Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia

Re: Special Circumstance Separation

Don't share space, don't have sex, don't take meals together, don't do his laundry, don't go to parties together and, most important, DO tell you families, your friends and perhaps your co-workers that you are separated, even though living under the same roof. Have family and friends visit you at home from time to time to see for themselves you are living separate and apart under the same roof.

Re: Special Circumstance Separation

You can still live together under the same roof but you must act as though the two of you are roommates and not husband and wife. Separate your finances, sleep in separate rooms (no sex), don't do anything that even resembles a marriage. Also, have witnesses (friends and family members) observe this distant relationship so that they can testify that although you were living in the same house, the two of you were not living as husband and wife. I know this seems artificial but this is taken very seriously by the courts.

Re: Special Circumstance Separation

S20.91 of the VA Code, subsection 9(a) specifies

as grounds (for divorce) that the husband and wife live apart without cohabitation uninterrupted for a period of 12 months.

Living apart is not conceptually compatible with

the scenario that you propose, although I suppose

it might be where there are two completely separate living units within a single structure.