Divorce in Northern Virginia

By Carrie R. Wolanin, Crouch & Crouch

The Law of Divorce

Divorce, custody, child support and alimony are matters of state law. The Commonwealth of Virginia lists several grounds for divorce in its statutes, including (1) adultery; (2) conviction of a felony and sentence to penitentiary; (3) cruelty; (4) desertion at least one year prior; and (5) statutory separation , the no-fault ground, which means living apart for the required period of one year (or six months, if you have no children and a Separation Agreement).

While all of these grounds for divorce are recognized as valid by Virginia courts, any claim made for divorce must be proved. Proving a divorce means that at some point in the divorce process, a hearing or a deposition will take place during which at least one spouse and at least one witness must testify. Even if the grounds for divorce are uncontested, this hearing is a necessary part of the divorce process.

The amount, if any, of court fees, child support, alimony and division of property and the proof of grounds of divorce will all depend on the facts of the case and their relation to case law. The facts and intricacies of your case will also determine how long it will take for the divorce process to be completed.

The essential steps in the divorce process are:

(1) The divorce complaint is filed by the complainant and is served on the other spouse

(2) After the answer is filed, or 21 days have passed without the filing of an answer, the complainant's counsel can file to have the case referred to a “commissioner in chancery” for a hearing on the grounds of the divorce.

(3) The commissioner, after hearing the evidence, will file a recommendation that the judge grant a divorce. In some counties, evidence is instead heard by a judge, or in a deposition.

(4) If there is any disagreement on matters of custody, support or division of property, these matters must be heard by a trial judge in open court before the divorce decree can be finalized by the judge.

(5) If there is no dispute about the grounds of divorce and everything has been agreed upon, a draft decree is then filed with the judge, who often has the clerks review its wording.

(6) When the final decree is signed by the judge, the parties are divorced.

This list of steps is not all-inclusive; it is very brief and provides only a summary of the process involved. Not included is the approximate amount of time between each of the steps or the delays or additional steps that are possible because of specific details of the case, ideas the judge may have, or local rules requiring "custody education" and mediation evaluation.

In most cases, negotiation of the divorce settlement not only expedites the process, but also makes it less expensive. This “separation agreement” or “property settlement” is binding for both parties. At the time of the actual divorce decree it can be presented to the judge and made part of the divorce decree itself, thus becoming a court order enforceable by the contempt-of-court process when violated.

Important to note in considering divorce are the legal costs involved as well as the court costs involved. They include court's filing fees, court reporters, and process servers. These fees are separate from attorney fees.

In a divorce, issues of property division, child support, child custody, and alimony are decided by the judge in a trial, or agreed on by the parties in a Separation Agreement, which can be negotiated by their lawyer or in mediation.

Return to Crouch & Crouch homepage

Return to Family Law Materials

Disclaimer: Items are not to be considered legal advice or to create any lawyer-client relationship. In addition, taking any legal information out of context, i.e., using it in a different court or a subtly different kind of case, or without the training to understand all of what it means or doing research to verify it, usually has disastrous consequences.