CHAPTER 19

An Act to amend and reenact § 20-121, as amended, of the Code of Vir-
ginia, relating to merger of decree of divorce from bed and board into
decree for divorce from bonds of matrimony. ‘sg

94]

Approved February 17, 1960

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 20-121, as amended, of the Code of Virginia, be amended and
reenacted as follows: |

§ 20-121. In any case where desertion or cruelty is the ground for
divorce when one year shall have elapsed from the time of such desertion
or when one year shall have elapsed from the time the parties separated
when cruelty is charged, upon application of the party injured, and upon
the production of satisfactory evidence, whether taken theretofore or in
support of such application, the court may merge such decree for divorce
from bed and board into a decree for a divorce from the bonds of matri-
mony, if the court shall be of opinion, from the evidence so taken, that no
reconciliation has taken place, or is probable, and that a separation has
continued without interruption since the granting of such divorce. It
shall not be necessary to give the guilty party notice of the taking of dep-
ositions in any case in which the only purpose of the proceeding is to merge
the decree for divorce from bed and board into a decree for a divorce from
the bonds of matrimony, and to allow the wife if she so desires, to resume
her maiden name, nor shall it be necessary to give the guilty party notice of
application to the court in any case in which the only purpose of the proceed-
ing is to merge the decree for divorce from bed and board into a decree for a
divorce from the bonds of matrimony and to allow the wife, if she desires,
to resume her maiden name; but no final decree for divorce entered in such
a case shall terminate or otherwise affect any restraining order, or order
for the payment of costs, counsel fees, alimony or support money except
as specifically provided in such decree. And when one year shall have
elapsed after the entering of a decree for divorce from bed and board, or
when one year shall have elapsed from the time the parties separated
when cruelty is charged or when one year shall have elapsed from the time
of such desertion, upon application of the guilty party to such divorce
proceedings, after giving to the other party in the original action ten
days’ notice, and upon the production of satisfactory evidence whether
taken theretofore, or in support of such application, the court may, in its
discretion, merge such decree for divorce from bed and board into a
decree for a divorce from the bonds of matrimony, if the court shall be of
the opinion from the evidence so taken, that no reconciliation has taken
place, or is probable, and that a separation has continued without inter-
ruption since the granting of such divorce, and the court may also make
such provision as is proper for the maintenance and support of wife and
children, if any, in accordance with the right of the case. The provisions
of this and the preceding section shall apply to the divorces from bed and
board, which have been heretofore as well as those which may be hereafter
granted.