Virginia Child Custody Agreement
Agreeing in Virginia does not tilt the standard in your favor, but it does change what the judge has to write down.
Find out where you stand in Virginia
Where are you with the custody arrangement?
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Introduction
Virginia decides custody under Va. Code 20-124.2 and 20-124.3, and reaching an agreement does not change the test. Section 20-124.2(B) is emphatic that the court shall consider and may award joint legal, joint physical, or sole custody, that there shall be no presumption in favor of any form of custody, and that as between the parents there shall be no presumption or inference of law in favor of either. What agreeing changes is what the judge is required to write. Section 20-124.3 directs the judge to communicate the basis of the decision to the parties and, in that communication, to set forth findings on the relevant best interest factors, except in cases of consent orders for custody and visitation. A Virginia consent order is therefore the one route to a custody order that does not come with a factor by factor explanation attached. The standard is identical either way; the process is materially shorter. Virginia also has no parenting plan statute, so what you are drafting is the text of a proposed consent order rather than a plan on a prescribed form.
Key Things to Know
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In Virginia, agreeing buys process rather than deference. Va. Code 20-124.3 requires the judge to set out findings on the relevant best interest factors when communicating the basis of a custody decision, but it carves out consent orders in terms: except in cases of consent orders for custody and visitation, that communication shall set forth the judge's findings regarding the relevant factors. No Virginia provision gives an agreement a presumption, directs a court to adopt agreed terms, or excludes parental terms from any binding agreement rule.
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Nothing in Virginia law tilts toward a particular arrangement. Va. Code 20-124.2(B) provides that the court shall consider and may award joint legal, joint physical, or sole custody, and that there shall be no presumption in favor of any form of custody. The same subsection adds that as between the parents, there shall be no presumption or inference of law in favor of either. Your agreement is judged against the same standard a contested case gets.
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The agreement is not a custody order until a Virginia court enters it as one. Va. Code 20-124.2(B) requires the court to give primary consideration to the best interests of the child in determining custody, and no provision in the chapter binds a court to the terms the parents filed. Parents cannot contract away a court's authority over a child. Draft the document to be entered as a consent order rather than to stand on its own.
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Va. Code 20-124.3 lists ten best interest factors, running from the age and condition of the child and of each parent through the role each parent has played and will play in upbringing, the relative willingness to support the child's contact with the other parent, and the reasonable preference of the child where the court finds the child of suitable age and understanding. The tenth item is a catch-all for such other factors as the court deems necessary and proper, so the list is a floor rather than a closed set. Where you present a consent order the judge is relieved of setting out findings on these factors, which makes the list the frame your agreement should look defensible against rather than a checklist the judge will recite back to you.
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Virginia builds relocation notice into the order itself. Va. Code 20-124.5 requires the court to include as a condition of any custody or visitation order a requirement that thirty days advance written notice be given to the court and the other party by any party intending to relocate and of any intended change of address, unless the court for good cause shown orders otherwise. Two features make this unusual: the notice runs to the court as well as to the other parent, and it is triggered by any intended change of address, with no distance threshold and no duration test.
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Virginia keeps ordinary custody vocabulary. Chapter 6.1 of Title 20 speaks of custody and visitation throughout, and Virginia has not renamed either. The one wrinkle is Va. Code 20-124.2(B1), which permits a court, in its discretion and only as to a parent, to use the phrase parenting time as a synonym for visitation. That is a discretionary synonym rather than a statutory rename, and Virginia has no parenting plan instrument at all, so there is no prescribed plan form or required contents list to satisfy.
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Abuse is a mandatory consideration in Virginia, and it operates in an unusual way. Va. Code 20-124.3(9) directs the court to consider any history of family abuse as defined in 16.1-228, sexual abuse, child abuse, or an act of violence, force, or threat as defined in 19.2-152.7:1 that occurred no earlier than ten years before the petition was filed. On such a finding the court may disregard the factor in subdivision 6, which is each parent's propensity to support the child's contact with the other, so a parent who limits access for safety reasons is not automatically marked down for it. If there has been abuse or coercion, raise it with a lawyer rather than settle it on a form.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Child Custody Agreement in Virginia, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Child Custody Agreement guide walks through them.
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Virginia Requirements for Child Custody Agreement
The court shall consider and may award joint legal, joint physical, or sole custody, and there shall be no presumption in favor of any form of custody, nor any presumption or inference of law in favor of either parent. An agreed arrangement is measured against the same standard as a contested one.
The judge must communicate the basis of a custody decision and set forth findings on the relevant best interest factors, except in cases of consent orders for custody and visitation. A consent order is the one custody order that does not come with a factor by factor explanation.
In determining custody the court shall give primary consideration to the best interests of the child. The arrangement becomes enforceable only once the court enters it, and no provision obliges the court to enter the terms the parents filed.
The court considers the child's and each parent's age and condition, existing relationships, the child's needs, each parent's past and future role, support for the child's contact with the other parent, the child's reasonable preference where appropriate, any history of abuse, and any other factors it deems necessary and proper. The tenth item makes the list open.
