What is considered adultery under Virginia law?
Under Virginia law, adultery is voluntary sexual intercourse with someone other than your spouse. While emotional relationships can be just as harmful as physical ones, affairs that are solely emotional in nature, without more, are insufficient to be considered adultery.
What is Adultery:
- Voluntary oral, anal, or vaginal intercourse with someone who is not your spouse
What is not Adultery:
- Being friends with someone
- Confiding personal information
- Turning to someone else in vulnerable moments
- Sexting
Signs Your Spouse Could Be Cheating:
- They accuse you of cheating
- They have become more judgmental towards you and your marriage than they used to be
- They have changed their appearance for the better or are dressing up or wearing makeup more often than they used to
- They are talking to you less than usual
- Intimacy has decreased
- They guard their phone
- They continually like and/or comment on the same person’s posts and pictures on social media
- Unexplained charges on credit or debit cards
- Encouraging you to spend more of your free time with others
- Encouraging you to go away on trips to see friends or family alone
- Their friends behave differently towards you
- Changes in routine
- They have cheated in the past
If you think your spouse may be cheating or if you have proof that they have, you must be aware of the statute of limitations to bring a fault-based divorce on adultery in Virginia. A statute of limitations sets the maximum amount of time that parties involved in a dispute have to initiate a legal proceeding from the date of an alleged offense. In Virginia, adultery has a five-year statute of limitations from the date of the act as a divorce ground.
The applicable statute of limitations, the burden of proof required for an adultery-based divorce, and the potential defenses an accused spouse may raise are all reasons that you should consult the experienced attorneys at Coastal Atlantic Law about your adultery-based divorce.
What to Expect When You Meet with Us
At Coastal Atlantic Law, we have the attention to detail and tenacity that it takes to prove divorce based on fault grounds. We devote the utmost attention and care to our clients, and we want to do the same for you.
When you meet with us, we will:
- Outline the costs and benefits associated with legal action, the various approaches to reach your goals, and what you can expect if you hire our team
- Discuss the law generally and then move into how the law applies based on the facts and circumstances unique to your case and family
- Review documents, if applicable
- Work to develop a strategy based on your personal goals
Schedule a Consultation Today
We serve clients in Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Hampton, New Port News, and the surrounding areas.
