Allison Anna Tait*
Once again this year, the Virginia courts and legislature have been occupied with a range of family law matters—from divorce, to custody, to support. Spousal support, in particular, has been much discussed in legislative chambers, as well as in courtrooms, and significant legislative changes will redesign how divorcing couples draft settlement agreements in the coming years. In other areas, there has been less activity and fewer results. Both the House of Delegates and the Senate of Virginia failed to move out of committee bills that would repeal “the statutory prohibitions on same-sex marriages and civil unions or other arrangements between persons of the same sex purporting to bestow the privileges and obligations of marriage.” Similarly stuck in committee was a bill to repeal the crime of adultery, and one to make “parenting and marriage terminology gender-neutral in the relevant law regarding adoption.”
* Associate Professor, University of Richmond School of Law. Thanks to the University of Richmond Law Review and Emily Palombo for inviting me to write this overview and to the staff for their excellent editorial work. Thanks also to Hayden-Anne Breedlove for her research assistance.