Title 20, Domestic Relations

Proceedings under this chapter may be instituted upon petition, verified by oath or affirmation, filed by a child, a parent, a person claiming parentage, a person standing in loco parentis to the child or having legal custody of the child or a representative of the Department of …

A. In the trial of any matter in any court in which the question of parentage arises, the court, upon its own motion or upon motion of either party, may and, in cases in which child support is in issue, shall direct and order that the alleged parents and the child submit to scien…

The standard of proof in any action to establish parentage shall be by clear and convincing evidence. Any statements made by a parent in a proceeding held pursuant to this chapter shall be inadmissible in a subsequent criminal proceeding relating to the conception of a child, exc…

Whenever in any legal proceedings a man voluntarily testifies under oath or affirmation that he is the father of a child whose parents are not married, or are not married to each other, the court may require that he complete an acknowledgment of paternity on a form provided by th…

In any proceeding to establish or enforce an obligation for support and maintenance of a child of unwed parents, a male between the ages of fourteen and eighteen who is represented by a guardian ad litem pursuant to § 8.01-9 and who has not otherwise been emancipated shall not be…

An action brought under this chapter is a civil action. The natural parent and the alleged parent are competent to testify. Testimony of a physician concerning the medical circumstances of the pregnancy and the condition and characteristics of the child upon birth shall not be pr…

A. As used in this section, "pregnancy and delivery expenses" means an amount equal to the sum of a pregnant mother's reasonable and necessary medical costs, minus any portion of such sum that a court determines is equitable based on the totality of the circumstances. Any amount …

The provisions of this chapter shall apply to and govern all cases arising under Title 16.1 and this title in which child or spousal support is at issue in any court of the Commonwealth, unless specifically excepted.

Copies of support payment records maintained by the Department of Social Services, when certified over the signature of a designated employee of such entity, shall be considered to be satisfactorily identified and shall be admitted in any proceeding as prima facie evidence of suc…

All orders directing the payment of spousal support where there are minor children whom the parties have a mutual duty to support and all orders directing the payment of child support, including those orders confirming separation agreements, entered on or after October 1, 1985, w…

The transmission of data between the courts and the Department of Social Services shall be accomplished by electronic data transmission or by transmission of notices, abstracts of orders and other documents. The form and content of such transmissions shall be mutually approved by…

A. 1. Unless otherwise directed by the Committee on District Courts, in all cases in which payment of a support obligation arising under an order or decree entered prior to October 1, 1985, is made by the obligor through the office of a clerk of court, the clerk shall notify the …

In any subsequent child support enforcement proceeding between the parties, upon sufficient showing that diligent effort was made to ascertain the location of a party, that party may be served with any required notice by delivery of the written notice to that party's residential …

In this chapter: "Child" means an individual, whether over or under the age of majority, who is or is alleged to be owed a duty of support by the individual's parent or who is or is alleged to be the beneficiary of a support order directed to the parent. "Child support order" mea…

In applying and construing this Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, consideration shall be given to the need to promote uniformity of the law with respect to its subject matter among states that enact it.

A. The juvenile and domestic relations district courts, circuit courts, and the Department of Social Services are the tribunals of the Commonwealth. B. The Department of Social Services is the support enforcement agency of the Commonwealth.

A. Remedies provided by this chapter are cumulative and do not affect the availability of remedies under other law or the recognition of a foreign support order on the basis of comity. B. This chapter does not provide the exclusive method of establishing or enforcing a support or…

A. A tribunal of the Commonwealth shall apply Articles 1 through 9 (§ 20-88.32 et seq.) and, as applicable, Article 13 (§ 20-88.83 et seq.) to a support proceeding involving a foreign support order, a foreign tribunal, or an obligee, obligor, or child residing in a foreign countr…

In a proceeding to establish or enforce a support order or to determine parentage of a child, a tribunal of the Commonwealth may exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident individual or the individual's guardian or conservator if: 1. The individual is personally served wit…

Personal jurisdiction acquired by a tribunal of the Commonwealth in a proceeding under this chapter or other law of the Commonwealth relating to a support order continues as long as a tribunal of the Commonwealth has continuing, exclusive jurisdiction to modify its order or conti…

Under this chapter, a tribunal of the Commonwealth may serve as an initiating tribunal to forward proceedings to a tribunal of another state and as a responding tribunal for proceedings initiated in another state or a foreign country.

