Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia
My wife and I have determined that there is no chance for reconciling our broken marriage. We have been going about the logistical steps of documenting marital assets, liabilities, responsibilities, etc. This is all being accomplished as part of the process of developing a PSA/MSA. We have no children from the marriage and have been together less than 5 years. We have separate bedrooms and separate lives. However, we are currently financially in a position where maintaining separate households is impossible. Is it possible to separate and divorce in Virginia while living under the same roof? If so, what will the courts require for proof of that?
3 Answers from Attorneys
Yes, such a circumstance now is possible in a Virginia divorce case but
the relevant Virginia caselaw on the subject seems to
suggest that the parties must be able to demonstrate that separate
households were in effect established and maintained within the marital home
for the required 12 months and that the spouses carried on separate lives with
little or no interaction.between them.
As to what proof might satisfy a given court that the above has in fact actually
occurred in a particular case, witnesses who know the spouses and have personally visited the home during the 12 moth period of required separation and who are willing to testify as to what they observed, would obviously be important to the case in terms of credible evidence that could be offered to the court.
Maintain separate bedrooms.
Don't have sex together.
Don't have meals together.
Don't launder each other's clothes.
Don't go to parties together.
DO let folks know you are living together but separated.
A problem can arise if one of you changes your mind in process and you have no proof. Attorney Sheryl Shane. Web: www.sherylshanelaw.com.
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