Divorce

A judge will decide whether or not to grant maintenance after considering the circumstances and reasons the marriage ended. A judge must specifically consider whether there are any fault-based grounds for divorce.¹ You can see these grounds at What are the grounds for divorce in Virginia?

A judge will decide what kind of maintenance to award, how much maintenance to award, and how long maintenance will last after considering the following factors:

1. the needs, responsibilities, and financial resources of each spouse, including pension, profit sharing, or retirement plans;
2. the way you and your spouse lived while married (“standard of living”);
3. how long you were married;
4. how old you and your spouse are, your physical and mental conditions, and any special family circumstances;
5. if either your or your spouse’s ages, physical or mental conditions, or special circumstances of your children would make it difficult for you or your spouse to work outside of the home;
6. the contributions, both financial and otherwise, of each spouse to the well-being of the family;
7. the property each spouse has, including marital property;
8. how marital property was divided in the divorce;
9. your and your spouse’s ability to earn money, including each of your skills, education, training, and current employment opportunities;
10. the chance, ability, time, and costs for you or your spouse to get the education, training, and employment needed to earn more money;
11. any decisions about jobs, careers, education, or parenting arrangements that you and your spouse made while married, and how those decisions affected your income and future job opportunities, including the length of time you or your spouse has been out of the job market;
12. the extent that each spouse has helped or supported the other with education, training, or moving up in a job while you were married; and
13. any other factors that it would be fair to consider, including the tax consequences to each party, the circumstances and factors that contributed to the divorce, and reasons you got divorced.²

¹ Va. Code § 20-107.1(B)
² Va. Code § 20-107.1(E) “Divorce in Virginia,” Virginia State Bar