Virginia

All states

Luck of the Draw score: 95 out of 100

Virginia leaves the property split and the amount and length of spousal support to the judge’s weighing of listed factors, including the reasons the marriage ended. Adultery bars permanent support unless the judge finds denial would be a manifest injustice. On the book’s scale, 0 is a contract you can read and 100 is one that mostly says “ask the judge.” Virginia ranks 45 of 51, counting from the state that leaves the least to the judge. How the index works, and every state’s score.

Part	Score	The rule, and where it comes from
Property	15 / 20	The court classifies property as separate or marital and divides marital property or makes a monetary award after weighing eleven listed factors, with no statutory presumption of equal division. Va. Code Ann. § 20-107.3(A), (E)
Alimony	20 / 20	The court may award spousal support in periodic payments for a defined or undefined duration or in a lump sum after weighing thirteen listed factors, with no formula or cap. Va. Code Ann. § 20-107.1(C), (E)
Fault	20 / 20	The circumstances that contributed to the end of the marriage, including grounds for divorce, are factors in both property division and support, and a spouse against whom an adultery ground exists may not receive permanent support unless denial would be a manifest injustice shown by clear and convincing evidence. Va. Code Ann. §§ 20-107.3(E)(5), 20-107.1(B), (E)
Lawyers’ fees	20 / 20	The court may provide in the decree for counsel fees and costs if in its judgment they should be awarded, and costs may be awarded to either party as equity and justice require. Va. Code Ann. §§ 20-79(b), 20-99(6)
Second opinion	20 / 20	Divorce suits are conducted as suits in equity before the judge, and no rule lets a party remove the judge without cause. Va. Code Ann. § 20-99

Getting in

No waiting period. A circuit court clerk in any Virginia county or city issues the license, and both parties state the required information under oath. The statutes set no waiting period. The license lasts 60 days, and after that the couple must apply for a new one.
Va. Code §§ 20-13, 20-14, 20-14.1, 20-15, 20-16, 17.1-275(A)(5)

Who can marry you. A minister needs a circuit court order after proving ordination and good standing. In 1974 the Virginia Supreme Court upheld revoking that authority from Universal Life Church ministers ordained on request. A clerk may also authorize a lay person, including for one named wedding. Judges and certain officials need no order. Members of a society with no ordained minister may use its practice.
Va. Code §§ 20-23, 20-25, 20-26; Cramer v. Commonwealth, 214 Va. 561 (1974); Form CC-1498

Common-law marriage: Not available here. A couple cannot form a common-law marriage in Virginia, where every marriage needs a license and solemnization. Virginia courts do recognize a common-law marriage that was valid under the law of the jurisdiction where it was created.
Va. Code § 20-13; Kelderhaus v. Kelderhaus, 21 Va. App. 721, 467 S.E.2d 303 (1996)

Chapter 5 of the book covers getting in, and whether you are in at all.

The property system

Virginia is one of forty-one equitable distribution jurisdictions. Equitable distribution. Each of you owns what’s in your own name during the marriage. At a divorce a judge divides the marital property as the judge finds equitable, which is not a promise of half. Chapter 11 of the book covers what that means, and Chapter 22 covers what happens to it when you move.

What counts as marital. Marital property is what either spouse acquires during the marriage and before the last separation, if at least one spouse then or later intends it to be permanent, plus property titled jointly. Premarital property, inheritances and gifts from others are separate. Growth of separate property stays separate unless marital funds or a spouse’s significant personal effort caused it.
Va. Code § 20-107.3(A)(1)-(3)

An inheritance that touches a joint account

It can stay separate if you can trace it. Separate money retitled jointly, or mixed so that it loses its identity, is treated as marital. It keeps its separate status to the extent the owner traces it by a preponderance of the evidence and it was not a gift. The statute says no presumption of gift arises from mixing it with, or retitling it into, joint ownership.
Va. Code § 20-107.3(A)(3)(d)-(f), (h)

Chapter 12 explains how mine becomes ours.

Your spouse’s medical bills (Article 5)

Both of you can be liable from the first dollar. The common-law doctrine of necessaries applies equally to both spouses unless they are permanently living separate and apart, but no spouse is liable for health care furnished to a patient spouse who dies first; apart from necessaries, a spouse is not responsible for the other’s contracts. A judgment lien under this section cannot attach to a residence held as tenants by the entirety.
Va. Code § 55.1-202 (as amended by 2023 Va. Acts ch. 798)

Chapter 8 of the book explains the three ways states handle this.

