Virginia spousal support (alimony)

Spousal support—often called alimony—is money one spouse may be ordered to pay the other for maintenance and support. In Virginia, the main statute is Va. Code § 20-107.1. This page summarizes concepts people commonly research. It is general information only, not legal advice about any specific case.

What Spousal Support Is

Under § 20-107.1(A), in certain divorce, dissolution, separate-maintenance, and related proceedings, the court may enter further decrees concerning the maintenance and support of the spouses when a support claim has been properly pled—even if a party fails to prove grounds for divorce. The court has no authority to decree maintenance and support payable by the estate of a deceased spouse.

Spousal support is distinct from child support and from equitable distribution of marital property. A case may involve one, some, or all of those issues. See Virginia divorce, child support, and related topics for those subjects.

Factors Courts Consider

Section 20-107.1(E) requires the court, in determining whether to award support and maintenance, to consider the circumstances and factors that contributed to the dissolution of the marriage, specifically including adultery and certain other grounds for divorce. In determining the nature, amount, and duration of an award, the court shall consider factors that include:

• The obligations, needs, and financial resources of the parties (including retirement income)
• The standard of living established during the marriage
• The duration of the marriage
• The age and physical and mental condition of the parties and special family circumstances
• Whether a child’s age, condition, or special circumstances make it appropriate that a party not seek employment outside the home
• Monetary and nonmonetary contributions of each party to the well-being of the family
• Property interests of the parties
• Provisions made regarding marital property under § 20-107.3
• Earning capacity, skills, education, training, and employment opportunities
• The opportunity, ability, time, and cost for a party to obtain education or training to enhance earning ability
• Decisions about employment, career, economics, education, and parenting during the marriage and their effect on earning potential
• The extent to which either party contributed to the other party’s education, training, career, or profession
• Other factors necessary to consider the equities between the parties, including tax consequences and circumstances that contributed to the dissolution

In contested circuit-court cases, orders granting, reserving, or denying spousal support must be accompanied by written findings identifying the subsection E factors that support the court’s order (§ 20-107.1(F)).

Duration and Types of Awards

Virginia’s statute does not use informal labels such as “rehabilitative” or “permanent” as formal award categories. Instead, § 20-107.1(C) allows the court, in its discretion, to decree that maintenance and support be made in:

• Periodic payments for a defined duration
• Periodic payments for an undefined duration
• A lump-sum award
• Any combination of the above

People often describe defined-duration awards as “rehabilitative” when they are tied to a period for education, training, or transition to greater self-support—concepts that overlap with the earning-capacity factors in § 20-107.1(E). Undefined-duration awards are sometimes discussed in everyday language as longer-term or “permanent” support, but the Code’s terms control.

Reservation. Under § 20-107.1(D), the court may reserve a party’s right to receive support in the future. There is a rebuttable presumption that a reservation continues for a period equal to 50 percent of the time between the date of marriage and the date of separation. Once granted, the duration of that reservation is not subject to modification. Exercising a reserved right generally requires proof of a material change of circumstances, subject to the statute’s rules and any applicable stipulation or contract.

Pendente lite (temporary) support. During a pending case, courts may enter temporary orders addressing support and related issues—often discussed in connection with Va. Code § 20-103 (orders pending suit). Pendente lite support is temporary and distinct from the final award under § 20-107.1.

How Adultery Can Affect Eligibility

Adultery is a ground for divorce under Va. Code § 20-91(A)(1). Under § 20-107.1(B), no permanent maintenance and support shall be awarded from a spouse if there exists in that spouse’s favor a ground of divorce under § 20-91(A)(1). However, the court may still make such an award if it determines from clear and convincing evidence that a denial of support and maintenance would constitute a manifest injustice, based on the respective degrees of fault during the marriage and the relative economic circumstances of the parties.

Section 20-107.1(E) also directs the court, when deciding whether to award support, to consider circumstances that contributed to the dissolution, specifically including adultery and certain other divorce grounds. Proof, defenses, and how fault interacts with the economic factors are fact-specific.

Modification

Spousal support awards are generally subject to Va. Code § 20-109. Upon petition of either party, the court may increase, decrease, or terminate the amount or duration of spousal support that may thereafter accrue, as the circumstances may make proper—subject to the statute’s detailed rules, including special provisions for defined-duration awards, stipulations and contracts, cohabitation, remarriage, death, and retirement.

• Habitual cohabitation in a relationship analogous to marriage for one year or more can lead to termination of support unless a stipulation or contract provides otherwise, or the recipient proves termination would be unconscionable (§ 20-109(A)).
• Unless otherwise provided by stipulation or contract, support generally terminates upon death of either party or remarriage of the spouse receiving support (§ 20-109(D)).
• For modification purposes, a payor spouse’s attainment of full Social Security retirement age is considered a material change in circumstances, without precluding other material changes (§ 20-109(E)–(F)).

Agreements filed with the court can limit or shape what the court may order. Whether an amount or duration is modifiable often depends on the wording of any stipulation or contract and the date it was executed.