                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

HOW DEFENDANT MAY ACCEPT SERVICE; WAIVE SERVICE (§ 20-99.1:1)

A. A defendant in such suits may accept service of process by signing the proof
of service before any officer authorized to administer oaths. This proof of
service shall, when filed with the papers in the suit, have the same effect as
if it had been served upon the defendant by a person authorized to serve
process. In addition, service of process may be accepted or waived by any party,
upon voluntary execution of a notarized writing specifying an intent to accept
or waive any particular process, or by a defendant by filing an answer in the
suit. Such notarized writing may be provided in the clerk&#8217;s office of any
circuit court and may be signed by such party to the proceedings before any
clerk or deputy clerk of any circuit court, under oath, or may be drafted and
filed by counsel or a pro se party in the proceeding, and shall, when filed with
the papers in the suit, have the same effect as if the process specified had
been personally served upon the defendant by a person authorized to serve
process. For a suit for a no-fault divorce under subdivision A (9) of &#xA7;
20-91, any such waiver may occur within a reasonable time prior to or after the
suit is filed, provided that a copy of the complaint is attached to such waiver,
or is otherwise provided to the defendant, and the final decree of divorce as
proposed by the complainant is signed by the defendant. The court may enter any
order or decree without further notice unless a defendant has filed an answer in
the suit.

B. When service is accepted pursuant to this section by a nonresident person out
of the Commonwealth, such service shall have the same effect as an order of
publication duly executed.

C. Any process served outside the Commonwealth executed in such manner as
provided for in this section is validated.

HISTORY: 1988, c. 583; 1989, c. 562; 1992, c. 563; 2019, cc. 133, 237.