Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia

Re: Amicable separation potentially having issues regarding custody and house

There's lots of such precedence under Virginia domestic relations law "for mom staying in the house with the kids", provided that mom has primary physical custody of the kids. And your reference to 50/50 custody doesn't really clarify whether you really mean that you intend to share joint legal custody of the children(meaning the right to jointly participate in major decisions affecting their lives such as health, education, etc.), but expect to have the children with you the majority of the time(physical custody) with generous visitation rights for the father.

If the above more or less approximates your custody intentions, then I would say that there's a good chance that it will happen since a court will invariably find that children must have a stabile home environment in order for their best interests to be served. If such be the case, your husband would be well advised to extend the lease on his apartment.

Also, if your husband is intent on "going head to head" with you over these issues, you would be well advised to have a lawyer at your side representing your best interests.

Re: Amicable separation potentially having issues regarding custody and house

Allow me to add to Mr. Hendrickson's excellent remarks:

You and your husband should work this out between you, with the help of a mediator if necessary. Only you two know what's really best for the kids; only you two know the history of the marriage; only you two know how each of you interacts with the kids on a day to day basis.

Your kids deserve the best shake they can get from this parting, and you two know better than anyone else what that is.