Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia

Re: owned property prior to marrige

Probably not. Property owned by married parties is divided into marital property and separate property. Property brought into the marriage is considered separate property, so long as it retains its character (husband's name not put on the property, property not sold and proceeds put in joint account, etc.). However, if husband paid the mortgage and/or spent money on additions and repairs, that part of the expenses of maintaining the property could be viewed by a court as marital property. That does not mean he gets any portion of the house itself; it just means that in totaling up the marital property values and trying to divide them, he might get an entry on his side of the ledger.