Every custody or visitation order must contain a condition requiring thirty days advance written notice to the court and the other party of any intended relocation or change of address, unless the court orders otherwise for good cause. Write the clause into the agreement and name where each parent's notice is to be sent.
Each parent's propensity to actively support the child's contact and relationship with the other parent is a listed best interest factor. State the mutual commitment in the document and describe how information about the child is passed between households.
Any history of family abuse under 16.1-228, sexual abuse, child abuse, or an act of violence, force, or threat under 19.2-152.7:1 occurring no earlier than ten years before the petition was filed is a mandatory consideration, and on such a finding the court may disregard the subdivision 6 factor. This is a consideration with a targeted effect, not a presumption against any form of custody.
Mediation shall be used as an alternative to litigation where appropriate, and where it is used in custody and visitation matters the goals may include developing a proposal addressing the child's residential schedule and care arrangements. A dispute resolution clause naming the method is worth including.
A court may, in its discretion, use the phrase parenting time to be synonymous with visitation as to a parent. Use custody and visitation as the operative terms in the document and treat parenting time as an alternative label rather than a separate concept.
Virginia has no statutory parenting plan and prescribes no contents for one. The document that matters is the proposed consent order, so the schedule, decision making allocation, exchange arrangements, and relocation notice condition all need to appear in terms a court can enter.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not as a matter of the standard applied. No Virginia provision attaches a presumption to an agreement or directs a court to adopt agreed terms, and Va. Code 20-124.2(B) says there shall be no presumption in favor of any form of custody and none in favor of either parent. What agreeing does change is the judge's writing duty. Va. Code 20-124.3 requires the judge to set out findings on the relevant best interest factors when communicating the basis of a decision, except in cases of consent orders for custody and visitation. So a consent order is the one custody order that arrives without a factor by factor explanation.
Yes. Your arrangement takes effect as a custody order only when a Virginia court enters it. Va. Code 20-124.2(B) requires the court to give primary consideration to the best interests of the child in determining custody, and nothing in the chapter obliges a court to enter the terms the parents filed. Until it is entered, neither parent can enforce it as an order.
It is a custody order the court enters on terms the parents have agreed rather than on terms the judge has decided after a contested hearing. Virginia treats it differently in exactly one respect. Va. Code 20-124.3 exempts consent orders from the requirement that the judge's communication of the basis of the decision set forth findings on the relevant best interest factors. Everything else, including the best interests standard itself, applies unchanged.
Va. Code 20-124.3 lists ten. They cover the age and physical and mental condition of the child, the age and physical and mental condition of each parent, the relationship between each parent and the child, the child's needs, the role each parent has played and will play in upbringing, each parent's propensity to support the child's contact and relationship with the other parent, the relative willingness and demonstrated ability to maintain a close relationship with the child, the child's reasonable preference where the court finds the child of suitable age, intelligence and understanding, any history of abuse, and any other factors the court deems necessary and proper. Because the tenth is a catch-all, the list is a minimum rather than a closed set.
No. Virginia has no parenting plan requirement and no parenting plan instrument in its custody and visitation chapter. Nothing obliges parents to file a plan, and no section prescribes what one has to contain. The document you file is the proposed consent order itself, which is why the schedule, decision making, and exchange arrangements need to be written in terms a court can enter and a parent can follow.
Both, with visitation as the statutory term. Chapter 6.1 of Title 20 uses custody and visitation throughout. Va. Code 20-124.2(B1) then permits a court, in its discretion, to use the phrase parenting time to be synonymous with visitation, and only as to a parent. Virginia has not renamed anything, so use custody and visitation as your primary terms and treat parenting time as the plainer synonym.
Thirty days, and it goes to two places. Va. Code 20-124.5 requires the court to include as a condition of any custody or visitation order a requirement that thirty days advance written notice be given to the court and the other party by any party intending to relocate and of any intended change of address, unless the court for good cause shown orders otherwise. There is no mileage threshold, so any change of address triggers it, and the duty falls on either parent rather than only the one the child lives with.
Va. Code 20-124.3(9) makes any history of family abuse as defined in 16.1-228, sexual abuse, child abuse, or an act of violence, force, or threat as defined in 19.2-152.7:1 occurring no earlier than ten years before the petition was filed a mandatory consideration. It is not a presumption against any form of custody. Its distinctive effect is that on such a finding the court may disregard the factor in subdivision 6, which is each parent's propensity to support the child's contact with the other, so a parent limiting contact for safety reasons is not automatically penalized for it. If abuse or coercion is part of your situation, talk to a lawyer before signing.
Changes go through the court rather than through a side letter between the parents. Once your terms are entered, the order governs, and a new agreement does not displace it until the court enters the change. In practice that means writing the revised terms and submitting them for entry the same way the first set was submitted.
No. Support is a separate calculation handled in its own filings, and a custody agreement does not resolve it. Keep the two questions apart, and do not assume that agreeing on a schedule has fixed what either parent pays.