VIRGINIA

POSITIVES:

• Virginia statutes require a court to consider a “friendly parent” factor in determining a child’s best interest for custody purposes. VA. CODE ANN. § 20-124.3

• Recent legislative changes promoted by NPO explicitly permit joint legal or physical custody for final orders. VA. CODE ANN. § 20-124.3

• Virginia courts are required to “communicate to the parties the basis of the [custody] decision either orally or in writing.” VA. CODE ANN. § 20-124.3

NEGATIVES: 

• Virginia has no statutory preference for, or presumption of, shared parenting (joint legal custody and shared physical custody) for temporary or final orders.

• Virginia statute does not contain any policy statement or other language encouraging shared parenting. The statutory provision that a court “shall consider and may award joint legal, joint physical, or sole custody” does not specifically encourage courts to promote shared parenting.

POSITIVES:

• Virginia's PTA has an appropriate adjustment to reflect the fixed, duplicated costs involved in shared parenting.

• Virginia's PTA appropriately takes into account the effect of the PTA on both parents' households.

NEGATIVES: 

• Virginia's PTA has a very high threshold of 91 days.

• Virginia's PTA has a large discontinuity (or discontinuities), creating a large cliff effect or multiple cliff effects.

• Under certain circumstances, Virginia's PTA calculation can inappropriately result in a higher child support award than under sole custody.

• Virginia's PTA takes into account the effect on the payer parent's household only conditional on the recipient parent's income.

Highlights

In instances of divorce or separation:

• 97% of Virginians believe it is in children's best interest to have as much time as possible with each parent;

• 93% were "more likely to vote for a candidate who supports children spending equal or nearly equal time with each parent ...when both parents are fit and willing to be parents;"

• 92% of those in Virginia indicated they would support a change in Virginia law that awards children as much time as possible with each parent after divorce or separation;

• 82% believe that when there is conflict between parents, awarding sole custody to one parent increases conflict;

• 95% of Virginians believe that having equally or nearly equal time with both parents is either “extremely beneficial” or “very beneficial.”