Virginia Family Law Blog

If you and your spouse are embarking on a divorce in Virginia, you will need to determine how to split your marital assets and debts. For most couples, their primary residence is their biggest asset but is also connected to their biggest liability in the form of a mortgage. You should be very careful in how you decide to assign ownership of your home and responsibility for this mortgage should you opt not to sell your home when you get divorced.

Your spouse might wish to keep your family home, even citing stability for your children as a main reason for doing so. This is an understandable desire but it is not without its potential downfalls for you if it is not executed properly. As explained by The Mortgage Reports, you must ensure that your name does not remain on any active mortgage in order to prevent any future financial connection to or liability for the home.

Beautiful weddings don't just happen. They take planning, preparation and, in many cases, lots and lots of money. Those in wedding industries know how much a bride and groom may be willing to sacrifice for a dream wedding, and they continue to raise the bar. Before you know it, you have hired separate photographers and videographers for the wedding preparation, the ceremony and the reception. You have purchased numerous outfits for pre and post celebrations. You have bought party favors, engraved cake servers and gifts for the wedding party.

Like nearly half of all engaged couples, you likely went into debt to pay for your wedding, reception and honeymoon. In fact, you and your partner may have had disputes about the cost of the wedding. If you are considering divorce at this time, it is possible that you can trace the troubles in your marriage to the extravagance of your wedding.

Gaslighting is a manipulative behavior that is akin to emotional abuse when it takes place within a marriage. It involves lying and other behaviors that call into question a spouse's sense of reality, which can be very disorienting. Identifying emotional abuse is difficult for many people, especially when they're in the midst of a troubled relationship. Psychology Today explains the effects of gaslighting and how you can identify it in your marriage. 

Marriages must be built on love and mutual respect. That's what makes gaslighting and other forms of emotional abuse so damaging. Many people find it hard to believe that the person they love and cherish could behave in an abusive manner, which is why it's so hard to pinpoint when abuse is happening to you. It can also damage your self-esteem over time. If your spouse constantly criticizes you or puts you down, you're likely to internalize these statements. 

It is perfectly natural for you and your ex-spouse to want to move on after your divorce. Yet if part of them moving on includes moving away from Alexandria, that could no doubt impact your relationship with your children. If they have sole custody and your only have visitation rights, them moving could potentially limit the already limited access you have to your kids. Even if you share custody, a relocation could place a hardship on you when it comes to custody exchanges. What rights, then, in mitigating the impact of your ex-spouse moving away with your kids?

First and foremost, you should know that they cannot simply move away and inform you after the fact. Per Section 20-124.5 of the Code of Virginia, they must provide both you and court with notice of their intentions at least 30 days prior to the proposed move. If they do not provide such notice, the court could find them in contempt and require them to cover the cost of any legal action required to get your kids back.