An Arlington divorce is filed in the Arlington Circuit Court at 1425 North Courthouse Road, and Virginia requires that one spouse has been an actual bona fide resident and domiciliary of the Commonwealth for at least six months before the suit is filed. A no-fault divorce becomes available after the spouses have lived separate and apart, without cohabitation and without interruption, for one year — or six months where there is a signed separation agreement and no minor children. Randall J. Borden has practiced Virginia family law for over thirty years and represents Arlington clients personally at every stage.
Arlington divorces look different from suburban ones. Households are often two high earners in a condo rather than a family in a single-family home, marriages are frequently shorter, and a large share of clients work in foreign service, international organizations, consulting or federal agencies. Each of those facts changes the analysis.
The Arlington Circuit Court
Divorce suits in Arlington County are heard in the Arlington Circuit Court, part of Virginia's 17th Judicial Circuit, at 1425 North Courthouse Road, Arlington, VA 22201. Custody, visitation and support petitions brought outside a divorce suit are generally heard in the Arlington County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court.
Neighborhoods we serve across Arlington
We represent clients throughout Arlington County, including Rosslyn, Clarendon, Ballston and Pentagon City. These are dense, transit-oriented neighborhoods where the marital estate is more often a condominium, equity compensation and retirement accounts than a house and a yard — and where one or both spouses may be posted abroad during the marriage.
Arlington also produces a steady stream of modification cases rather than fresh divorces. Careers here move quickly, postings change, and incomes can shift substantially within a year or two of a final decree. Virginia allows custody and support orders to be revisited on a material change in circumstances, and a decree that fitted your life at signing may not fit it now. See custody and support modification.
Shorter marriages and the six-month route
Arlington sees a higher proportion of marriages that end within a few years and without children. That matters, because Virginia shortens the no-fault separation period from one year to six months where the parties have entered into a separation agreement and there are no minor children of the marriage.
In practice this means the agreement is the critical path. If the two of you can negotiate terms and sign a property settlement agreement, you may halve the waiting period. If you cannot, you wait a year regardless of how amicable things feel. That single fact is often the strongest argument for taking negotiation seriously early.
International and overseas complications
A significant share of Arlington households hold assets or have worked outside the United States. Foreign accounts, overseas pensions, property purchased during a posting abroad and non-US retirement plans are all still relevant to a Virginia divorce, and a spouse cannot place assets beyond the court's consideration simply by holding them offshore.
We have written about how these issues are handled: see how Virginia courts handle overseas assets in divorce and asset tracing during divorce. Valuation and enforcement across borders are genuinely difficult, and they reward early, deliberate work rather than a scramble before trial.
What we handle for Arlington clients
- Divorce, both uncontested and contested
- High-asset divorce, equity compensation and cross-border assets
- Property division and equitable distribution
- Spousal support
- Child custody and child support
- Prenuptial agreements
- Custody and support modifications
- Family law mediation
- Annulment
Dividing a condominium
A condo is harder to divide than a house in one respect: there is less room to trade. With a single-family home there is often equity large enough to offset against a retirement account. With an Arlington condo bought recently at a high price, equity may be thin, the monthly carrying cost high, and the realistic options narrow to selling or one spouse refinancing alone.
Virginia divides marital property equitably rather than equally, taking into account each spouse's monetary and non-monetary contributions, the duration of the marriage and how the property was acquired. Where one spouse used premarital savings for the down payment, that contribution can matter — but only if it can be traced. Documentation of the source of the deposit is worth locating early.
Arlington divorce questions
We have no children and we agree. Can we divorce in six months?
Yes, if you sign a separation agreement and there are no minor children of the marriage. Both conditions must be met. Without a signed agreement the period is a full year even in a completely amicable case.
I work at an embassy or international organization. Does that affect my divorce?
It can affect service, income characterization and the treatment of a non-US pension, and in some cases immunity questions arise. None of these are ordinarily barriers, but they should be identified before filing rather than discovered mid-case.
My spouse has accounts overseas. Are they out of reach?
No. Foreign assets are still part of the marital estate analysis. There are practical difficulties in valuing and enforcing against them, but concealment carries consequences, and Virginia courts can account for assets a spouse has hidden or dissipated.
Can I file in Arlington if we married in another country?
Generally yes. Where you married does not determine where you can divorce. What matters is that one spouse meets Virginia's six-month residency and domicile requirement.
Does a prenuptial agreement settle everything?
A valid prenuptial agreement can resolve property and support questions, but it cannot bind a court on child custody or child support. Its enforceability depends on how it was executed and disclosed.
Is mediation realistic for a contested case?
Sometimes. Mediation works where both spouses will disclose finances honestly. It is not appropriate where assets are being hidden or where there is a history of abuse.
Support when both spouses earn well
Many Arlington marriages involve two substantial incomes, and clients often assume that means no spousal support either way. That is frequently the outcome, but it is not automatic. Virginia decides spousal support by weighing statutory factors — among them the duration of the marriage, the standard of living established during it, the contributions each spouse made, and the earning capacity of each — rather than by applying a formula.
Two situations produce support awards in otherwise symmetrical marriages. The first is where one spouse's earning capacity was reduced by the marriage: a career interrupted for a partner's overseas posting is a common Arlington example, and Virginia's factors take express account of contributions and sacrifices of that kind. The second is where the incomes are both high but very unequal, and the marriage was long enough that the lower earner has a reasonable claim to something closer to the marital standard of living.
Where support genuinely is not warranted, the useful step is to say so clearly in a written agreement, with the termination terms spelled out. Ambiguity about when and whether support ends is one of the most common and most expensive drafting failures we see, and it surfaces years later when circumstances change.
One attorney throughout
Randall J. Borden is a University of Virginia School of Law graduate, admitted in Virginia and Maryland, practicing from his Fairfax office since 1995. Arlington clients work with him directly — no associate hand-offs.
Speak with an Arlington divorce attorney
Call 703-385-8722 or contact the office. See also our Northern Virginia divorce attorney overview and our pages for Fairfax, Loudoun County, Woodbridge and Alexandria.