Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia

Re: Not fullfilling divorce obligations

No such thing as a formal demand. The decree or a property settlement agreement confers legal obligations. When one does not obey the order that has been set forth one is in contempt of that court order and one is subject to a formal charge called a SHOW CAUSE. You must file this Motion for Show Cause in which he must show cause why he should not be held in contempt of court for disobeying the court order. He would then be subject to court sanction which could be a variety of things - monetary penalty to jail.

I'm not sure why you should demand something which he is under an obligation to do. Just throw him in jail.

Good luck.

Re: Not fullfilling divorce obligations

Demand notices serve an important function in the law in that they again put the defaulter on notice of his/her delinquent status with respect to a particular obligation and, consequently, in some cases they may actually induce the defaulting party to come into compliance or at least agree to some other arrangement that will be satisfactory to the other complaining party.

Furthermore, if the matter eventually ends up in court, the production of the demand notice to the defendant can only inure to the benefit of the complaining party's action for Show Cause.

Obviously, if some accommodation can be reached as a result of the demand notice that obviates the need for court action, valuable time as well as money can be conserved to the complaining party even if attorney fees might be assessed against the defendant in the event that the matter is litigated.

Re: Not fullfilling divorce obligations

A letter which you could be reasonably assured that the errant spouse received should be sufficent, I think. (You might want to follow it up with a phone call to confirm that it was in fact received and to ascertain the delinquent one's intentions before initiating court action.)

Notarization and certification should not be necessary.