Same-Sex Divorce Attorney in Virginia Beach
Nearly Two Decades of Experience Protecting Your Family & Financial Interests
Virginia law applies the same divorce procedures and standards to same-sex marriages as to any other marriage. At B. Clay Chick PLC, we represent same-sex couples in Virginia Beach navigating divorce, property division, support, and custody. Same-sex marriage has been legally recognized in Virginia since October 2014 and nationwide since the Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges decision in June 2015. Your rights under Virginia family law are established.
If you’re considering divorce and want to understand your options, call our firm at (757) 697-5331. We can walk through your situation and build a clear path forward.
What Clay Chick Brings to Your Case
Clay Chick has nearly two decades of legal experience, including a litigation background that shapes how he approaches every matter. He takes the time to understand each client’s goals before recommending a strategy, cutting through the complications that can make divorce feel overwhelming. Clients working with B. Clay Chick PLC receive personal attention and a steady, solutions-focused approach from start to finish.
What sets this firm apart is Clay’s ability to identify solutions others may overlook. For same-sex couples, that often means spotting the legal tangles that arise when a relationship predates the law’s recognition of it and building a strategy around them before they can catch you off guard.
Property Division & Spousal Support When Your Relationship Predates Legal Recognition
Virginia is an equitable distribution state. Courts divide marital property and debts fairly based on a range of factors, and the length of the marriage is one of them. “Length of marriage” runs from the date of the legal marriage to the date of separation, not from when a couple first got together.
For same-sex couples who built a life together before Virginia or federal law recognized their union, this creates real complexity. Assets accumulated during years of cohabitation before a legal ceremony may not qualify as marital property in the way a long-married opposite-sex couple’s assets would. Spousal support calculations face the same issue. Identifying which property and financial contributions may be treated as marital, and framing that argument persuasively, is exactly the kind of problem Clay approaches with a litigation mindset and attention to detail.
Parental Rights for Non-Biological Parents
Virginia courts resolve all custody and visitation disputes using the best interests of the child standard, without regard to the sex or gender of the parents. That said, a non-biological parent’s legal standing isn’t always automatic.
Whether a court recognizes a non-biological parent’s custody or visitation rights can depend on whether the couple was legally married when the child was born, whether the child was conceived through assisted reproduction, and whether formal adoption occurred. If a child arrived before the couple’s marriage was legally recognized, additional steps may be needed to establish and protect that parent’s relationship with the child. B. Clay Chick PLC also assists clients with adoption and parental rights matters, so we can address those issues within the same representation when they arise.
Talk to a Same-Sex Divorce Lawyer in Virginia Beach
Same-sex divorce follows the same legal framework as any other divorce in Virginia, but your case may involve layers that a general approach won’t resolve cleanly. Clay Chick works to identify the specific issues in your situation and address them directly.
Contact B. Clay Chick PLC at (757) 697-5331 to schedule a consultation with a same sex divorce attorney in Virginia Beach.
