QUESTION
My wife filed for a no fault divorce 2 years ago. She is now in jail facing felony charges. What happens at the divorce hearing if she is in jail?
Asked on Apr 30th, 2012 on Divorce - Virginia
More details to this question:
She left the marital home while I was away for a week, We have no property settlement agreement, and the custody and divorce preceedings have cost me around $30,000 so far. We have had 2 differnt trial dates for the divorce so far and have had to continue it twice because she was stalling. She has now been arrested and I am being told that I will have to hire her a GAL to represent her at the trial or it will most likely be continued again even though she is the one that filed the complaint for divorce. As of the last custody hearing in JDR court we have shared custody although I have them the majority of the time, and before she was arrested the GAL, assigned to the children, filed a Protection Order against her which is still in effect. The divorce and custody are going to be handled seperatly, so the only issue as of now is what do I have to do to get the divorce that my former spouse asked for?
1 ANSWER
1 Award
You are correct that because she is now considered a legally incapacitated person, she is entitled and you are required to have a Guardian ad Litem (GAL) appointed to protect her interests. If you have not already, you will need to file a Cross-Complaint for divorce, so that you can be the one to divorce her. You cannot move forward on her Complaint alone. If you are past the deadline to file a Cross-Complaint, you will need to seek leave of court to do so. The GAL will be given time to contact her and file a report with the court before you can proceed to a final hearing. How you will proceed will largely depend on what this report states and whether she is seeking anything from you in the divorce.
This answer is given in accordance with the laws of Virginia and may not be applicable in any other state. It should not be construed as legal advice, as that would require a more thorough analysis of all of the facts involved in a specific case.
Answered on Apr 30th, 2012 at 2:23 PM