Monday, April 23, 2018

Relevant Changes in Virginia Law - 2018 Edition

As always, before reading this post, please review my disclaimer by clicking on the link above or by clicking on this link.  As always, any legal principles discussed apply only to the Commonwealth of Virginia.

[UPDATE:  Some information in this blog post is no longer accurate due to subsequent changes in the law.  Please see my changes in the law blog posts for 2019 and 2020 for more information.]

Introduction

As I have done every April since I began this blog, today I will be giving a summary of new laws that impact or influence topics covered by this blog - particularly those that may impact posts I have previously made here.  This year it turns out had a pretty heavy dose of family law changes that relate to past blog posts - so I will cover those here.  There was also one big change to Landlord/Tenant Law that I also need to cover.  So, with that, here we go.

All laws listed here are effective as of July 1, 2018.

All Residential Leases the Same

Last year, I made a big deal about a law that made the VRLTA apply to almost all residential leases, and that greatly reduced the number of differences between VRLTA and common law/Chapter 13 leases.  Well, this year, the final act has come.  HB 857 passed and signed into law this year eliminates all remaining differences between the VRLTA and common law/Chapter 13 leases, such that all residential leases are now governed under effectively the same terms, whether under the VRLTA or not.  Perhaps most importantly - this includes the VRLTA's provision prohibiting lease provisions that waive any rights under the law.

Retirement a Material Change in Circumstances

Back in 2014, I put together a post about the dangers of retiring if you owe spousal support, and the tendency of courts to consider that a voluntary action such that spousal support will not get modified.  This year, SB 540 is changing that.  Under the new law, the payor of spousal support reaching full retirement age, as described by the federal Social Security Act, is automatically to be considered a material change in circumstances, and instead of outright dismissing motions to modify spousal support due to retirement, the Code now requires the Court to consider a new set of statutory factors when making this decision.  As a result, being an indefinite spousal support payor should no longer mean you never get to retire.

Agreed Spousal Support is Modifiable by Default

In 2016, I did a post listing the five biggest mistakes I see people make in their divorces when not represented by an attorney, and number one on that list was signing a Separation Agreement/Property Settlement Agreement that sets spousal support, but does not say if or how the support is modified.  Under current law, spousal support set by an agreement is only modifiable in the way described in the agreement, and if no way is described, the support can never be modified.  SB 614 will now flip that around.  For all Separation Agreements/Property Settlement Agreements entered into after July 1, 2018, spousal support in said agreement will, by default, be modifiable in the exact same way as if the Court had set that spousal support, unless specific language is included in the agreement making the spousal support non-modifiable (the language required to be used can be found in the new law).  This new law will provide substantial relief for people who try to do their divorce themselves, but don't think about every eventuality the way that a lawyer would.

Background Checks for Step-parent Adoptions

One of my favorite practices that I conduct is adoptions, and amongst my favorites types of adoption cases are step-parent adoptions.  In a step-parent adoption, the spouse of a child's parent decides that he or she is ready to have that child not just be "like" their own child, but actually be their own child, and legally adopts the child.  I did a blog post on step-parent adoptions back in March, 2014.  Unfortunately, however, as with many areas of law, some people use this process to abuse the system.  In recent years, several cases have arisen where convicted sex offenders or other criminals who would not be eligible to adopt a child have gotten around that prohibition by marrying a child's parent and using the permissive and largely passive step-parent adoption process to adopt the child.  Several cases, unfortunately, ended with the step-parent, now legally the child's parent, divorcing the parent, getting court ordered custody or visitation of the child, and abusing the child while in his or her care.  HB 227 will look to solve this problem.  This new law, effective July 1, 2018, authorizes step-parents pursuing a step-parent adoption to receive a formal criminal background check on themselves from the Virginia State Police, and then requires that step-parent to submit the background check to the court for review prior to the granting of a step-parent adoption.  It is sad that the General Assembly felt this step necessary, as this will now prolong and increasingly complicate the step-parent adoption process that had previously been intentionally simple, but unfortunately the lengths to which some abusers go to find victims has made some kind of reform necessary.  That being said, the General Assembly recognized the impact this may have on the process, and so the law is only experimental.  Unless a new law is passed extending it, HB 227 will expire on July 1, 2020.

Mixed Custody Child Support

In 2014, I did a post laying out how child support is calculated, and then I listed a series of complications.  Complication 4 in that post was when children have varying custody arrangements (sole vs. split vs. shared).  At the time, I noted that the Code was silent as to how these child support calculations were to be done, and instead you should try a few different approaches and come to court with the one that comes out best for you while prepared to argue why that's the right approach to take.  HB 1361 has now changed this.  The law now specifically addresses how to deal with cases where kids with shared custody have differing numbers of days with each parent, how to do the calculation when at least one kid is in a sole custody arrangement and at least another is in a shared custody arrangement, and when at least two kids are in a split custody arrangement and at least another is in a shared custody arrangement.  The new calculations are very complicated, but it is now one less area to potentially fight over in court.

Conclusion

While impossible to convey in a single post like this, the family law changes listed herein are, to some degree, game-changers in the field.  I'm very excited to integrate these new laws into my practice.

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