Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia

Re: how to file for divorce

Yes, you can file for divorce on your own(pro se in legal jargon)and can pick up a packet of forms with instructions from certain circuit court clerk's offices(Prince William Co. is one.)

which will instruct you as to how to go about it.

After you file and send the required copy of the papers to the defendant, you then must ensure that the form entitled "ACCEPTANCE OF SERVICE/WAIVEROF NOTICE IN A DIVORCE SUIT" is properly signed by the defendant and attested to by the required foreign functionary, such that a local judge reviewing the document at the subsequent Ore Tenus hearing will be persuaded that the defendant has in fact recieved the papers and waived her right to contest the matter.

Also, with the merger of law and equity in the courts of the Commonwealth as of January 1, 2006, you must assure that your legal terminology

is correct and that you refer to your pleading as a complaint rather than a bill of complaint and to yourself therein as a plaintiff rather than a complainant.

However, upon further reflection, given all of the foregoing, you may just want to see if you can find a lawyer who will handle it for you for something, perhaps, in the $500 to $600 fee range.