Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Divorce Attorneys Loudoun Virginia Alimony Settlement Agreement
If you are dealing with a divorce in Virginia or
about to go through a divorce in Virginia, contact us for help.
We have client meeting locations in Fairfax
Prince William Richmond Loudoun Virginia Beach Fredericksburg Lynchburg.
Contact our law firm today to speak with a
lawyer today about your Divorce Case. An
attorney from our firm will do his best to help you.
We will do our absolute best to help you get the
best result possible based on the facts of your case. Our law firm has the necessary experience to
assist you with this matter.
Waugh v. Waugh
Facts:
A husband was obligated to pay alimony to his wife under
a settlement agreement that was incorporated in a decree of divorce a mensa et
thoro in Loudoun. He subsequently filed a bill of complaint that sought a
divorce a vinculo matrimonii because of the wife's adultery and to set aside
the prior decree's alimony provisions on the grounds of fraud, coercion, and
duress. The trial court sustained the wife's demurrer to the bill and dismissed
the suit. On appeal, the court reversed and remanded. Because the decree a
mensa et thoro granted a legal separation but did not sever the marital bond,
it was not a final adjudication of support rights and the trial court had
jurisdiction to modify the decree's alimony provisions to meet changed
conditions, including the power to revoke the provisions if subsequent to the
decree the wife forfeited her right to support through misconduct. The first
decree, which was entered on the ground of the husband's desertion, barred a
later divorce suit on the ground of adultery. The husband was estopped from
avoiding the agreement's property settlement provisions because he had not
acted promptly and could not escape the agreement's burdens but keep its
benefits.
If you are facing a Divorce case in Virginia, contact a
SRIS Law Group lawyer for help. You can
reach us at 888-437-7747
Holdings:
The
Virginia Court made the following holding:
- In exercising its
jurisdiction in a suit for divorce a mensa et thoro the court is not exercising
a jurisdiction to dissolve a marriage, but a jurisdiction to regulate
during the continuation of the marital status the rights and duties of the
parties arising from the marital status. Upon reason, principle, and
authority, under the common law the continuing status of husband and wife,
out of which arises a continuing duty of the husband to support his wife,
prevents the decree for alimony upon a divorce a mensa et thoro from being
a final adjudication of the right of the wife to support under conditions
arising subsequent to the decree; and gives to the court a continuing
jurisdiction over the amount of future installments of alimony to be paid,
the power to change or modify its decree with reference thereto for causes
arising subsequent to the entry of such decree, and the power, in a proper
case, to make operative the wife's forfeiture of her right to support by
her misconduct subsequent to the entry of the decree by revoking its
decree in so far as it requires the payment to her of future installments
of alimony.
If
you are dealing with a divorce in Virginia or about to go through a divorce in
Virginia, contact us for help.
We have client meeting
locations in Fairfax Prince William Richmond Loudoun Virginia Beach
Fredericksburg Lynchburg.
Contact our law firm today to
speak with a lawyer today about your Divorce Case. An attorney from our firm will do his best to
help you.
We will do our absolute best
to help you get the best result possible based on the facts of your case. Our
law firm has the necessary experience to assist you with this matter.
Disclaimer:
