If you’re here, you probably already know that you have to be separated for one year to get a divorce in Virginia. The only two exceptions are if (1) you have a signed separation agreement, and (2) you have no minor children born or adopted by the parties of the marriage, and if (and this...
What happens before you’ve been separated a year in Virginia?
One disservice that I think fault-based divorce does for people who live in states – like Virginia – that allow for fault-based divorce is that it puts them in a frame of mind where proving that someone is to blame for the marriage ending is somehow important. I’ll be clear, right up front: divorce is...
Virginia is restrictive when it comes to divorce, just because of the waiting period required before you can even file for a no fault divorce. Here in the Commonwealth, you have to be separated for ONE year before you can finalize a divorce using the fault based grounds of cruelty, apprehension of bodily hurt,...
Separation isn’t always the road to divorce. For some couples, probably for more couples than I even realize (because, let’s be honest, I have an unbalanced sampling), separation ultimately leads not to divorce but to reconciliation. That’s as it should be. I believe that women who want a divorce should be able to get one,...
If you’re still hoping to save your marriage, you’re not alone. In fact, that’s something I hear all the time. One thing that I think is universally true is that every single woman who decides to get a divorce has to do everything she feels she has to do in order to try to save...
Is it time to separate? That may be a strategic question and not just an emotional one. In Virginia, we classify separate property as anything that was earned, purchased, or acquired before the marriage or after the date of separation. (We also include anything you inherited in your sole name, anything that was a gift...
If you’ve had an attorney draft a separation agreement (or your soon to be ex has had an agreement drafted by an attorney), you probably have seen a provision that says that the parties are free to live as though single and unmarried. Sounds nice, right? I mean, yeah – that’s kind of why...
A lot of people have questions about legal separation, what it means, and when it actually begins. Oh, and also – why does it even matter? Being separated is important, because for most grounds for divorce (except for adultery, which technically qualifies you for an ‘immediate divorce’ – but don’t get excited, it won’t...