What is “Family Law”?

Family law refers to the area of law that addresses family relationships, including marriage and divorce, issues relating to children, and related financial issues. Family law issues range from determination of paternity, adoption, custody and visitation of children, child and spousal support, divorce, annulment, and more.

In Virginia, most family law court cases are filed in the Juvenile & Domestic Relations District Court, a special court for hearing cases between family or household members or cases involving children. All cases for divorce, annulment, or guardianship must be filed in the Circuit Court.

What you should know about. . .

· Divorce is the legal end of a marriage.

In Virginia, there are specific requirements before you can file for divorce.

o Most of the time, the parties have to be living separate and apart for more than one year before they can file for divorce, although there are certain exceptions for adultery and situations where the spouse has committed serious crimes.

o Parties who have no children AND have a fully signed and notarized written agreement about how they will divide their property and end their marriage (called a Property Settlement Agreement or Marital Settlement Agreement) can file for divorce after only a six-month separation.

Depending on how much the spouses agree about ending the marriage and dividing their shared assets, divorces could be categorized as Contested [there are still issues to argue about] or Uncontested [all issues have been resolved].

For more information on the difference between contested and uncontested divorce, see this video. [link or embed VAlawhelp2go video]

· Paternity is the legal process of determining who is the biological father of a child. If a man and woman are married at the time a baby is born, the husband is the legal father of the child unless there is evidence otherwise (for example, if the parties were not together when the child was conceived or if genetic testing proves that someone else is the father). If the parents are unmarried, then the father needs to be listed on the birth certificate, sign court forms acknowledging paternity, or have paternity determined by court-ordered genetic testing.

Until paternity is established, a father has no legal rights to parent a child but also no legal responsibility to pay child support.

· Custody and Visitation has to do with deciding where a child will live and who will get to make major decisions about a child’s life. Parents have both rights and responsibilities to raise and support their children.

o Legal Custody = the right to make major decisions about a child’s life. This right might be granted jointly to both parents, so they must communicate and work together, or solely to one parent if it would not be safe for both parents to maek decisions together.

o Physical Custody = the parent the child lives with most of the time. Parents might have joint physical custody, splitting time with the child nearly equally, but often the child will live with one parent (the primary custodian) more time than the other.

o Visitation = the balance of parenting time for the parent who does not have custody.

Most of the time, these cases are between the child’s legal parents, but other people (people with “legitimate interest” in the child) like grandparents, family members, or other people with a close relationship to the client, may also ask the court for custody or visitation. In Virginia, as in many other states, this decision is made based on the best interests of the child, not what is best or most convenient for the parents. There are 10 factors listed in the Code for the court to consider when deciding what will be best. In Virginia, the factors are: [link to VALawhelp2go video on legal vs. physical custody]

· Spousal support is sometimes referred to as “alimony.” This is money paid from one spouse to another when they are not living together. The court can order spousal support to be paid while the parties are still legally married and/or for it to continue after the parties are divorced for a limited period of time or indefinitely. However, the parties have to be legally married at the time they ask the court for spousal support (Virginia does not recognize common-law marriage.) Unlike child support, spousal support is not guaranteed under the law and will only be awarded in the judge’s discretion if one party has a need for it AND the other party has an ability to pay. There is a list of factors in the Code that the court will consider when deciding whether and how much spousal support to award.

A case for spousal support can be filed in the J&DR Court while the parties are still married, but most often people ask for it as part of a divorce in the Circuit Court.

· Child Support refers to the financial contributions each parent must make for the benefit of each of their children. All legal parents have an obligation to support their children with at least a minimum amount of financial contribution. Child support might be paid to the other parent, but it is considered the child’s money, for the benefit of the child. However, the parent who is paying does not get to control how that money gets spent. Child support continues until a child turns 18 years old or until they are 19 years old if they have not yet graduated from high school. In some special cases, if a child needs continuing, constant care and support from their parent because of a permanent disability, child support can be ordered to continue even though the child is an adult.

The amount of child support is calculated by a formula in the law. The court will look at the gross income (before taxes) for each parent, the cost of health insurance for the child, the cost of work-related childcare, the expenses for other children that parent may be supporting or have living with them, plug them into a calculator, which will say the amount of child support each parent should pay. The court can consider some special circumstances and adjust that number (what’s called a “deviation”) but most of the time the court must order the calculated amount.

The obligation to pay child support starts the day someone files a child support case with the court or the Division of Child Support Enforcement. Once child support is ordered, the amount can be changed by the court if someone formally requests it and shows that something has changed.

[link or embed the child support video from valawhelp2go]