An award of a part of a spouse's 401K plan in a divorce case is transferred with a separate court order known as a Qualified Domestic Relations Order or QDRO. The award should also appear in the Final Decree. The QDRO must be signed by the judge and approved by the plan administrator. As... View More

A named executor in a will has limited statutory powers under Virginia Code Section 64.2-511 prior to qualification. A named executor is not required to become the acting, qualified, appointed executor. The process is not automatic. In order to become appointed, the executor or administrator... View More

Real estate will pass under the will if the will so provides. With an incomplete will, there exists a possibility of partial intestacy - the will fails to address all the property in existence at the testator's death. If a person dies intestate, or partial intestacy exists with respect to... View More

Most real estate financing in Virginia is secured by a deed of trust rather than a "mortgage", although that term is used in a general sense for any loan secured by real estate. Title is determined by the deed and the chain of title, not who may or may not be liable on the note secured... View More

Many lawyers advise their clients to file an Answer and Counterclaim for the very reasons illustrated by your situation. A defendant spouse can file a motion for leave of court to file a late answer and counterclaim due to the failure to prosecute the case by the plaintiff. You would do much... View More

Your question does not match your description of the legal problem. Joint property with a right of survivorship will pass to the survivor upon the death of a co-owner. In Virginia, divorce severs survivorship rights between spouses. The estate would now include your deceased ex-husband's... View More

No, durable powers of attorney and advance medical directives do not create the same rights and duties as marriage. The public policy of the Commonwealth support marriage as a fundamental institution of society in ways not enjoyed by mere parties to a contract. Spouses enjoy a number of rights and... View More

The required separation agreement for a no fault divorce in Virginia is one year from the date of separation, with at least one of the parties intending for the separation to be permanent, and maintaining that intent continuously for the period of separation. If the parties have no minor children... View More

Most married couples in Virginia own their real property as tenants by the entirety with the common-law right of survivorship. This tenancy is based on the old common-law fiction that a husband and wife were a single legal unit. Each spouse owns the undivided whole. Upon the death of either, the... View More

It is not unusual in family abuse cases for the complaining witness to decline prosecution, after thinking the matter over. Nevertheless, a criminal offense is considered an offense against the state, not between two private parties, and the state could compel a witness to testify against that... View More

A person may act for an incapacitated person either as a guardian or conservator by virtue of a court order, a court appointed guardian ad litem, or pursuant to a durable power of attorney. The durable power of attorney must be signed by the principal before becoming incapacitated or during a... View More

You do not indicate in your question whether your father died testate - with a will - or intestate - without a will, whether his surviving spouse is claiming any statutory rights to his augmented estate or family residence. I would assume he died with a will because you do not recognize any rights... View More

The spouses's social security numbers appear on at least two forms in a divorce in Virginia, the VS-4 form for Vital Statistics and a Confidential Addendum for identification purposes. The Confidential Addendum is sealed and confidential in the case file, so members of the public cannot view... View More

Your question contains a mixture of somewhat complex issues and illustrates a conflict between federal and state law. The first issue is preemption. Preemption occurs when exclusive federal jurisdiction and law on specific areas of law prevent action under state jurisdiction and laws, for... View More

A witness can be impeached by prior inconsistent testimony or sworn responses in discovery. Impeachment requires a particular sequence of questioning that allows the witness to first give correct testimony, recollect instances of prior testimony, and then acknowledge prior inconsistencies. There... View More

This is a somewhat complicated issue which should be discussed with an experienced Virginia probate lawyer with the benefit of an illustration of the family tree. Generally, a child or descendant of a child, born out of wedlock, has the essentially the same rights as an heir as the other children... View More

It depends. The calculations must be run for each situation.

When each parent has at least 90 days custody of a child in Virginia, the shared custody and sole custody child support worksheet calculations are used, with the lesser amount being the presumptively correct amount of child... View More

Judgments or decrees by default are not allowed in divorce or annulment cases in Virginia.

Rule 3:19 of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia provides as follows:

..."(c) Default Judgment and Damages.

(1) Except in suits for divorce or annulling a marriage, the... View More

The starting point for service of process in divorce cases is Virginia Code Section 20-99. The primary consideration in service for divorce cases is the relief sought. Under the concept of divisible divorce, a marriage consists of two components - a legal relationship or res, and property rights... View More

Spouses in Virginia can enter into enforceable marital agreements under Virginia Code Section 20-155 of the Virginia Premarital Agreement Act. These agreements take different forms, including prenuptial agreements or antenuptial agreements, marital agreements, separation agreements, stipulations... View More