Here are some helpful resources for co parenting in Virginia:
Virginia Courts
Virginia State Bar, Children and Divorce: Practical guidelines based on the many years of experience of judges, divorce attorneys and the counseling profession.
Virginia Judicial System Information
How is Child Custody determined in Virginia? The types of child custody in Virginia and how custody is determined
District Courts in Virginia for Juvenile and Domestic Relations
Virginia Judicial System – Parental Education
Lynchburg Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court: Custody, Visitation and Support
Child Support Information
Virginia Department of Social Services
Virginia’s children need both financial and family support to grow and thrive. Children with actively involved parents perform better in school, have high self-confidence and generally achieve greater success in life.
Child Support in Virginia: Everything You Need to Know: Parents should always educate themselves about the child support process before making any lasting decisions in their case.
Child Support Guidelines for Virginia: Guidelines for determination of child support; quadrennial review by Child Support Guidelines Review Panel; executive summary
Virginia Department of Social Services Parent & Guardian Resources
Mediating Child Support: A Resource for Attorneys and Mediators in Virginia (pdf)
Applying for Child Support Services through Virginia Department of Social Services
My Child Support: Virginia child support payments.
Virginia Department of Social Services (DCSE) General resource for most child support questions and information. You can also apply for child support without a lawyer on this page.
General Questions About DCSE Services – Answers to some of the most common questions Virginia residents have about the DCSE and its services.
Virginia Child Support Guidelines Worksheet [PDF] – Official form for calculating child support obligations in Virginia.
Virginia Legal Aid – Additional free resources to help you understand your child support obligations
Virginia Code § 20-108.1 – The Virginia Code section for determining child support obligations.
Virginia Code § 20-108.2 – Virginia’s child support guidelines, including a basic breakdown of monthly child support obligations (i.e. this is the section most “child support calculators” are based on).
Information on Co Parenting in Virginia
Virginia Child Custody Questions: How custody is determined depends on the best interest of the children. The judge is required to consider a list of many factors, including the ability of each parent to cooperate in and resolve disputes regarding matters affecting the child.
Shared Parenting? A Change in Virginia’s Laws: In a law that took effect July 1, 2018, the Commonwealth of Virginia made it so that courts must routinely consider co parenting (shared parenting) as well as sole custody in almost every case. Neither arrangement may be presumed to be better than the other.
Virginia Collaborative Professionals: When it comes to the best interests of your children, both you and your spouse deserve to come to amicable resolutions in a calm, supportive and understanding environment.
Co Parenting in Virginia: If you are facing a custody or visitation case in Virginia, it is especially important that you maintain and strengthen your co-parenting skills. Doing so will benefit your children, and can also help you in court.
7 Tips for Co-Parenting After Divorce in Virginia: If you recently got divorced and you and your ex-spouse share parenting responsibilities, you may have found that it isn’t always easy…
Tips for Successful Co Parenting: Co parenting is never easy. It takes effort from both parents—sometimes a lot of it. Just remember you and the other parent have at least one thing in common – the love you share for your child.
When parents split, new Virginia law will make it easier to get joint custody: A bill signed in 2018 by Gov. Ralph Northam requires courts to consider both sole and joint custody in divorce cases. For people who co-parent – and to advocates who campaigned for this change – it means both parents will be treated equally.
Parental Alienation Awareness Website: Hostile Aggressive Parenting is a group of behaviors that are damaging to children’s mental and emotional well-being, and can interfere with a relationship of a child and either parent. These behaviors most often accompany high conflict marriages, separation or divorce.
Virginia Child Custody Tip: The Importance of Co-parenting: How parents communicate is often an important factor for a Judge who is considering child custody or visitation issues.
In the Best Interest of the Child: What Parents Can Do Parent Involvement for Noncustodial Parents (pdf)
‘Parallel parenting’ in shared child custody arrangements: Through parallel parenting, parents will make major decisions regarding the child’s life together but will let each other parent their own way on a day-to-day basis with little interference…When incorporating parallel parenting in a child custody arrangement, the “rules” must be laid out in their child custody order.
SCAN of Northern Virginia: SCAN’s vision is a community where every child has the opportunity to grow up in a safe, stable, nurturing family, with the support needed to thrive today and contribute to stronger communities tomorrow.
