Virginia Divorce Steps
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The Virginia Divorce Steps start when the Plaintiff (or the Petitioner) drafts and files the Complaint. This document comprises of the following information.
- Vital statistics of the parties
- Vital statistics of the marriage
- Certain technical issues
- Request to the court to grant a divorce
- Request to the court regarding how the Petitioner desires the court to settle the divorce issues
The Petitioner serves the Complaint and a Subpoena to the Respondent. The Subpoena is a divorce document that conveys the following information.
- A divorce lawsuit has been filed
- The particular person has been named the Defendant
- The Defendant has been allotted 21 days to file a Response
The court clerk dispatches these documents to the Sheriff of the jurisdiction where the Defendant lives. Further, the Sheriff or the deputy of the Sheriff executes the service.
Defenses provided by the Defendant in an Answer
While drafting the Answer, the Defendant might use the following ways.
- Time Barred: The alleged behavior happened long ago and is too remote in time to be utilized as a ground of divorce
- Reconciliation: The Defendant has an intention of residing together again
- Recrimination: The allegations that have been made by the Petitioner have been performed by the Petitioner also. In other words, both the Petitioner and the Respondent behaved in the same way
- Condonation: Although the allegation is true, the Petitioner has been forgiven for it. This can be proved by furnishing evidence that after the action mentioned in the allegation, the Petitioner and Respondent had sexual relations
- Denial: The action in the allegation never took place or at the minimum, the Respondent does not admit that such a thing occurred.
Virginia Divorce Steps regarding Discovery Phase
During the Discovery Phase, the following divorce steps are permissible.
- Deposition: This means a face to face questioning of the divorcing partners and / or witnesses in the presence of a court reporter
- Request for Production of Documents: The opponent's lawyer demands specific documents or papers
- Interrogatories: These are questions submitted in written form
Steps in Uncontested Depositions
- There is possibly no requirement that the Petitioner must testify in court
- The Petitioner, accompanied by a witness, must be present in the lawyer's office for testifying the no-fault grounds of the divorce
- The lawyer types this testimony and sends the written document to the judge
- The above process is called as a deposition
- In some specific jurisdictions (particularly Southside Hampton Roads cities and Hampton), the deposition is executed in the presence of a quasi-judge person named a Commissioner in Chancery
- This Commissioner hears the testimonies of the Petitioner and the witness
- The Commissioner recommends to the judge if the Petitioner has proved the divorce grounds
- This method (of the Commissioner) is rather costly. However, the divorcing partners do not have any other alternative
Final Divorce Step
The Judge performs the following.
- Hears all the testimonies
- Reviews all the evidence
- Ascertains the technical and substantive requirements of granting the divorce
After due consideration of all the above points, the judge signs the divorce decree, if the judge is satisfied that all requirements of a divorce have been fulfilled.
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