If one of you dies (Article 9)

For deaths on or after January 1, 2017, the surviving spouse may elect 50 percent of the marital-property portion of the augmented estate (probate estate, non-probate transfers and the survivor’s own property); the marital-property portion rises from 3 percent for a marriage under one year to 100 percent after 15 years.
Va. Code §§ 64.2-308.1, 64.2-308.3, 64.2-308.4

Chapter 9 covers what a will can and can’t take away from a spouse.

Prenups and postnups (Article 12)

One look, under UPAA (1983), modified; Premarital Agreement Act, Va. Code §§ 20-147 to 20-155. A premarital agreement is unenforceable only if the challenger proves he or she did not sign voluntarily, or that it was unconscionable when signed and the challenger received no fair and reasonable disclosure and did not waive disclosure in writing; recitations in the agreement are presumed correct. Marital agreements (postnups) are subject to the same conditions and take effect when signed.
Va. Code §§ 20-151, 20-155

What an agreement needs. A premarital agreement must be in writing and signed by both parties and needs no consideration; the statute does not require notarization, witnesses, a waiting period or independent counsel. Parties may contract about spousal support, and the Virginia statute has no public-assistance override. A marital agreement need not be written if its terms are in a court order endorsed by counsel or the parties, or recorded by a court reporter and affirmed by the parties on the record.
Va. Code §§ 20-149, 20-150, 20-151, 20-155

Chapter 29 explains one look and two, and what makes agreements stick.

Children (Article 8)

Child support: income shares. A schedule uses the parents’ combined gross income, and each parent owes a share in proportion to income. Support runs to 18, or to 19 or graduation for a full-time high school student living at home, and can continue for some severely disabled adult children. Beyond that, a court may confirm the parents’ agreement to extend support.
Va. Code §§ 20-108.2(B), (G)(1), 20-124.2(C)

Moving away with a child. Custody orders must require 30 days’ written notice to the court and the other parent before a move, unless the court orders otherwise. No Virginia statute otherwise addresses relocation. Courts decide by the child’s best interests, and the parent asking to take the child out of state bears the burden of proof.
Va. Code § 20-124.5; Cloutier v. Queen, 35 Va. App. 413, 545 S.E.2d 574 (2001); Petry v. Petry, 41 Va. App. 782, 589 S.E.2d 458 (2003); Bostick v. Bostick-Bennett, 23 Va. App. 527, 478 S.E.2d 319 (1996)

Chapter 17 covers the children.

Getting out (Article 2)

How long you must live here before filing: six months. One spouse must have been a genuine Virginia resident and domiciliary for at least six months before filing. The rule does not depend on where the couple married or where the grounds arose. Special provisions cover members of the armed forces and certain federal employees.
Va. Code § 20-97

How long it takes. Either spouse can get a no-fault divorce after one year living separate and apart without cohabitation. Couples with no minor children and a separation agreement need six months, but that route requires the other spouse’s signature. The statute sets no waiting period after filing.
Va. Code § 20-91(A)(9)(a)

The legal minimum for a spouse who moves here alone and files as soon as allowed, with no minor children and the other spouse objecting, is about 365 days from arrival to a final decree (365 days apart; 180 days of residence runs inside it; no statutory wait). Courts often take longer.

If you moved here from another state

A prenup keeps the law of the place it was signed, unless the parties chose otherwise. In 2006 the Virginia Court of Appeals held that, unless the parties plainly meant another state’s law to govern, the law of the place where a prenup was signed decides whether it is valid, subject to Virginia’s public policy.
Black v. Powers, 48 Va. App. 113 (2006)

Chapter 22 covers what changes when you move.

Each entry on this page comes from the statute, rule or case it cites, read in September or November 2026, except where the entry says it has not been checked. A rule can change after that, and a rule on paper can play out differently in a particular courthouse. No lawyer reviews these pages.

If you practice family law in Virginia and would like to correct or contribute to this page, write to me.

Meanwhile

• The default contract, with the options states choose among. Read it with a Virginia lawyer, or paste it into a chatbot along with “I live in Virginia” and treat what comes back as a list of questions, not answers.
• Three contracts you could sign instead.
• A worksheet for reading it together, and every state’s Luck of the Draw score.
• Corrections, including changes in the law since the book went to press.
• About the book.