How Virginia Courts Decide Whether to Award Spousal Support
Spousal support can become one of the most financially significant issues in a Virginia divorce. A spouse who relied on the other spouse’s income may be worried about paying the mortgage, maintaining health insurance, or adjusting to a household supported by one income. The higher-earning spouse may have equally serious questions about how much support could be ordered and how long the obligation could continue.
Virginia courts do not decide spousal support by looking only at the difference between two paychecks. A judge can look at how the spouses lived during the marriage, what each earns or can earn now, the financial choices they made together, and, in certain cases, why the marriage ended. When support is disputed, working with an experienced Leesburg spousal support attorney can present the financial history and marital circumstances that bear directly on the court’s decision.
The Financial History of the Marriage Shapes the Decision
Virginia Code § 20-107.1 governs spousal support awards in divorce and certain related proceedings. The statute requires the court to consider the circumstances that contributed to the end of the marriage and a range of factors when deciding the nature, amount, and duration of support.
A judge can look at each spouse’s financial resources and needs, the standard of living established during the marriage, and how long the marriage lasted. Age and physical or mental condition can also affect the decision, particularly when health concerns limit a spouse’s ability to work or increase ongoing expenses.
How the spouses arranged their financial lives can be just as important as their circumstances at the time of divorce. A marriage in which both spouses maintained established careers presents a different financial history from one in which a spouse spent years caring for children or managing the household while the other spouse developed a career.
Income Is Only Part of the Financial Picture
Two spouses with very different incomes may also have very different opportunities to increase those incomes after divorce. A judge can consider each spouse’s skills, education and training, current earning capacity, and the employment opportunities available to someone with those qualifications.
A spouse who has been outside the workforce for a substantial period may need time to rebuild a career. Returning to work could require additional education, renewed professional licensing, updated training, or a job search that begins at a lower salary than the spouse earned years earlier. Decisions made during the marriage about parenting, employment, education, and career development can help explain the difference between the spouses’ current earning potential.
Disputes can also arise over what a spouse is capable of earning rather than what appears on a current paycheck. Virginia Code § 20-108.1 permits the court, on a party’s motion and for good cause, to order a vocational evaluation when earning capacity, voluntary unemployment, or voluntary underemployment is disputed. A vocational expert can examine a spouse’s education, skills, work history, employment opportunities, and potential earnings.
Contributions Made During the Marriage Can Affect Support
Virginia law recognizes both monetary and nonmonetary contributions to the well-being of the family. One spouse may have contributed primarily through wages or business income while the other handled childcare, household responsibilities, or other work that allowed the family to function.
Career decisions made for the family can have financial effects that continue long after separation. A spouse may have reduced working hours, turned down a promotion, relocated for the other spouse’s employment, or stayed home while children were young. Years later, those choices can affect salary, retirement savings, professional experience, and opportunities for advancement.
Support disputes can also involve contributions one spouse made to the other’s education or career. Paying household expenses while a spouse earned a degree, relocating for a professional opportunity, or assuming greater responsibility at home while the other spouse built a business or career can help explain why the spouses leave the marriage with different earning capacities.
Marital Fault Can Enter the Spousal Support Decision
The reasons a marriage ended can affect a Virginia spousal support case. Section 20-107.1 specifically addresses adultery and certain other statutory grounds for divorce when a court decides whether support should be awarded.
Adultery can have a particularly significant effect. Virginia law generally bars permanent spousal support from a spouse when the other spouse has a ground for divorce based on that spouse’s adultery. A court can still award support when clear and convincing evidence establishes that denying it would create a manifest injustice, based on the spouses’ respective degrees of fault during the marriage and their relative economic circumstances.
When adultery or other marital misconduct becomes part of a support dispute, the evidence can extend beyond income and household expenses. Communications, testimony, financial transactions, and other records concerning the conduct alleged in the divorce may become relevant alongside the financial evidence used to address support.
The Court Decides the Amount and Duration of Support
A finding that spousal support is appropriate does not end the court’s work. Section 20-107.1 allows support to be paid periodically for a defined period, periodically for an undefined period, as a lump sum, or through a combination of those approaches. Under qualifying circumstances, a court can also reserve a spouse’s right to seek support in the future.
The length of the marriage can influence how long support continues, but it does not operate alone. A spouse’s age, health, financial resources, and ability to become self-supporting can affect the result. The time reasonably needed for education or training can also become important when a spouse must rebuild earning capacity after years spent away from a career.
The result is tied closely to the financial circumstances created during the marriage and the position in which each spouse enters life after divorce. Two marriages of similar length can produce very different support awards when the spouses have different incomes, employment histories, health concerns, assets, or prospects for future earnings.
Temporary Support While a Divorce Is Pending
A spouse may need financial assistance long before a divorce reaches a final hearing. Virginia Code § 20-103 allows a court to order temporary, or pendente lite, spousal support while the case is pending.
For qualifying cases in which the spouses’ combined monthly gross income does not exceed $10,000, the statute provides a presumptive formula for calculating temporary support. Different percentages apply depending on whether the spouses have minor children in common, and a court can depart from the presumptive amount for good cause based on relevant financial circumstances.
A temporary award does not determine what the final support award will be. Section 20-103 expressly provides that an order entered under the temporary-support provision has no presumptive effect and is not determinative when the underlying divorce is decided. Final support returns to the broader circumstances and factors addressed under § 20-107.1.
Financial Records Can Shape the Support Dispute
Spousal support decisions often depend on a detailed financial history. Tax returns and pay records can establish earnings, while bank and retirement statements can show additional financial resources. Household records can document recurring expenses and provide a clearer picture of the standard of living maintained during the marriage.
Employment and educational records can become important when earning capacity is disputed. A work history may show how long a spouse has been outside a profession, while licensing or educational records can identify what would be required to return. Childcare arrangements and employment changes can also document periods when family responsibilities affected a spouse’s career.
Financial documentation can become particularly important when the spouses disagree about income, earning potential, career sacrifices, or the resources available after divorce. Guidance from a knowledgeable Leesburg Spousal Support Attorney can help develop the financial history the court will consider when deciding whether support is appropriate and what an award could look like.
Speak with Our Leesburg Spousal Support Attorneys
If you are facing a divorce involving spousal support, the financial consequences can extend well beyond the final hearing. An award can affect housing, retirement planning, employment decisions, and the transition from one household into two.
Simms Showers LLP represents clients in Leesburg and throughout Northern Virginia in divorce and family law matters. Contact us to speak with an experienced Leesburg spousal support attorney and learn how we can help protect your rights as the court determines the obligations that will continue after your divorce under Virginia law.
This memorandum is provided for general information purposes only and is not a substitute for legal advice particular to your situation. No recipients of this memo should act or refrain from acting solely on the basis of this memorandum without seeking professional legal counsel. Simms Showers Law expressly disclaims all liability relating to actions taken or not taken based solely on the content of this memorandum.
Sources:
- Virginia General Assembly — Code of Virginia § 20-107.1, Court May Decree as to Maintenance and Support of Spouses
https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title20/chapter6/section20-107.1/ - Virginia General Assembly — Code of Virginia § 20-108.1, Determination of Child or Spousal Support
https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title20/chapter6/section20-108.1/ - Virginia General Assembly — Code of Virginia § 20-103, Court May Make Orders Pending Suit for Divorce, Custody or Visitation, Etc.
https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title20/chapter6/section20-103/
