West Virginia Family Law

Quick Guide to WV Family Law

Where can I find the majority of West Virginia Family Laws?

You’ll have to visit the revised statutes under the WV Legislature in order to view a complete list of all updated WV family law. Once you begin searching for West Virginia family law, you’ll want to reference several different chapters depending on your need.

In this article, you’ll find general information on West Virginia family law and specifically marriage requirements, divorce, adoption, child custody, and other commonly accessed areas of WV family law. If you are referencing West Virginia family laws for legal help, you are highly advised to consult with a WV family law attorney before proceeding with any settlement process.

Specific West Virginia Family Laws

Some general information about sections of West Virginia family law within several different chapters is listed below. For more information on WV family law, visit the link under the state’s legislature below and proceed mainly to chapters 48 and 49:

Chapter 48-2 Marriages

This chapter of WV family law provides prerequisites for a valid marriage, as well as who cannot marry in the state of West Virginia. This chapter also contains information on West Virginia family laws for licenses and other contracts, as well as who is legally allowed to solemnize a marriage.

Chapter 48-5 Divorce

This article of West Virginia family law is one of the most frequently accessed chapters under the state’s legislature. This specific chapter on WV family law covers general grounds for divorce (§48-5-201 through 209), and other sections cover property division (§48-7), methods of payment for spousal support (§48-8), and much more. There are multiple other sections of West Virginia family law that may prove helpful in divorce proceedings.

Chapter 48-22 Adoption

This chapter West Virginia family law provides general provisions for adoption such as who may adopt a child (§48-22-201), information about petitions, financial disclosures, investigative procedures from a child-placing agency, and much more. If you are searching West Virginia family laws for legal advice on adoptions, talk to an attorney right away. A West Virginia family law attorney is often required in most adoptions anyway.

Chapter 48-20 Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act

This chapter of West Virginia family laws provides detailed information about conditions for child custody. West Virginia family law for support obligations is located in §48-11, and there are many more sections that address conditions for child support and custody. For more information about child custody, talk with your WV family law attorney.

How to Search West Virginia Family Laws

Consider the follow search techniques if you search West Virginia family laws:

1. Stemming- this technique includes adding suffixes onto your search, such as divorces, divorcing, divorced, or more

2. Wildcards- a wildcard allows you to search multiple words using an asterisk, and adopt* will usually bring you to adopted, adoption, adopting, adoptive, adoptable, and more.

3. Missing variables- you can search for a missing variable with a question mark, and wom?n will bring results associated with woman, women, and more

4. Boolean Operators- you should always consider using and, or, and not to limit your searches as well