Can a support payor get reimbursed for overpaying child or spousal support in Virginia? In Ruane v. Ruane, Record No. 1285-15-2 (Va. Ct. Appeals 2016) (unpublished), the Virginia Court of Appeals seems to answer no, except when the answer is yes. Continue reading
Category Archives: Spousal Support
Virginia Spousal Support: The Final Meanings of Cohabitation and Relationship Analogous to a Marriage?
Virginia Code § 20-109(A) was amended in 1997 to include language terminating spousal support upon “clear and convincing evidence that the spouse receiving support has been habitually cohabiting with another person in a relationship analogous to a marriage for one year or more commencing on or after July 1, 1997, the court shall terminate spousal support and maintenance unless (i) otherwise provided by stipulation or contract or (ii) the spouse receiving support proves by a preponderance of the evidence that termination of such support would be unconscionable.” Continue reading
Virginia Spousal Support: The Manifest Injustice Exception Examined
Mundy v. Mundy, Record No. 1025-15-4 (Va. Ct. App. 2015), is a brief, direct, and unsparing look at the manifest injustice exception to the bar on a spousal support award to an adulterous spouse. Continue reading
Virginia Spousal Support: OMG Spousal Support – Part 2
Bailey v. Bailey, Record No 0981-15-4 (Va. Ct. Appeals 2016) (unpublished) involves a fun new opinion from our Virginia Court of Appeals. It involves an astronomical award of spousal support. It involves interpretation of a marital settlement agreement. It involves statutory interpretation. And it involves an appellate reversal! Continue reading
Virginia Spousal Support – The Evolving Meanings of Cohabitation and Relationship Analogous to a Marriage
Virginia Code § 20-109(A) was amended in 1997 to include language terminating spousal support upon “clear and convincing evidence that the spouse receiving support has been habitually cohabiting with another person in a relationship analogous to a marriage for one year or more commencing on or after July 1, 1997, the court shall terminate spousal support and maintenance unless (i) otherwise provided by stipulation or contract or (ii) the spouse receiving support proves by a preponderance of the evidence that termination of such support would be unconscionable.”
So what’s “cohabiting”? And what is a “relationship analogous to a marriage”? Can two members of the same sex “cohabitate” in Virginia? Can they be in a “relationship analogous to a marriage”? Continue reading
Virginia Spousal Support: Some Clarity on Termination Provisions in Agreements
Assume the existence of a marital agreement that provides that spousal support shall terminate forever upon the happening of a terminating event, like a cohabitation with a member of the opposite sex for a week or more. Assume that this agreement was incorporated into a divorce order years ago. What happens when the former wife does in fact cohabit with a member of the opposing sex for more than a week? Can the husband just stop paying her? Must he continue to pay her spousal support until such time as the court enters an order stating that her support terminated forever due to her cohabitation? Continue reading
Virginia Child Support: Outside the Box Thinking Put in a Box
Everett v. Everett, Record No. 2299-14-4 (Va. Ct. Appeals 2015) is a weird case. In that case, the parties entered into a property settlement agreement that included these odd provisions: Continue reading
Virginia Spousal Support: When Keeping it Unreal Goes Wrong
In the unpublished case of Gregory v. Gregory, Record No. 1367-14-4 (Va. Ct. Appeals 2015), the appellate court reversed a trial court decision awarding spousal support to the wife in the case because the trial ignored its copious findings that wife’s testimony was not believable. Given the lack of credible evidence, wife failed to meet her burden of proof in establishing her need for spousal support, thus she should not have been awarded any spousal support. Continue reading
Virginia Support: Imputed Income Primer
Wow! The Virginia Court of Appeals recently handed down two published decisions discussing at exhaustive length how imputed income is supposed to work in child support cases.[1] So let’s look at how this all works with a nice Q & A. Continue reading
Virginia Spousal Support: Remarriage vs. De Facto Remarriage
The recent unpublished opinion of Miller v. Green, Record No. 1993-14-3 (Virginia Ct. App. 2015), highlights the perhaps unexpected differences between spousal support that terminates on the recipient’s remarriage and spousal support that terminates because the recipient has been in a relationship analogous to a marriage for over one year. Continue reading