Women's Rights in Virginia Law

League of Women Voters^®
of Virginia

Women's Rights in Virginia Law

Public Policy Position

WOMEN'S RIGHTS IN VIRGINIA LAW
The League of Women Voters of Virginia believes that marriage is a partnership, that the principles of fairness, equity, and equality should govern the legal rights and responsibilities of each partner in a marriage. To carry out the concept that marriage should be given legal recognition as an equal partnership, we believe that all contributions to a marriage should be recognized, non-monetary as well as monetary.
Until such time as the principle of equally shared marital property is obtained in Virginia Law, we believe that:

In case of death, if one spouse dies without a will, the surviving spouse should inherit all the property.
If a spouse renounces a will, statutes regarding augmented estate should provide for the share of the surviving spouse to be at least one-half

In divorce:

Marital property should be defined as all real and personal property excluding all real and personal property acquired before marriage, all property acquired during the marriage through inheritance and/or gifts from someone (other than the other party), and property exchanged for separate property if it has been retained as separate property and not commingled.
Fault should not enter into the court's division of marital property.
Prenuptial contracts that fulfill all requirements of contract law should be recognized as valid. (1980 & 1983)

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