A. A tribunal of the Commonwealth may exercise jurisdiction to establish a support order if the petition or comparable pleading is filed after a pleading is filed in another state or foreign country only if: 1. The petition or comparable pleading in the Commonwealth is filed befo…

A. A tribunal of the Commonwealth that has issued a child support order consistent with the law of the Commonwealth has and shall exercise continuing, exclusive jurisdiction to modify its child support order if the order is the controlling order, and: 1. At the time of the filing…

A. A tribunal of the Commonwealth that has issued a child support order consistent with the law of the Commonwealth may serve as an initiating tribunal to request a tribunal of another state to enforce: 1. The order if the order is the controlling order and has not been modified …

A. If a proceeding is brought under this chapter and only one tribunal has issued a child support order, the order of that tribunal controls and shall be so recognized. B. If a proceeding is brought under this chapter, and two or more child support orders have been issued by trib…

In responding to registrations or petitions for enforcement of two or more child support orders in effect at the same time with regard to the same obligor and different individual obligees, at least one of which was issued by a tribunal of another state or a foreign country, a tr…

A tribunal of the Commonwealth shall credit amounts collected for a particular period pursuant to any child support order against the amounts owed for the same period under any other child support order for support of the same child issued by a tribunal of this or another state o…

A tribunal of the Commonwealth exercising personal jurisdiction over a nonresident in a proceeding under this chapter, under other law of the Commonwealth relating to a support order, or recognizing a foreign support order may receive evidence from outside the Commonwealth pursua…

A. A court of the Commonwealth issuing a spousal support order consistent with the law of the Commonwealth has continuing, exclusive jurisdiction to modify the spousal support order throughout the existence of the support obligation. B. A court of the Commonwealth may not modify …

A. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, this article applies to all proceedings under this chapter. B. An individual or a support enforcement agency may initiate a proceeding authorized under this chapter by filing a petition in an initiating tribunal for forwarding to a…

A minor parent, or a guardian or other legal representative of a minor parent, may maintain a proceeding on behalf of or for the benefit of the minor's child.

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, a responding tribunal of the Commonwealth shall apply the procedural and substantive law generally applicable to similar proceedings originating in the Commonwealth and may exercise all powers and provide all remedies available in tho…

A. Upon the filing of a petition authorized by this chapter, an initiating tribunal of the Commonwealth shall forward the petition and its accompanying documents (i) to the responding tribunal or appropriate support enforcement agency in the responding state or, (ii) if the ident…

A. When a responding tribunal of the Commonwealth receives a petition or comparable pleading from an initiating tribunal or directly pursuant to subsection B of § 20-88.44, it shall cause the petition or pleading to be filed and notify the petitioner where and when it was filed. …

If a petition or comparable pleading is received by an inappropriate tribunal of this Commonwealth, it shall forward the pleading and accompanying documents to an appropriate tribunal in this Commonwealth or another state, and notify the petitioner where and when the pleading was…

A. A support enforcement agency of the Commonwealth, upon request, shall provide services to a petitioner in a proceeding under this chapter. B. In a proceeding under this chapter, a support enforcement agency of the Commonwealth that is providing services to the petitioner shall…

A. If the Secretary of Health and Human Resources determines that the support enforcement agency is neglecting or refusing to provide services to an individual, he may order the agency to perform its duties under this chapter or may provide those services directly to the individu…

An individual may employ private counsel to represent the individual in proceedings authorized by this chapter.

A. The Department of Social Services is the state information agency under this chapter. B. The state information agency shall: 1. Compile and maintain a current list, including addresses, of the tribunals in the Commonwealth that have jurisdiction under this chapter and any supp…

A. In a proceeding under this chapter, a petitioner seeking to establish a support order, to determine parentage of a child, or to register and modify a support order of a tribunal of another state or a foreign country shall file a petition. Unless otherwise ordered under § 20-88…

Upon a finding, which may be made ex parte, that the health, safety, or liberty of a party or child would be unreasonably put at risk by the disclosure of identifying information, or if an existing order so provides, a tribunal shall order that the address of the child or party o…

A. The petitioner may not be required to pay a filing fee or other costs. B. If an obligee prevails, a responding tribunal of the Commonwealth may assess against an obligor filing fees, reasonable attorney's fees, other costs, and necessary travel and other reasonable expenses in…

A. Participation by a petitioner in a proceeding under this chapter before a responding tribunal, whether in person, by private attorney, or through services provided by the support enforcement agency, does not confer personal jurisdiction over the petitioner in another proceedin…

A party whose parentage of a child has been previously determined by or pursuant to law may not plead nonparentage as a defense to a proceeding under this chapter.

A. The physical presence of a nonresident party who is an individual in a tribunal of the Commonwealth is not required for the establishment, enforcement, or modification of a support order or the rendition of a judgment determining parentage of a child. B. An affidavit, a docume…

A tribunal of the Commonwealth may communicate with a tribunal outside the Commonwealth in a record, or by telephone, electronic mail, or other means, to obtain information concerning the laws, the legal effect of a judgment, decree, or order of that tribunal; and the status of a…