What Happens If I Attempt Reconciliation During Separation In Virginia?
In Virginia, married couples must be separated for six months when they do not have minor children, or one year if they do have minor children, before their divorce may be finalized with the Court of appropriate jurisdiction.
Both periods of separation are long enough that the parties may question their decision, resulting in an attempt to reconcile. What happens in that scenario? Experienced Gainesville Virginia divorce lawyer Michelle Hopkins weighs in below.
Can I Attempt to Reconcile? What Happens If I Do?
Yes, you can attempt to reconcile with your spouse during your separation. However, doing so must be done with caution.
When parties initially agree to divorce, they agree upon a date of separation. From this date forward, in the eyes of the Court, the parties are working towards finalizing their divorce. They must live separate lives as much as possible from that date on. While parties to a divorce must do things such as coparent their minor children and communicate to divide assets and liabilities, they should not be doing things that would give an impression to third parties that they were still married. Examples of such activities are:
- Wearing wedding bands.
- Preparing and/or eating meals together.
- Doing each other’s laundry or errands.
- Exchanging gifts and/or cards on valentines day and/or their anniversary.*
- Attending events together, such as a wedding.
- Failing to update relationship statuses on social media to “separated.”
- Sleeping in the same bedroom.
- Engaging in sexual activity.
*Parties with young minor children may assist their children in selecting gifts for their spouse on major holidays such as Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and birthdays, without impacting their date of separation.
If they attempt to reconcile, this date may no longer be considered the date of separation. Instead, a new date after the parties’ attempt to reconcile would have to become the new date of separation.
This date matters because in Virginia, parties must be separated for six months without children or one year if they have children. If this date is moved back by a reconciliation attempt, the timeline to divorce is extended to satisfy the parties’ minimum period of separation according to Virginia law.
If the parties are on good terms, they may attempt to reconcile, then ultimately agree that a divorce is truly what is best for them. In these cases, the parties may agree to keep their original date of separation.
However, in more contentious divorces, one party may have placed great hope in their spouse’s efforts to reconcile and may have truly believed that they were getting back together. If their spouse chose to proceed with the divorce, they may choose to use evidence of their reconciliation attempts to delay the proceedings by claiming their date of separation should be moved in an effort to have more time to work on convincing their spouse to withdraw the divorce.
Do I Have To Inform The Court That We Attempted to Reconcile?
In Virginia, there is no requirement to file a notice of separation, and as such, parties would not file anything with the Court.
However, if the complaint for divorce and other filings have already been filed with the Court and the reconciliation attempt moved the date of separation, your lawyer will advise you on what actions must be taken to get the divorce process back on track.
How Can The Hopkins Law Firm Help Me?
The Hopkins Law Firm lawyers Michelle Hopkins, Sydney Remaily, and Tyler Melton are ready to assist you with your legal matters in Prince William County, Virginia and surrounding areas. Please do not hesitate to contact their office today at 571-248-2210 or info@mhopkinslaw.comto schedule a consultation. Michelle Hopkins and her legal team are waiting to help you!