Significant changes to Virginia divorce law occurred this year. Starting July 1, 2026, Spouses will no longer need to have “fault” to get immediate help.
Virginia divorce law has two forms of divorce; a divorce from “bed and board,” or a “full/final” divorce. A full divorce requires a year of separation unless fault exists, six months of separation if they do not have children and have a written separation agreement. Fault grounds entitling a spouse to an immediate divorce are adultery or a year or more of incarceration for a felony. These time requirements prevent people from asking the court for relief when they have separated but have not been separated long enough.
Divorce attorneys frequently use the divorce from bed and board as a work around to gain access to a court to start to gather information and get temporary relief. A divorce from bed and board ends the marriage without giving the parties the right to remarry or the court the ability to divide marital property (the assets). Only a full divorce does that. As a result, very few divorce decrees from bed and board are actually entered.
The problem with the bed and board divorce under pre-July 2026 law is that a party still needed to allege (lay out) fault grounds. Specifically, the spouse had to show cruelty, desertion, or abandonment. This often resulted in attorneys drafting very “thin” allegations of cruelty or desertion, or more often significant exaggeration of events. Unable to properly gain access to the court, parties regularly engaged in “self-help” where they secretly took assets or kicked one another out of the house to gain advantages.
The Change
Effective July 1, 2026, the law no longer requires fault grounds to file for a divorce from bed and board. If the parties are living separate and apart, with the intent of at least one of them that the separation is permanent, a party can immediately file.
This statutory change is a game changer. It provides far more access to the courts for separating parties who simply cannot live together anymore. With easier access to court, timelines and costs should reduce. Even more importantly, hurtful behaviors and overblown allegations should decrease, making the process less traumatic. While divorce can cause parties a great deal of stress, this statutory change should enable divorcing couples to focus more on the business of winding up the relationship and recovery rather than the mechanics of getting into court.
This post is intended for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. If you are dealing with a divorce or separation issue in Virginia, please speak with a qualified family law attorney, such as one of ours, about your specific situation.
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