Virginia Form DC-511: Petition for Custody, Visitation, or Support

Form DC-511 is the document that opens a custody, visitation, or child support case in a Virginia Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. If you are a parent who was never married to your child’s other parent, or you are separated and need an order before a divorce is filed, this is the form that starts your case.

It is a single page. It is also the form people most often fill out incorrectly, because what you check on it determines what the judge can order.

What DC-511 actually does

The petition tells the court three things: who the child is, what relief you want, and why this court has authority to decide. That third piece matters more than people expect. A Virginia J&DR court can only decide custody if Virginia is the child’s home state under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, which generally means the child has lived here for the six months before you file. If the child recently moved from another state, you may be filing in the wrong state entirely.

The form lets you request custody, visitation, or support — separately or together. Check only what you actually want decided. Parents sometimes check everything as a matter of instinct, then find themselves in a support hearing they did not intend and were not prepared for.

Who can file

Either parent can file. So can certain non-parents, though the standard is much harder. A grandparent, stepparent, or other person with a legitimate interest may petition, but Virginia law requires clear and convincing evidence that the child would be harmed by remaining with the parent before a court will award custody to a non-parent. The parental presumption is strong and the form gives no hint of how strong.

Where it gets filed

In the J&DR court for the city or county where the child resides, or where the child last resided with a parent. Not the circuit court — the circuit court handles custody only when it comes attached to a divorce.

If there is already a divorce case pending in circuit court, the circuit court has the custody issue and filing a DC-511 in J&DR will not help you.

What you file with it

• DC-511, completed and signed
• Form DC-620, UCCJEA Affidavit — required in any case involving custody or visitation. This is where you list everywhere the child has lived for the past five years and any other custody case involving the child, anywhere. Omitting a prior case is the kind of error that unravels an order months later.
• DC-606 if you are asking to proceed without paying the filing fee, or asking the court to assess guardian ad litem costs

Filing fee

Filing fees for custody and visitation petitions in J&DR are modest compared to circuit court, and many courts charge nothing for a custody petition. Confirm the current amount with the clerk in your locality. If cost is the barrier, file DC-606 — the financial statement for proceeding without fees — rather than not filing.

What happens after you file

Intake. In many localities, custody and visitation petitions route through a court services intake officer before the case is docketed. The intake officer is not a judge and does not decide anything, but will take basic information and may discuss whether the matter can be resolved without a hearing.

Guardian ad litem. In contested custody cases the court will usually appoint a guardian ad litem for the child — an attorney whose client is the child’s best interests, not either parent. The GAL will typically interview both parents, see the child in each home, and may contact schools and doctors. The court can order the parents to pay the GAL’s fees. Treat the GAL as the most important person in your case, because the judge will read that report.

Hearing. The court may set an initial return date to confirm service and address temporary arrangements, then a longer date for evidence.

The ten factors the judge will actually apply

The form does not tell you this, but the judge decides custody under the ten best-interests factors in Va. Code § 20-124.3 — including each parent’s role in the child’s upbringing, the relationship between each parent and the child, each parent’s willingness to support the child’s relationship with the other parent, and the child’s own preference where the child is of reasonable intelligence and age. Your evidence should be organized around those factors, not around a general account of why the other parent is difficult.

Common mistakes

Filing DC-511 to change an existing custody order without checking local practice. Some courts require a fresh DC-511 for any custody modification. Some accept a motion to amend or review on DC-630. Practice varies by locality, and Virginia Beach has published guidance distinguishing the two. Check before you file.

Leaving the UCCJEA affidavit blank or incomplete.

Asking for “full custody.” That phrase does not exist in Virginia law. Custody splits into legal custody — decision-making about education, healthcare, and religion — and physical custody, which is where the child lives. You can have joint legal custody with primary physical custody, and that is a common outcome. Asking for something the statute does not recognize tells the court you have not read it.

Assuming the order is permanent. Custody orders can be modified when there has been a material change in circumstances and modification serves the child’s best interests.

If you disagree with the outcome

You have ten days to appeal a J&DR decision to the circuit court, and the appeal gives you a completely new trial — the circuit court does not review the J&DR judge’s reasoning, it hears the case fresh. Ten days is short and it is not extended for any reason.