Jefferson County, West Virginia, Family Law Blog

Divorce is not the only option for unhappy couples in West Virginia who are ready to end their relationships. If you and your spouse want to separate but remain legally married, you have the option to do so. The act of separate maintenance has many benefits and can also simplify the divorce process should you later on decide that you are ready to end things for good. 

Separate maintenance is, in many ways, quite similar to divorce. This legal separation will have you living what is basically a divorced life while remaining legally married. You will still have to address many of the same issues, particularly if you plan to maintain separate residences. Common topics you should expect to handle include: 

• Child support and custody 
• Alimony 
• Asset division 
• Potential grandparents' rights 

Marriage can be an enjoyable prospect, enhancing the quality of your life and making your days better. It can also be a challenge. Added stressors like children, work schedules, household responsibilities, money and extended family can create difficulty in any marriage. But what about your commute time - does that affect your marriage?

An article on Forbes.com says yes. A study mentioned in this story suggests that a 45 minute or longer commute contributes to a higher possibility of divorce by 40%. This might not be true if you’ve been doing it for a long time (five years or longer) or were commuting before your relationship, but the study finds longer commutes do affect marriages.

Ending a marriage can be an overwhelming and difficult process, and some who have been through the experience in West Virginia come out the other side feeling as if they are done with marriage. With time these feelings often fade, and many go on to find new love after divorce. However, by the time people reach their second or even third marriages, they usually have more wealth to their name. Protecting that wealth before saying "I do" for the second time is important, so keep the following in mind.

Talking about money before tying the knot is essential. Soon-to-be-married couples should be sure to not only disclose their assets -- even their debts -- but should also discuss how they plan to handle their finances. Will separate property stay that way? How will joint finances be handled?

Most people are quite attached their property, and understandably so. Whether it is the perfect couch that one spent months shopping for or a favorite book that holds a great deal of sentimental value, a person's property often feels like an extension of him or herself. This can make dealing with property division during divorce -- an already emotionally-trying process -- incredibly difficult. However, understanding how the process works in West Virginia can help ease most people's worries.

Only marital assets get divided during a divorce. This means that a person's separate property -- including personal gifts and assets they accumulated before marriage -- will not be subject to property division. Marital property will then be split up according to equitable distribution, which is probably different than what most people expect.