fault during the marriage. In the property settlement agreement, the wife received $1.3 million in retirement funds and $397,000 in cash, while the husband received the family’s home valued at $779,695. The husband had an annual income of over $850,000, and a net worth of $1 million.

Under Virginia law, while adulterous spouses are generally denied support, there is an exception to the rule if the adulterous spouse can show with “clear and convincing evidence, that a denial of support and maintenance would constitute a manifest injustice, based on the respective degrees of fault during the marriage and the relative economic circumstances of the parties.” The trial court judge who heard the couple’s divorce determined that there would be such a manifest injustice if the wife did not receive spousal support, but the Court of Appeals disagreed and reversed the grant of support. The Court of Appeals pointed out that past courts required more evidence for a showing of “manifest injustice.” For example, a court granted spousal support where the cheated-on spouse had been cruel and profane toward his family for years, making his degree of fault during the marriage almost comparable to his unfaithful wife’s. Another court found that spousal support was warranted where the paying spouse had a net worth of over $6 million, while the unfaithful spouse made $10 per hour and had no significant assets. In the Mundy case, the husband had been essentially without fault, the wife was by no means destitute, and the adultery constituted the main reason for the end of the marriage. The Court of Appeals found no basis for concluding that manifest injustice would exist if the wife didn’t receive spousal support. The court concluded, “it would be a manifest injustice to require a faultless spouse to pay support to a work-capable, millionaire spouse, guilty of repeated acts of adultery with several co-respondents.”

If you are facing divorce in Virginia and need diligent, aggressive legal help to represent your interests, contact the Bedford offices of the Pack Law Group for a consultation, at 540-586-7225.

Divorces can be traumatic not only for your mental health, but also for your financial health. Many parties to a divorce often find themselves facing a substantial amount of debt and a diminished credit score after a split. Some costs are simply unavoidable, but there are ways to prevent excess injury to your credit score that can occur during a divorce. Read on to learn about common sources of credit damage during a divorce, and ways you can lessen their impact on your own credit score.

1. Your ex stops paying joint bills

It’s a common story: an account such as a car loan, credit card, or even mortgage payment is allocated to one spouse during a division of property, but that spouse stops making timely payments on the account at some point. Finding out as soon as possible that this has happened will help prevent unpaid bills from having too great of an impact on your credit. Call the financial institutions that hold any debts which include your name that your ex is paying and request that they either send you a statement each month, or check the account regularly online. If the accounts do fall behind and your spouse refuses to pay, it may be in your best interests to contact your attorney about requesting that the court intervene to compel your spouse to pay.

1. Both spouses’ names are still listed on accounts or assets that now belong only to one

Over the course of a long marriage, you may have opened financial accounts about which you completely forgot in the meantime. It is possible your spouse has not forgotten them, and may have continued to accrue debts in both your names for which you will be held responsible. Take careful inventory of all your financial documents to discover all accounts, close or consolidate those you can, and check to see when they were last used.

1. Your spouse charged up debts in your name, or drained joint accounts

If your divorce is particularly combative, your ex may have taken the drastic and vengeful step of secreting money out of joint accounts before you could notice or intervene. It is also not unheard of for exes to use their former spouse’s name and personal information to open lines of credit in their name, which they then use to rack up debt. If funds are missing from a joint account, speak with your attorney about documentation you might be able to use to show that your spouse took the funds. Also, keep an extra-close eye on your credit score after a split, to catch any newly-opened accounts before excessive debts mount.

If you need knowledgeable, aggressive legal assistance for your Virginia divorce, contact the family law attorneys at Pack Law Group for a consultation at 540-586-7225.