• Stafford is a county in northeast Virginia. Divorce proceedings take place at the Stafford County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court located in the city of Stafford. Laws on divorce are made at the state level, so proceedings in Stafford will be the same as proceedings in the rest of the state.
  
  

Where to File

• People who reside in Stafford, Virginia should file divorce petitions and other paperwork at the Stafford County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court located in the Stafford County Judicial Center at 1300 Courthouse Road. You can file your divorce paperwork in Stafford if you or your spouse reside in Stafford County, or if that was the last county in which you and your spouse lived together.
  
  

Grounds for Divorce

• In Virginia, you can get either a "no-fault" or "at-fault" divorce. Grounds for a no-fault divorce include living separately for a full year or living separately for six months if there are no children involved. Grounds for an at-fault divorce include adultery, one partner being convicted of a felony and going to jail for a year, insanity, bigamy, desertion or abandonment for over a year, and physical or verbal abuse. Adultery cannot be used as grounds for divorce if you knew about the adultery but continued to cohabit the residence with your spouse afterward.
  
  

Divorce Proceedings

• To get a divorce you must first file the appropriate paperwork with the Stafford County Court in addition to paying a filing fee of $84. The court will provide you with a copy of your paperwork and will give you the divorce papers with which to serve your spouse. After your spouse completes the paperwork and has it notarized and filed with the court a hearing date will be set at which time both sides will be heard.
  
  

Spousal and Child Support

• Judges in Virginia award spousal support --- the term alimony is not used in Virginia --- based on the financial status of both parties, the medical needs of each spouse, both parties' employment status, the needs of the former couple's children as well as how long the two were married, among other factors. When adultery is involved, payments are often increased, but the adultery in question must be clearly proved in court. A judge decides the size of the payments, how long payments will be made and how frequently payments are due. Virginia child support payments depend on the number of children a couple has, the incomes of both parents and the medical needs of the children.
  
  

Child Custody and Visitation

• When a couple gets a divorce in Virginia, a court does not get involved in matters of child custody and visitation rights unless there is a disagreement between the two parties. The decision about which parent will get custody of the children is complicated, involving the child's preference, the fitness level of both parents, parents' employment, and the general stability of the environment for the child. Generally, Virginia courts believe that it is in a child's best interest to spend time with both parents, so even if joint custody is not granted, most of the time a judge will allow the noncustodial parent visitation rights. A judge may decide not to allow a parent visitation rights if he feels that it could be detrimental to the child, as seen in cases where the noncustodial parent has a problem with drug use or a history of violence.