Woodbridge Divorce Attorneys
If you have reached the point that you think a divorce is the logical next step – or you are actually facing a divorce – it’s time to take stock of the situation. The journey forward is very likely to be complicated both emotionally and practically, and the consequences (as they relate to your financial and parental rights) are too important to leave to chance. This is why you need a dedicated Woodbridge divorce attorney in your corner.
Basic Divorce Requirements
Virginia has some specific requirements related to divorce that it’s important to understand from the outset, including:
- At least one of you must have lived in Virginia for at least six months prior to filing for divorce.
- If you and your divorcing spouse have minor children, there is a mandatory separation requirement of at least one year that you and your divorcing spouse must fulfill.
- If you have no minor children, the separation requirement is six months.
- While most divorces in Virginia are no-fault, fault-based divorces are available, but the significant burden of proof is on the spouse who claims wrongdoing.
Negotiating Terms that Work for You
Your divorce is the dissolution of a legal contract, and the result of your divorce will include terms that define this dissolution. The terms that apply across every divorce (as applicable) include:
- The division of your marital property
- Your child custody arrangements, including visitation
- Child support
- Spousal support (often called alimony)
As you and your spouse move forward through the divorce process, you will be attempting to find middle ground that you both find acceptable. In the course of these efforts, you will avail yourself of your dedicated divorce attorney’s professional legal counsel. There are also alternative dispute resolution (ADR) options, such as mediation, that you can explore with your attorney. If one or more terms are left unresolved after you have exhausted your negotiations, the court will make all the remaining determinations on your behalf.
Your Marital Property
In the Commonwealth of Virginia, those assets that you acquired during the course of your marriage – with few exceptions – are considered marital property, which is intended to be divided equitably if your marriage ends in divorce. Equitably means fairly given the specifics of your marriage, and the court can take wide-ranging factors into consideration.
Further, it does not matter who made the purchase or whose name is on the title – if you acquired the asset while you were married, it is very likely marital property. Any property, however, that you bring into the marriage with you – and keep separate throughout – is your separate property, but marriage has a way of blurring the edges between separate and marital property.
