Grounds for Divorce

Virginia law allows divorce on the following grounds:

• If the spouses have lived separate and apart without any cohabitation and without interruption for one year.

• If the spouses have entered into a separation agreement and they have no minor children and they have lived separately and apart without cohabitation for six months without interruption.

• For adultery; or for sodomy or buggery committed outside the marriage;

• Where one spouse has been convicted of a felony and sentenced to serve more than a year in prison and there has been no cohabitation after the other spouse learned of the conviction.

• Where either spouse has been guilty of cruelty, caused the other to reasonably fear bodily harm, or deserted the other, the innocent party may have a divorce after a year.

The first two grounds are the most commonly asserted. The requirement of a long period of separation is an effort to discourage hasty decisions.  Resumption of sexual relations or living together will reset the clock on the separation period to zero and the time will be calculated from the last occasion where there was cohabitation.

There are other provisions that are less frequently invoked and you should have your attorney explain them to you. In some cases, they may offer some advantages over the more commonly used provisions.