Filing for Divorce in Virginia

1. What are the residency requirements for filing for divorce in Virginia?  
To file for divorce in Virginia, one of you must be a “resident and domicile” of Virginia for six months before you file for divorce. A domicile is someone who lives in Virginia. A resident is someone who lives in Virginia and intends to remain in Virginia.  

2. Does Virginia have a waiting period?       
Yes. If you have children younger than 18, you must live separately for one year to get a no-fault divorce. If you’ve signed a property settlement agreement and do not have children younger than 18 together, the separation period is six months.  

3. Does the state have grounds for divorce?  
Yes. Grounds for divorce in Virginia include:
Your spouse has committed adultery (had an affair).
Your spouse was jailed for a felony for at least a year and, after release, you have not lived together.
Your spouse has been cruel, physically harmed you or abandoned you (the divorce can be finalized one year after the act was committed).
 
4. How does Virginia determine the division of property?    
You and your spouse are encouraged to come up with a settlement on your own and present it to the court. If you can’t agree, the court will divide your property for you.   Virginia is an equitable distribution state, meaning the court considers certain factors to determine a fair (though not necessarily equal) division of the marital property. It’s not necessarily a 50/50 split. Factors include:

• The monetary and non­monetary contributions each of you made toward the well-being of your family and the acquisition of the property.
• The ages and health conditions of you and your spouse.
• You and your spouse’s economic circumstances what caused your marriage to end.
• How long you were married.
• You and your spouse’s ages and physical and mental conditions.
• Any tax consequences that would result from your division of property.
• Alimony or other circumstances that have a financial impact.
• Any other factors the court considers necessary for a “fair and equitable” division.  

The state excludes separate property from consideration. Virginia considers separate property to be:

• All property you acquired before you were married.
• All property you acquired during your marriage by gift or inheritance, unless it was from your spouse.
• All property you acquired during your marriage in exchange for or from the proceeds of sale of your separate property, as long as you kept that property separate while you were married.

Virginia counts as marital property:

• All property titled in both your names all other property acquired during your marriage that isn’t separate property as defined above the portion of pensions.
• Profit-sharing or retirement plans either of you acquired during the marriage is presumed to be marital property unless you can prove otherwise.
• The portion of personal injury or workers’ compensation awards either of you received during your marriage is martial property.
• The increase in value of your separate property when the personal efforts of each of you during your marriage or your marital money caused the increase.

This generally applies to family businesses and professional practices. The court does take a “just and reasonable” approach to this division. It might divide the property between the two of you, depending on what it is. Or it might give the property to one of you and require you to give the other spouse some money for his or her part of the property — a house may be divided this way, for example.  

5. Does Virginia require mediation before a divorce is granted?  
Virginia does not require mediation before it will grant your divorce. The court may order mediation in specific situations, such as when custody is in dispute.