Term
| VA Requirements for a Marriage License: |
|
Definition
1. Age (18 or 16 or pregnant with parental consent)
2. Within 60 days (but no waiting period)
3. Solemnization by authorized celebrant or judge (although marriage is not voided if celebrant is unauthorized but the parties believe they have been lawfully married and the marriage is lawful in all other respects) |
|
|
Term
| Circumstances that bar a marriage license from being issued: |
|
Definition
1. When one party is married to someone else
2. Incest
3. Sham
4. Incapacity
5. Same sex
6. Marriages performed in another state in order to evade these bans (punishable by $500 or 6 months) |
|
|
Term
| Common-law marriage is not recognized in VA, but will be given full faith and credit when: |
|
Definition
1. Both parties have capacity
2. The parties used words to show present intent to be married at the time they were married, or held themselves out as husband and wife
Note: Cohabitation alone does not support a common-law marriage |
|
|
Term
| Can an gift in contemplation of marriage (like an engagement ring) be recovered if the marriage doesn't take place? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Void ab initio marriages: |
|
Definition
1. Bigamy (felony in VA); exception if the married party can show a good faith belief that the first spouse is dead
2. Incest (anscestor/descendant, aunt/nephew/uncle/neice, or siblings by blood or adoption)
3. Underage (18 or 16 or pregnant with parental consent; of-age party can be estopped from denying the marriage even though it is void)
4. Same sex |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
1. Duress or fraud as to the essence of a marriage
2. Mental incapacity or infirmity
3. Intoxication
4. Felony conviction if the felony predates the marriage and the party seeking annulment was unaware of the conviction at the time of marriage
5. Impotency
6. Concealed parenthood
7. Prostitution if the party seeking annulment was unaware
Note: There is no spousal support or equitable distribution for void marriage, but there may be for voidable marriage |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
1. Cohabitation after knowledge of the facts
2. Laches (2 years)
3. Estoppel by conduct |
|
|
Term
| Grounds for judicial separation: |
|
Definition
1. Cruelty and reasonable apprehension of bodily injury
2. Abandonment or willful desertion (requires the actual breaking off of cohabitation and the intent to desert in the mind of the offender) |
|
|
Term
| Grounds for absolute divorce: |
|
Definition
Fault Grounds:
1. Adultery (no waiting period)
2. Conviction of a felony (no waiting period)
3. Willful desertion (1 year waiting period)
4. Cruelty (1 year waiting period)
Virginia also recognizes a no-fault ground for divorce based on separation without cohabitation; the waiting period is 1 year, or 6 months with a separation agreement and no minor children |
|
|
Term
| What counts as separate property: |
|
Definition
1. Property acquired during the marriage by descent, bequest, devise, survivorship, or gift from a source other than the spouse
2. Income from and the passive increase in value of separate property
3. Real or personal property acquired prior to the marriage
4. All property acquired during the marriage in exchange for or from the proceeds of the sale of separate property, if it is maintained as separate |
|
|
Term
| In order for a VA court to have jurisdiction over a matrimonial action: |
|
Definition
| At least one spouse must be a bona fide resident and domiciliary of Virginia for a minimum of six months prior to commencement of the action |
|
|
Term
| Issues surrounding out of state divorces in VA: |
|
Definition
1. VA gives full faith and credit as long as the foreign court had jurisdiction over both parties
2. If the foreign court lacked personal jurisdiction over the VA domiciliary, VA courts will decide spousal support and property rights |
|
|
Term
| Federal Act that gives every state long arm jurisdiction over out of state parents to enforce support rights or determine parentage: |
|
Definition
| Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA) |
|
|
Term
| VA's presumptive minimum child support obligation: |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| A court must require garnishment for child support if: |
|
Definition
1. Stipulated in a contract signed by the owing party
2. Upon notice of arrearages, or
3. Upon a finding that the owing party is in arrears for at least one month's support obligation |
|
|
Term
| The federal law enacted by all states to prevent jurisdictional disputes with courts in other states on matters of child custody and visitation: |
|
Definition
| Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) |
|
|
Term
| Courts are not allowed to consider the following when determining custody: |
|
Definition
1. Race
2. Religion
3. Parents' sexual conduct, unless there is a nexus to the child's well-being |
|
|
Term
| Types of marital agreements: |
|
Definition
1. Premarital agreements (contract made before marriage)
2. Separation agreement (made in contemplation of divorce)
3. PSA (economic only, entered into by the parties before a divorce decree is issued)
NOTE: All are contracts, so consider contract principals if a marital agreement comes up in a question. |
|
|
Term
| For a marital agreement to be enforceable, there must be: |
|
Definition
1. Fair and reasonable disclosure of the financial situations of both parties, unless it is waived,
2. Voluntariness
3. In writing and signed by both parties
4. The agreement can't be unconscionable at the time it is executed
Note: Burden of proving invalidity is clear and convincing evidence. |
|
|
Term
| Deadline for the b=putative father registry: |
|
Definition
| Before the birth of a child or within 10 days after the birth |
|
|
Term
| Deadline for withdrawal of birth parents' consent to adoption: |
|
Definition
| 7 days, but can be waived if child is at least 10 days old and both parents receive independent counsel |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Best interests of the child by clear and convincing evidence |
|
|
Term
| A final order of adoption is not subject to attack for ANY reason after: |
|
Definition
|
|
