Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia

There is no status known as "legal separation" in Virginia; spouses can separate without obtaining anyone's permission, but most will want to have a Property Settllement Agreement in place which settles all the major issues of the marriage. For someone with a child such as yourself, the waiting period for divorce would normally be 12 months of continuous and uninterrupted separation without cohabitation.

Either spouse may leave the marital home, but must be careful that s/he does it in such a manner as to avoid being charged with desertion(a fault ground for divorce).

There is no set rule who pays for the attorneys. Either there is an agreement regarding who has custody of child or the judge will rule on who should have the child. Mediation is also posssible. There are many factors involved. If you have no custody order agreement in place - you both have rights to the child.