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I was informed on the 31st that my wife had decided to move out and had rented a house. There have been some issues for sometime but nothing I didn't think we could overcome with some help. Apparently I was wrong. We may try counseling during the separation but that remains to be seen.

Neither one of us has money for an extended proceeding and are trying to do the split as amicable as possible. That said, when do things need to be filed? Can we wait several months to complete a MSA and/or to file? I'm not sure what my next move should be. I don't want to hire a lawyer until/unless it's absolutely necessary. We have no kids and have agreed on who gets what, etc. No alimony, support, etc. either. So what do I do?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Write it up, make sure she agrees with it, and take the agreement to an attorney. The attorney will help you create documents and file things. It will probably run you a few hundred bucks.

So I should do this ASAP or does it matter to wait a period of time? Last night was the first night she spent in the other residence. So, assuming she doesn't come back home for a night or 2, that should be the start of the separation clock. She still has things to move so should this SA be filled out and filed immediately or like I said, can it wait a while?

Thanks.

That's something that you'll want to ask an attorney about. I'm in TX, so the intricacies of VA law are unknown to me. Call some attorneys. Tell them what you want to do, using their services, and ask them the best way to proceed.

Thanks, I will try that route too.

I am not sure about VA either, but a friend of mine recently had a divorce finalized (NC) and this is what her and her ex did. Before they separated they came up with a separation agreement went in half and half for the attorney to draw it up and had it filed with the courts. Since neither of them had any changes to make after their 1 year separation was up, they showed up to court for the divorce hearing, neither of them with an attorney and all the judge needed to hear was that they were still in agreement and still wanted a divorce. The total cost was $350.

If you can trust your ex enough to do something like this, it would be cheap and easy.

There is no legal separation in VA per se. Yes, you must be separated and live apart but you don't go to court with an agreement. The two of you can have an agreement drawn up and start living by what is laid out in that agreement since its a contract. However, until its merged into the Divorce Decree you will have to sue to get enforcement if the other party does not follow through.

This was sort of what I did. The ex and I came to an agreement and the attorneys fashioned it into a Marital Settlement Agreement (part of which was that we agreed to file on no fault grounds). We both signed it and had it notarized. We then were under contract to each other to carry out the terms. Then, my attorney drafted the Divorce Decree (which incorporated the MOU) which the ex's attorney reviewed. We then submitted the Memo of Understanding for the Marital Settlement along with the Decree for the Judge's review and signature. We reached and signed the agreement about a month before the Judge signed off on the Divorce Decree. Please note though that a Complaint for Divorce on fault grounds and an Answer/Cross Complaint had already been filed with the Circuit Court and we settled literally 2 days before the trial was to be held. Though, I would imagine that some of this would be the same for a no fault divorce filing. You just can't file I don't think until you have met the requirements for a no fault divorce.

Either way I'd recommend not having one attorney review the agreement for the both of you.

Thanks everyone. I spoke to an attorney today (yeah free consults) and he advised to have a property agreement in place to protect the things we agreed to do. Makes sense. So I will talk to the STBX and figure out how to proceed. He wants close t $400 to draw up that agreement. Seems high to me and I wonder if I can get the form online and fill it out ourselves, have it notarized and file it with the courts.

Like I said, we have agreed on everything and want to keep costs low as possible.

"Seems high to me"
It seems like 1-2 hours to me. How long do you expect it to take him to draft a document?

"He wants close t $400 to draw up that agreement. Seems high to me and I wonder if I can get the form online and fill it out ourselves, have it notarized and file it with the courts."

Take it. It's not high. They charged many more hours for that in a divorce case. This is not the time to count penny. To make you feel better, many spent average 20K to 50K for a divorce.