Virginia family-law glossary
Plain-language definitions of terms people often encounter when reading about divorce, custody, support, protective orders, and related topics in Virginia. Each entry links to a longer topic page on this site. Definitions are general information only—not legal advice.
A
- Alimony
- A common everyday word for spousal support—money one spouse may be ordered to pay the other for maintenance after separation or divorce.
More on Spousal support →
B
- Best-interest factors
- The list of considerations Virginia courts must weigh when deciding custody and visitation, set out in Va. Code § 20-124.3 (for example, the child’s relationship with each parent, needs, and each parent’s role).
More on Child custody →
C
- Child support guidelines
- Virginia’s income-shares worksheets and schedules (commonly under § 20-108.2) used to calculate a presumptive child-support amount from parental income, parenting time, and certain add-ons.
More on Child support → - Circuit Court
- Virginia’s trial court of general jurisdiction. Divorce suits are generally heard in Circuit Court; some related family matters may begin or also appear in Juvenile & Domestic Relations District Court.
More on Court locator → - Contempt
- A court proceeding to enforce obedience to a civil order (such as custody, visitation, or support). Willful disobedience can lead to remedies ordered by the court that issued the order.
More on Orders & related offenses → - Custodial interference
- A criminal offense under Va. Code § 18.2-49.1 involving knowingly, wrongfully, and intentionally engaging in a clear and significant violation of a custody or visitation order.
More on Orders & related offenses →
D
- DFAS
- Defense Finance and Accounting Service—the federal office that often administers military pay and, when rules allow, direct payments of divided military retired pay under a qualifying court order.
More on Military divorce →
E
- Emergency protective order (EPO)
- A short-term protective order a judge or magistrate may issue under Va. Code § 16.1-253.4, typically lasting until 11:59 p.m. on the third day after issuance (with limited extensions).
More on Protective orders → - Equitable distribution
- Virginia’s system for classifying and dividing marital property and debts in divorce under Va. Code § 20-107.3. It is not automatic 50/50 “community property”; the court aims for a fair division based on statutory factors.
More on Divorce →
F
- Family abuse
- A defined concept in Title 16.1 that underlies many family-abuse protective-order cases—generally involving certain acts of violence, force, or threat by a family or household member.
More on Protective orders → - Fault divorce
- A divorce granted on a fault ground listed in Va. Code § 20-91 (such as adultery, cruelty, or desertion), as opposed to a no-fault divorce based on living separate and apart.
More on Divorce →
G
- Guardian ad litem (GAL)
- An attorney appointed by the court to represent the best interests of a child (or sometimes another person) in a case. The GAL investigates and makes recommendations; the GAL is not the child’s “hired” lawyer in the ordinary sense.
More on Child custody →
I
- Imputed income
- Income a court may attribute to a parent or spouse who is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, for support calculations, instead of using only actual earnings.
More on Child support → - Income-shares model
- Virginia’s child-support approach that combines both parents’ incomes, finds a basic obligation on a schedule, and allocates it according to each parent’s share of income (with worksheet adjustments).
More on Child support →
J
- Juvenile & Domestic Relations (J&DR) District Court
- The district court that generally hears custody, visitation, child support, family-abuse protective orders, and many other juvenile and family matters.
More on Court locator →
L
- Legal custody
- Authority to make major decisions for a child (often associated with education, non-emergency health care, and religious upbringing). Joint legal custody means both parents share that decision-making responsibility.
More on Child custody →
M
- Marital property
- Property classified as marital under Virginia equitable-distribution rules and generally subject to division between spouses, as distinct from separate property.
More on Divorce →
N
- No-fault divorce
- A divorce based on living separate and apart for the statutory period under § 20-91(A)(9), without needing to prove a fault ground such as adultery or cruelty.
More on Divorce →
P
- Pendente lite
- Latin for “pending the litigation”—temporary orders (for support, custody, use of a home, etc.) that can apply while a divorce or related case is ongoing, before a final decree.
More on Spousal support → - Physical custody
- Where a child primarily lives and how day-to-day care and parenting time are arranged. Joint physical custody means both parents share physical custodial care; schedules need not be exactly equal.
More on Child custody → - Preliminary protective order (PPO)
- An interim protective order under Va. Code § 16.1-253.1 that can provide protection after an emergency order (or on its own) pending a fuller hearing on longer-term relief.
More on Protective orders → - Protective order
- A court order limiting contact or other conduct to protect someone from family abuse or related harm. In the Title 16.1 family-abuse track, people commonly research emergency, preliminary, and longer-term orders.
More on Protective orders →
R
- Relocation
- A proposed move with a child that can affect custody or visitation. Virginia orders often include notice requirements (see § 20-124.5), and courts evaluate moves under the best-interests standard.
More on Relocation of children →
S
- SCRA (Servicemembers Civil Relief Act)
- Federal law that can affect civil court timelines and protections for eligible active-duty service members, including in some divorce and family cases.
More on Military divorce → - Separate property
- Property generally not divided as marital property in equitable distribution—often assets owned before marriage, certain gifts or inheritances, or other categories defined in § 20-107.3.
More on Divorce → - Separation agreement
- A written contract between spouses resolving issues such as property, support, and custody. It can affect no-fault timing in some cases and may be incorporated into a divorce decree.
More on Divorce → - Shared-custody support
- A child-support worksheet approach often used when each parent has the child for more than a threshold number of days per year (commonly discussed as more than 90 days under guideline definitions).
More on Child support → - Spousal support
- Court-ordered maintenance and support one spouse may pay the other. Virginia’s principal statute is Va. Code § 20-107.1; modification rules often involve § 20-109.
More on Spousal support → - Stepparent adoption
- An adoption in which a spouse seeks to become the legal parent of a stepchild, typically requiring consent or another legally sufficient resolution of the other legal parent’s rights.
More on Adoption →
U
- USFSPA
- Uniformed Services Former Spouses’ Protection Act—federal law that allows state courts, within limits, to treat disposable military retired pay as property divisible in divorce.
More on Military divorce →
V
- Visitation (parenting time)
- The schedule of time a child spends with a parent (or sometimes another person). Modern discussion often uses “parenting time”; Virginia statutes still use custody and visitation language.
More on Child custody →
Also see all topics, court locator, and legal aid resources.