                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

WRITTEN NOTICE OF PROBATE, QUALIFICATION, AND ENTITLEMENT TO COPIES OF
INVENTORIES, ACCOUNTS, AND REPORTS TO BE PROVIDED TO CERTAIN PARTIES (§
64.2-508)

A. Except as otherwise provided in this section, a personal representative of a
decedent&#8217;s estate, including an administrator appointed pursuant to §
64.2-454, or a proponent of a decedent&#8217;s will when there is no
qualification shall provide written notice of qualification or probate, and
notice of entitlement to copies of wills, inventories, accounts, and reports, to
the following persons:

   1. The surviving spouse of the decedent, if any;

   2. All heirs at law of the decedent, whether or not there is a will;

   3. All living and ascertained beneficiaries under the will of the decedent,
   including those who may take under &#xA7; 64.2-418, and beneficiaries of any
   trust created by the will; and

   4. All living and ascertained beneficiaries under any will of the decedent
   previously probated in the same court.

B. Notice under subsection A need not be provided to the following persons:

   1. A personal representative or proponent of the will;

   2. Any person who has signed a waiver of right to receive notice;

   3. Any person to whom a summons has been issued pursuant to &#xA7; 64.2-446;

   4. Any person who is the subject of a conservatorship, guardianship, or
   committeeship, if notice is provided to his conservator, guardian, or
   committee;

   5. Any beneficiary of a trust, other than a trust created by the
   decedent&#8217;s will, if notice is provided to the trustee of the trust;

   6. Any heir or beneficiary who survived the decedent but is deceased at the
   time of qualification or probate, and such person&#8217;s successors in
   interest, if notice is provided to such person&#8217;s personal
   representative;

   7. Any minor for whom no guardian has been appointed, if notice is provided to
   his parent or person in loco parentis;

   8. Any beneficiary of a pecuniary bequest or of a bequest of tangible personal
   property, provided in either case the beneficiary is not an heir at law and
   the value of the bequest is not in excess of $10,000; and

   9. Any unborn or unascertained persons.

C. The notice shall include the following information:

   1. The name and date of death of the decedent;

   2. The name, address, and telephone number of a personal representative or a
   proponent of a will;

   3. The mailing address of the clerk of the court in which the personal
   representative qualified or the will was probated;

   4. A statement as follows: &#8220;This notice does not mean that you will
   receive any money or property&#8221;;

   5. A statement as follows: &#8220;If personal representatives qualified on
   this estate, unless otherwise specifically exempted under Virginia law, they
   are required by law to file an inventory with the commissioner of accounts
   within four months after they qualify in the clerk&#8217;s office, to file an
   account within 16 months of their qualification, and to file additional
   accounts within 16 months from the date of their last account period until the
   estate is settled. If you make written request therefor to the personal
   representatives, they must mail copies of these documents (not including any
   supporting vouchers, but including a copy of the decedent&#8217;s will) to you
   at the same time the inventory or account is filed with the commissioner of
   accounts unless (i) you would take only as an heir at law in a case where all
   of the decedent&#8217;s probate estate is disposed of by will or (ii) your
   gift has been satisfied in full before the time of such filing. Your written
   request may be made at any time; it may relate to one specific filing or to
   all filings to be made by the personal representative, but it will not be
   effective for filings made prior to its receipt by a personal representative.
   A copy of your request may be sent to the commissioner of accounts with whom
   the filings will be made. After the commissioner of accounts has completed
   work on an account filed by a personal representative, the commissioner files
   it and a report thereon in the clerk&#8217;s office of the court wherein the
   personal representative qualified. If you make written request therefor to the
   commissioner before this filing, the commissioner must mail a copy of this
   report and any attachments (excluding the account) to you on or before the
   date that they are filed in the clerk&#8217;s office&#8221;; and

   6. The mailing address of the commissioner of accounts with whom the inventory
   and accounts must be filed by the personal representatives, if they are
   required.

D. Within 30 days after the date of qualification or admission of the will to
probate, a personal representative or proponent of the will shall forward notice
by delivery or by first-class mail, postage prepaid, to the persons entitled to
notice at their last known address.

E. Failure to give the notice required by this section shall not (i) affect the
validity of the probate of a decedent&#8217;s will or (ii) render any person
required to give notice, who has acted in good faith, liable to any person
entitled to receive notice. In determining the limitation period for any rights
that may commence upon or accrue by reason of such probate or qualification in
favor of any entitled person, the time that elapses from the date that notice
should have been given to the date that notice is given shall not be counted,
unless the person required to give notice could not determine the name and
address of the entitled person after the exercise of reasonable diligence.

F. The personal representative or proponent of the will shall record within four
months in the clerk&#8217;s office where the will is recorded an affidavit
stating (i) the names and addresses of the persons to whom he has mailed or
delivered notice and when the notice was mailed or delivered to each or (ii)
that no notice was required to be given to any person. The commissioner of
accounts shall not approve any settlement filed by a personal representative
until the affidavit described in this subsection has been recorded. If the
personal representative of an estate or the proponent of a will is unable to
determine the name and address of any person to whom notice is required after
the exercise of reasonable diligence, a statement to that effect in the required
affidavit shall be sufficient for purposes of this subsection. Notwithstanding
the foregoing provisions, any person having an interest in an estate may give
the notice required by this section and record the affidavit described in this
subsection. If this subsection has not been complied with within four months
after qualification, the commissioner of accounts shall issue, through the
sheriff or other proper officer, a summons to such fiduciary requiring him to
comply, and if the fiduciary does not comply, the commissioner shall enforce the
filing of the affidavit in the manner set forth in &#xA7; 64.2-1215.

G. The form of the notice to be given pursuant to this section, which shall
contain appropriate instructions regarding its use, shall be provided to each
clerk of the circuit court by the Office of the Executive Secretary of the
Supreme Court and each clerk shall provide copies of such form to the proponents
of a will or those qualifying on an estate.

HISTORY: 1993, c. 4, § 64.1-122.2; 2001, cc. 78, 265; 2002, c. 716; 2012, c.
614; 2022, c. 777; 2025, c. 148.