With today’s technology you have a lot of choices in a do-it-yourself separation agreement template. Online you can find plenty of sites that offer something for almost nothing. More accurately, they offer almost nothing. Virginia’s separation and divorce laws are not the same as other states’, nor are cookie-cutter legal documents always legal.
Virginia Laws
The first criterion you should use for any template claiming to provide a legal document for separation is simple:
- Does the template adhere to Virginia law?
Code of Virginia stipulates marital agreements in § 20-155. If the online template you are exploring is not specific to Virginia’s laws, you are wasting time and money.
The document your template generates also needs to be legal and recognized by a Virginia Circuit Court. Not every online DIY program can say that.
Your Rights
The second benchmark in rating an online template for a separation agreement is to make certain it safeguards your rights. Make sure you are protected for all this:
- Parenting time
- Child custody
- Child support
- Spousal support
- Medical and dental expenses
- Equitable (not equal) property division
- Taxes, filings, exemptions
A DIY online template needs to be more than a one-size-fits-most. It needs to preserve and defend your rights. If you are seeking online legal documents to save money, consider what you may give up by signing away a right without knowing it:
- Future earnings
- Future reimbursement for expenses
- Future time with your own children
- Loss of retirement income or savings
Greetings, [Your Name Here]
An online template for generating a property settlement agreement uses the best of modern technology … or not. Sometimes, interacting with the template, you get the feeling you are just a series of 0s and 1s, because the template is completely generic. It has no answers to some of your knottier questions.
Look for an online DIY separation agreement that is fully customized for your needs. Suppose you have military service, or a business. Does the template allow for that? What if you have children from different marriages, adopted children, or children with special needs? Does the template allow you to enter that information?
A short form is not necessarily a good form. You may have 19 separate financial accounts but the template only has room for one. How is that helpful? You may have 11 minor children but the template stops letting you enter names after six. What good does that do you?
What About Memorial Day, 2025?
An online template that is only good for the year you are in is, frankly, useless. A separation agreement has to include children, and children mean parenting time schedules. A parenting time schedule takes into account:
- Every school break
- Every weekend
- Every holiday
- Every special family day
It includes all those special days not just this year, but every year until the children are emancipated or adults. An online separation agreement template needs to help you figure out who will have Liam and Jenny this Memorial Day, but also on Memorial Day five years from now.
Bless Your Heart
Have you ever gotten lousy customer service? Have you ever had the frustrating experience of feeling like your needs are just not valued? We all know that moment in a Virginia store or public place when you overhear, “Well bless your heart,” and what it really means.
You are contemplating investing time and money in an online template. Does it give you the feeling that, well, nobody cares? Is it personal, confidential, custom-built, and backed by caring, concerned folks? Or are you clicking through a template that comes back with a virtual “Bless Your Heart” when you need help?
When you subscribe to the fully personalized, highly customizable service at MensDIYDivorce.com, you get the complete package:
- Specific to Virginia’s laws
- Completely legal and recognized by Virginia’s courts
- Full legal protection of your rights
- Every necessary feature, including child support, spousal support, property division, visitation, taxes, insurance, and more
- Complete online support
Visit us today and get started on your separation agreement right away!
