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To obtain a divorce in Virginia, either you or your spouse must be a resident of Virginia for at least six months prior to filing for divorce. If there are no children from the marriage, you must be separated for a minimum of six months and have a written property settlement agreement before you may file for divorce. If there are children from the marriage, you must be separated a minimum of one year before you may file for divorce. In Virginia, you do not file a separation agreement with the court.
If you choose to represent yourself, you will be expected to follow the same procedures as an attorney. Please do not ask court personnel for legal advice or assistance. Court personnel are prohibited by state law to give you legal advice or assistance. You are strongly encouraged to hire an attorney.
There are several different steps in filing for divorce. There is a brochure available to assist you with the divorce procedure. The brochure provides detailed information, but does not provide specific forms.
The brochure is available at:
- In the Circuit Court Clerks Office:
- Fairfax Circuit Court
Civil Intake Section
4110 Chain Bridge Road, 3rd floor
Fairfax, VA 22030- By mail request:
- Submit a written request and a self addressed stamped envelope with three (3) stamps on it to the above address
- To view and/or download:
The Divorce Complaint is filed in the Circuit Court, Civil Intake Division, along with the following:
- VS-4 State Statistical Form (available from the Civil Intake Division
- Divorce Case Coversheet (available from the Civil Intake Division
- Filing Fees - (See Civil Fee Schedule)
- Filing Fee - fee required to file a Divorce Complaint
- Service Fee
- If the Defendant resides in Virginia and you wish to serve them through the Sheriff (See Civil Fee Schedule for Sheriff Service Fee)
- If the Defendant does not reside in the State of Virginia, you must make arrangements to have the documents served.
- If the defendant is willing to accept service of the documents, you may have the documents mailed to you; or the defendant may come to the Circuit Court Civil Intake Division to sign the documents and accept service.
- Resume Maiden Name Fee - (See Civil Fee Schedule)
Note: All fees are payable to the Clerk of the Circuit Court by case, cashiers check or money order. Personal checks are not accepted.
For more information, or for answers to specific questions, we suggest you review the brochure and contact a lawyer. If you need a lawyer, please contact the Fairfax County Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service at 703-246-3780.
If you would like to do research on this topic, you may utilize the Law Library located on the 1st floor of the Judicial Center (same building as the Circuit Court); the hours of operation are 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. If these hours are not convenient, you may visit the reference librarian at a regional library.
Forms
Addendum for Protected Identifying Information - Confidential - State Form CC-1426 (fillable PDF)
Ore Tenus
Note: In order to view PDF files, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. To obtain a free copy, follow this link: