Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia

Which petition should I file?

We were married 17 years and two years ago my wife just packed and left one Saturday. We have no children. I later learned that she had moved in with an old boyfriend. A few weeks after that, I found bags of ''love letters'' and sickening photographs, conveniently dated. We drew up our own separation agreement and both signed it. It was not ''filed'' though. I'm filing my own divorce petition now. I thought I would prepare two petitions; one simply claiming irreconcilable differences so as to avoid the embarrasment, and another containing the lurid details in case she refuses to sign the ''sanitized'' version. If she refuses to sign the ''clean'' version, do I need to go ahead and file the ''un-sanitized'' petition? I will have both ready. I ask this primarily because in preparing the petition, It appears that I'm required to state that the Court ''may fix the rights of the parties'', regardless, apparently, of what we've agreed to. Would the ''details'' help prevent the Court/Judge from overruling our agreement? She is the sole beneficiary of her Mom's (roughly) two million. I'm not whining about that but would a Court even care? Would they care that I've spent 22 years maintaining and renovating her Mom's home?Thank You SINCERELY


Asked on 12/04/06, 4:51 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Re: Which petition should I file?

Yes, the court adjudicating your divorce would care about all marital claims(whether yours or your wife's) which have been properly presented to it in a properly drawn up PSA (Property Settlement Agreement)or which are before it to decide in an equitable distribution

hearing(when spouses are unable to agree on division of marital property), but it's doubtful that a pro se litigant such as yourself, under the circumstances which you've described, would be able to prepare the pleadings(legal papers) necessary and in a manner which would be required to protect all of your interests which are at stake in this matter in order to facilitate the optimum outcome in your behalf.

In other words, trying to do this divorce on your own in the manner which you've suggested, further suggests that you're really "rolling the dice" here, so to speak, and, consequently, who knows how (and what) the dice may turn up?

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Answered on 12/04/06, 5:54 pm


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