Divorce Lawyers Fairfax VA
Divorce in Fairfax can be a long process with financial issues and more. Our divorce lawyers Fairfax VA can help you fight for your legal rights in court.
read below ground for divorce in virginia
Grounds for Divorce in Virginia
When filing for a fault-based divorce, there are specific grounds for divorce in the commonwealth.
These grounds are adultery, cruelty, desertion, and separation.
Adultery is a specifically defined legal term.
Allegations of divorce require “clear and convincing evidence” of sexual intercourse with someone outside the marriage.
Sodomy and some other sexual acts will be enough to satisfy adultery in the context of divorce.
Cruelty is not what it means colloquially.
Simply being mean or terrible will not be enough to file for divorce on grounds of cruelty.
Physical action that endangers your life, health, or safety can be cruel.
Additionally, repeated humiliation, verbal abuse, and neglect can be used to build a case for divorce under cruelty.
Desertion is when one member of a marriage stops living with the other and intends to not return. Desertion is specifically when only one member of the marriage decides to desert.
“Constructive desertion” is when one partner withholds sexual intercourse or denies performing some other marital responsibility.
For a divorce to be finalized under desertion, one year has to pass since the initial act of desertion.
Lastly, there is separation. A divorce under separation is essentially a contract between the two partners.
The partners agree on how to divide marital debts and property and also solve issues of custody and visitation if needed.
Once the partners have reached a separation agreement, they must live separately for 6 months if they do not have a minor child and 12 months if they have a minor child.
Spousal Support
Spousal support, also known as alimony, is a payment from the more financially independent partner to the less financially independent.
Spousal support is determined by looking at several factors.
The calculation around these factors includes missed opportunities in the job market, standards of living, the length of the marriage, age and physical and mental condition of the partners, and more.
Spousal support can be modified, that is reduced, increased, or terminated, based on changes in the living conditions of the partner receiving spousal support.
Relevant changes can include a new marriage or a relationship that is essentially a marriage, but there are other factors as well.
Division After Divorce
After a divorce, the court will divide property depending on how it is classified.
In Virginia, the property can be marital, separate, or some of each.
Virginia has statutes that determine how the assets are divided after they have been valued.
When the partners seeking a divorce are business owners, things get trickier.
A third-party CPA must be brought in to both determine the value of the business and the incomes of each partner for spousal support.
Courts will evaluate how much each partner put into the business if the business was started during or before the marriage, assets of the business, and other factors.
Retirement accounts, such as a 401(k), can be subject to division because of a divorce.
However, the division will not be more than 50% of the account given to the other spouse.
Child Support, Custody, and Visitation
Virginia Courts are guided by the best interest of the child when determining support, custody, and visitation.
When determining custody in Virginia, courts will often look to pragmatic and realistic issues such as work schedules, lifestyle, and living accommodations.
Some specific factors courts must examine are the age and physical condition of the parents and child, the role the parent played in raising the child, any history of abuse, and other factors as the court see fit.
If parents cannot agree on their own to a visitation schedule, the court will establish one as it sees fit.
Child support payments must be paid in Virginia until the child is 18 years of age, a full-time high school student, or not self-supporting and living with a parent.
Payments are required beyond that point if the child is severely disabled and cannot support themselves in adulthood.
Why You Need an Experienced Divorce Lawyers Fairfax VA?
Divorce is a long, emotionally, and financially draining process that affects your assets, business, and children in profound ways.
If you want a divorce or what to mitigate the damage you could bear in a divorce, seek the experienced Divorce lawyers Fairfax VA.
