You may know it by the terms “alimony” or “maintenance”, but you have almost certainly heard that spousal support can be a major source of contention in divorce. Indeed in any divorce case in Virginia, the court will, upon the request of a party, determine whether or not a spouse is entitled to spousal support, including the nature, amount and duration of such support.
There are certain factors that the court must consider in awarding spousal support, and if your lawyer does not continually keep abreast of the latest legislative changes on the topic, it is likely that you may not be aware of the changes that were made effective July 1, 2016. Pursuant to these changes, in determining spousal support awards, courts must now consider “the circumstances and factors that contributed to the dissolution” of a marriage, “specifically including any ground for divorce”.
Previously, although the court could consider such factors and any fault grounds in distributing marital assets, there was no clear guidance from the law that the court could also consider the same factors in determining spousal support. This led to many spousal support decisions being made with a complete blind eye to the causes of the marital breakup. Our legislators decided that this needs to change, and as such, a few months ago Virginia Code section 20-107.1(E)(13) was amended so as to provide the court with the power to essentially punish what it considers to be non-innocent parties, or “bad actors”, through a spousal support decision.
Although only a few words in the law changed, the impact can be very significant. We at PJI Law have already identified a number of our current cases that might be impacted by this law, and have adapted our legal strategy accordingly, to the benefit and protection of our clients. This demonstrates the importance of lawyers closely following changes in the law, and explains why our attorneys make it a priority to stay updated and analyze our cases accordingly.
