Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia

Separation in the same house and Grounds for Immediate Divorce

my wife and i have been married for 22 years and have 3 children. she has shown me no affection for a few years and we have not slept in the same bed or room for over a year. she has no interest in me except as a provider. this, of course, is unspoken, but is obvious, since she seems happy with the situation and is only concerned that i keep going to work and bringing home a salary.

i have attempted to talk to her, however she will not, but only engages in subterfuge and verbal attacks, sometimes resorting to accusing me of things she knows are not true. i have tried to get her to sit down with a professional but she refuses.

i have given up hope of reconciliation.

the older 2 children are in college. the youngest is at home and should be a senior in high school. this may or may not be another issue, but she (the youngest) has been home-schooled by her mother and never has been in any other educational program. it has recently come to my attention that she is perhaps a couple of years behind, though her mother has never said that there was any problem.

my questions are:

can our time apart, though under the same roof, count as a separation?

and therefore can i receive an immediate divorce, whether no-fault or fault?


Asked on 11/14/03, 9:36 pm

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

Re: Separation in the same house and Grounds for Immediate Divorce

Maybe, or maybe not--probably the latter. The circumstances which you've described are not the circumstances contemplated in the Virginia divorce statute--Title 20-91--as providing the basic grounds for divorce and, in particular, divorce based upon no fault grounds.

You would be well advised to attempt to achieve a real(physical) separation, in all sense of the term, for the required statutory period(12 months in your case),continuous, and without any cohabitation nor any realistic hope of reconciliation.

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Answered on 11/14/03, 11:08 pm


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