VIRGINIA Part 22

DESERTION AND ABANDONMENT

For all practical purposes, desertion and abandonment are one and the same. .There are two elements that have to be present in order to constitute desertion: the willful desire or the intent to desert and the cutting off of the marital relationship. In Virginia, the abandonment has:

continued for 12 uninterrupted months;

must be willful and malicious;

beyond any reasonable expectation of reconciliation.

There are two types of desertion-actual desertion and constructive desertion.