Circuit Court
Grants divorces. Decides equitable distribution of the marital estate. Can fold custody and support into the divorce.
Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C. · Est. 1997 · Virginia
Virginia family law is decided in two different court systems that do not work the same way. Circuit Courts grant divorces and divide marital property. Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Courts hear custody, visitation, and support — including petitions from parents who were never married.
§ 01
Most people arrive at a family law question already knowing what they want. Fewer arrive knowing which court can give it to them, and that distinction shapes a case from the first filing.
A divorce is filed in the Circuit Court for the jurisdiction where venue lies. Equitable distribution of the marital estate is decided there as well. Custody, visitation, and support can be heard in the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court on a standalone petition, or folded into the divorce in Circuit Court — and a matter can move between the two as circumstances change.
Getting this wrong costs time that families rarely have to spare.
Grants divorces. Decides equitable distribution of the marital estate. Can fold custody and support into the divorce.
Hears custody, visitation, and support on a standalone petition — including petitions from parents who were never married.
§ 02
At least one spouse must have been a bona fide resident and domiciliary of Virginia for six months before a divorce is filed.
Virginia requires a period of living separate and apart, without cohabitation and without interruption, before a no-fault divorce may be granted. That period is one year where the parties have a minor child. It is six months where there is no minor child and the parties have executed a written separation agreement.
Virginia has not eliminated them. They include adultery — and sodomy or buggery committed outside the marriage — cruelty, reasonable apprehension of bodily hurt, and willful desertion or abandonment. They also include conviction of a felony where the sentence is confinement for more than one year, the convicted spouse is confined, and the parties do not cohabit after the other spouse learns of the confinement. Some fault grounds carry their own timing requirements before a decree may be entered. Grounds must be corroborated, and adultery is proved by clear and convincing evidence. Fault can bear on spousal support and on the division of property. It is not appropriate in every case, and whether to plead it is a strategic question decided case by case.
Virginia courts classify property as marital, separate, or part marital and part separate; value it; then divide the marital estate according to statutory factors. Equitable means fair in light of those factors. It does not mean equal, and Virginia does not begin from a presumption of an even split. Retirement and pension interests frequently require a Qualified Domestic Relations Order to divide.
Virginia courts weigh a statutory list of factors — the age and condition of the child and of each parent, the relationship each parent has with the child, each parent's role in the child's upbringing, and each parent's willingness to support the child's relationship with the other. Legal custody concerns decision-making authority. Physical custody concerns where the child lives. The two are decided separately, and joint legal custody is common even where physical custody is not shared.
Child support starts from a presumptive guideline figure built on both parents' gross monthly incomes, the number of children, health insurance for the child, and work-related child care. A court may deviate where the statutory factors justify it. Spousal support works differently. There is no formula for a final award: a court weighs a list of statutory factors and the decision is discretionary. Virginia does provide a guideline calculation that applies to certain pendente lite spousal support awards, which is a separate question from what a final award will be. Proof of adultery generally bars an award of spousal support to the offending spouse, unless a court finds from clear and convincing evidence that denying support would be a manifest injustice.
§ 03
Filing, service, responsive pleadings, discovery, pendente lite relief, negotiation, and trial where a matter does not resolve.
Drafting and review of the written agreement that resolves property, debt, support, and custody, and that is ordinarily affirmed, ratified, and incorporated into the final decree.
Initial determinations, parenting plans, petitions by unmarried parents, and modification on a material change in circumstances.
Guideline calculation, deviation arguments, establishment, modification, and enforcement.
Pendente lite, rehabilitative, and undefined-duration support.
Classification, valuation, and division of the marital estate — the marital residence, retirement and pension interests, business interests, and marital debt.
Drafting and review under Virginia's premarital agreement statute.
Division of military retired pay under the Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act, and the interaction of relocation orders with Virginia custody procedure.
§ 04 — The founding attorney
Former prosecutor practicing continuously since 1997.
He appears in Virginia Circuit Courts and Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Courts in family law matters — divorce, equitable distribution, custody and visitation, and child and spousal support — alongside a criminal defense practice. He returned to the same body of law from the other side of the courtroom, and that history shapes how he reads a file, prepares a witness, and assesses what a record will and will not support.
In 2019, Mr. Sris testified before the Virginia House Courts of Justice Committee in support of HB 635 (chief patron Del. David Bulova), which addressed Virginia's equitable distribution statute. Bill history is searchable on the Virginia Legislative Information System at lis.virginia.gov.
Attorneys other than Mr. Sris serve in an Of Counsel capacity under a continuing relationship with Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C., and contract directly with the firm. The firm has no direct employee attorneys.
Former prosecutor. Divorce, equitable distribution, custody and visitation, child and spousal support.
Family law, employment law, and business litigation.
Family law and estate planning.
Which Of Counsel attorney works on a given matter depends on what the matter requires and the jurisdiction in which it is pending. Each is licensed only in the jurisdictions listed in that attorney's individual biography.
§ 06
Virginia family law matters are heard in the Circuit Court and the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court for the jurisdiction where venue lies. Venue follows the parties and the facts, not convenience.
The firm handles Virginia family law matters venued across the Commonwealth, including in Virginia Beach, Colonial Heights, Poquoson, and Chesterfield, Roanoke, Rockingham, York, James City, New Kent, Goochland, Powhatan, Louisa, Fluvanna, Fauquier, Rappahannock, Prince George, Dinwiddie, King William, and Isle of Wight Counties.
4008 Williamsburg Court
Fairfax, VA 22032
Richmond · Ashburn
Arlington · Woodstock
§ 07 — Working with the firm
Call (888) 437-7747 or use the contact form. Attorney consultations are scheduled by appointment.
Date of marriage. Date of separation. Names and dates of birth of any minor children. A general picture of income for both spouses. A list of significant assets and debts. Estimates are workable at a first meeting.
The Virginia procedure that applies to your circumstances, the court likely to hear the matter, the range of timelines involved, and the decisions in front of you.
§ 08
One year if you and your spouse have a minor child. Six months if there is no minor child and you have signed a written separation agreement. The separation must be continuous and without cohabitation.
No. Virginia is an equitable distribution state. A court divides the marital estate according to statutory factors, and the result may or may not be an even division.
It can. Proof of adultery generally bars an award of spousal support to the offending spouse, unless the court finds from clear and convincing evidence that denying support would constitute a manifest injustice.
Not for a final award. A court weighs a list of statutory factors and the decision is discretionary. Virginia does provide a guideline calculation that applies to certain pendente lite awards, which is a separate question from what a final award will be.
The Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. The legal standard is the same best-interests analysis that applies to married parents.
Yes, on a showing of a material change in circumstances since the last order. A substantial change in either parent's income, a change in the custodial arrangement, or a change in the child's needs are common bases.
An agreement is not enforceable if the party resisting it proves it was not executed voluntarily, or that it was unconscionable when executed and that party was not provided fair and reasonable disclosure and did not waive disclosure.
If your spouse was properly served and files no responsive pleading within the time allowed, the matter may proceed without their participation. The court still requires proof of the grounds and of the relief requested.
Representation is not legally required. An uncontested divorce still turns on a written agreement that will govern property, support, and custody for years, and on a decree that must be drafted and entered correctly.
Transmission of information through this form does not create an attorney-client relationship.