How do I get my wife to pay her half of credit cards and mortgage?

You have a few different options. As the previous attorney mentioned, you can file for divorce (if you have grounds to file for divorce now based on marital fault -- otherwise, you will have to be living separate and apart for at least one year before you can file for divorce in VA) or you could work out an agreement. The agreement could be either temporary (a.k.a., an Interim Separation Agreement or Temporary Separation Agreement) or final (a.k.a. Property Settlement Agreement or Marital Settlement Agreement). However, once an agreement is signed, the court cannot change it (per Section 20-109 of the Code of Virginia). So, it is very important to have an attorney assist you with this process and review the langauge of any agreement very carefully before allowing you to sign anything. Another option would be to file either a petition for spousal support in the the J&DR court or a suit for separate maintenance in the Circuit Court. Of course, if your income is relatively equal to or greater than hers, then pursuing and maintaining a spousal support action may be dubious at best. If she is still using the joint credit cards, but not making any payments on those accounts, then you may want to consider contacting those credit card companies to cancel those accounts. As for the house, you should take into account that you have the use of the home (a court may factor in what is known as "fair market rental value" to account for your exclusive use and occupancy of the marital residence -- though a court may also take into consideration the fact that she chose to abandon the residence and the marriage). The more practical question, though, is what is it that you want to do about the house. If divorce is where things are ultimately heading, then you can't continue to jointly own the home indefinitely. So, you need to determine what the current fair market value of the property is and what the outstanding debts against the property are (which will give you the current net equity). Then, you need to determine whether it is possible for you to refinance the property on your own (and buy-out her interest) and, if so, whether that is what you want to do. Or, should the house be sold? Once you determine that, then you will have a starting point for negotiating this issue with her. For example, if you know that you want to buy her out and that you can obtain the financing to do so, then it doesn't make a lot of practical sense to spend the next several months fighting with her over her making contributions to the mortgage when that time and energy would be better spent on negoitating the terms of your buy-out and refinancing. Conversely, if you know you will need to sell the house if she won't be contributing to the mortgage (whether currently or 6 months down the road from now), then it would seem more practical to put the house up for sale and hold the proceeds in escrow until you can reach an agreement as to the division or have the court decide the distribution. As you may be able to tell from these responses to your question, there are a variety of issues and considerations to take into account, as well as a variety of legal and practical approaches to consider. So, my suggestion would be for you to find a family law attorney in your local area and schedule a consultation to have your particular situation (and options) reviewed with you in more specific detail.