LSTD303 Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

LSTD303 Paper - Essay Example The issue of divorce does not only entail the end of a marriage or union between the two individuals involved, but also other relevant and complex legal issues such as the sharing of property, the custody of the children, the financing of the children’s lifestyle, among other fine legal details (Virginia State Bar, 2013). No wonder therefore, that the issue of divorce is a fundamental legal issue in the state of Virginia, where the State has provided that for any divorce to occur, there should be sufficient grounds which are to be applied as the basis. Besides the fundamental requirements regarding sufficient grounds for completing a divorce, there are also some requirements regarding the residency of the area of jurisdiction, which also informs the settling of the divorce issue between the involved parties. Therefore, the article seeks to address the fundamental questions that different individuals might have, regarding the issue of divorce in the state of Virginia, with a fo cus on the types of divorce, the required grounds for completing divorce, the property rights and how they are addressed, the award of spousal support, the custody of children and the children support obligations. Types of divorce in the State of Virginia The state of Virginia recognizes two type of divorces; divorce from bed and board or divorce from the bond of matrimony (Hofheimer, 2009). The divorce from bed and board refers to the situation where the husband and wife are legally separated from each other, and they are not allowed to remarry again. This is a qualified type of divorce, under which the parties involved can then go back to the court and petition the court to merge the divorce into a divorce from the bond of matrimony, after one year has passed from the date the two were legally separated (Virginia State Bar, 2013). On the other hand, the divorce from the bond of matrimony is the absolute form of divorce, where the links between a husband and wife are permanently se vered. Annulment is the other type of divorce, which takes the form of a legal decree that declares a marriage null and void, on the ground that such a marriage was entered under conditions of fraud, duress or coercion of one of the party (Stim, 2013). The Grounds for Divorce in the State of Virginia Under the Family Laws of the State of Virginia, it is provided that a divorce cannot just occur out of the mere agreement between the husband and wife. Under this law, it is required that sufficient ground should exist for effecting a divorce between a husband and wife, even where the two have mutually agreed to have a divorce (Gross & Callahan, 2006). The bases for the two types of divorces are provided for differently. The required grounds for completing a divorce from bed and board, as provided for in the State of Virginia, include a Willful desertion or abandonment, where the individuals involved have broken the bonds of cohabitation, and they have the intent to dessert or abandon e ach other (Virginia State Bar, 2013). Thus where sufficient grounds exist for one member of the marriage to dessert, the court will then grant the authority for the application of a divorce from bed and board. The second ground under which a divorce from bed and board can be applied is the acts of cruelty or bodily harm perpetrated by one party in the marriage, against the other (Hofheimer, 2009). Under circumstances where it is evident that one party to the marriage is capable of bodily causing harm to the other, and thus