People sometimes get the terms ‘uncontested’ and ‘no fault’ confused when they talk about divorce.
An uncontested divorce is one in which the parties agree to all of the issues. I wrote a blog post that goes into more detail here.
A ‘no fault’ divorce is one in which there are no other legal grounds for divorce. In Virginia, this means that there has been no adultery, or cruelty (or those grounds cannot be proved).
This doesn’t mean that both spouses are angels and that the husband or wife has never done anything that has made the other spouse unhappy or angry or feeling that they could not stay married. It just means that there are no sufficient and provable legal grounds for the divorce.
In other states it might be called ‘irreconcilable differences’. I had one client tell me that there were irreconcilable differences in their marriage because he wanted a divorce and his wife didn’t.
In Virginia, you can file for a no fault divorce if you have been separated for a period of one year. If there are no minor children and there is a written and signed separation agreement, this time frame can be reduced to six months.
The spouses can (and often do) still argue over the division of property, the division of debts, the payment of spousal support, issues regarding the children (custody, visitation and support) so a ‘no fault’ divorce is often not a simple matter at all. Some no fault divorce cases can go on for years while the spouses fight over different issues. As you can see, this is very different from an uncontested divorce!
If you have any questions about this or any other legal subject, please feel free to give us a call at 757-234-4650 or visit our website at http://www.BeaversLaw.com.
Tags: contested divorce, Divorce, no fault, no fault divorce, uncontested divorce, Virginia