                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

LIMITATIONS ON ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGMENTS (§ 8.01-251)

A. No execution shall be issued and no action brought on a judgment dated,
extended, or renewed, prior to July 1, 2021, including a judgment in favor of
the Commonwealth and a judgment rendered in another state or country, after 20
years from the date of such judgment or domestication of such judgment or 20
years from the date of such extension or renewal of such judgment, whichever is
later, unless the period is extended as provided in this section. No execution
shall be issued and no action brought on a judgment dated on or after July 1,
2021, including a judgment in favor of the Commonwealth and a judgment rendered
in another state or country, after 10 years from the date of such judgment or
domestication of such judgment, unless the period is extended as provided in
this section, except that no execution shall be issued and no action brought on
a judgment dated on or after July 1, 2021, that was created by nonpayment of
child support after 20 years from the date of such judgment or domestication of
such judgment.

B. The limitation prescribed in subsection A may be extended by the recordation
of a certificate in the form provided in subsection G prior to the expiration of
the limitation period prescribed herein in the clerk&#8217;s office in which
such judgment is recorded and executed by either the judgment creditor or his
assignee or by the judgment creditor&#8217;s or his assignee&#8217;s attorney or
authorized agent. Recordation of the certificate shall extend the limitations
period of the right to enforce such judgment for 10 years from the date of the
recordation of the certificate. A judgment creditor or his assignee may record
one additional extension by recording another certificate in the form provided
in subsection G prior to the expiration of the original 10-year extension of the
limitation period, which shall extend the limitations period of the right to
enforce such judgment for 10 years from the date of recordation of the second
certificate.
			The clerk of the court shall index the certificate in both names in the index
of the judgment lien book and give reference to the book and page in which the
original lien is recorded. This procedure is subject to the exception that if
the action is against a personal representative of a decedent, the motion shall
be within two years from the date of his qualification, the extension may be for
only two years from the time of the recordation of the certificate, and there
may be only one such extension.

C. No suit shall be brought to enforce the lien of any judgment, including
judgments in favor of the Commonwealth, upon which the right to issue an
execution or bring an action is barred by other subsections of this section, nor
shall any suit be brought to enforce the lien of any judgment against the lands
that have been conveyed by the judgment debtor to a grantee for value, unless
the same be brought within five years from the due recordation of the deed from
such judgment debtor to such grantee and unless a notice of lis pendens shall
have been recorded in the manner provided by &#xA7; 8.01-268 before the
expiration of such five-year period.

D. In computing the time, any time during which the right to sue out execution
on the judgment is suspended by the terms thereof, or by legal process, shall be
omitted. &#xA7;&#xA7; 8.01-230 et seq., 8.01-247 and 8.01-256 shall apply to the
right to bring such action in like manner as to any right.

E. This section shall not be construed to impair the right of subrogation to
which any person may become entitled while the lien is in force, provided that
he institutes proceedings to enforce such right within five years after the same
accrued, nor shall the lien of a judgment be impaired by the recovery of another
judgment thereon, or by a forthcoming bond taken on an execution thereon, such
bond having the force of a judgment.

F. Limitations on enforcement of judgments entered in the general district
courts shall be governed by &#xA7; 16.1-94.1, unless an abstract of such
judgment is docketed in the judgment book of a circuit court. Upon docketing
such judgment, such judgment shall be treated as a judgment entered by the
circuit court and may be extended in the same manner as a judgment entered by
the circuit court, although the original date of entry of the judgment shall
remain the date that was entered by the general district court.

G. Any extension of the limitations of the right to enforce a judgment shall
conform substantially with the following form:
			CERTIFICATE OF EXTENSION OF LIMITATION OF RIGHT TO ENFORCE JUDGMENT LIEN
			Place of Record
___________________________________________________________________________
			Date Judgment Docketed
___________________________________________________________________________
			Judgment Lien Book __________________ Book Page __________________
			Name of Judgment Creditor(s) or Assignee(s)
___________________________________________________________________________
			Address of Judgment Creditor(s) or Assignee(s)
___________________________________________________
			Phone number of Judgment Creditors(s) or Assignee(s) (if available)
___________________________________________________________________________
			Name of Judgment Creditor(s) or Assignee(s)&#8217; attorney or agent
___________________________________________________________________________
			Address of Creditor(s) or Assignee(s)&#8217; attorney or agent
___________________________________________________________________________
			Name of Debtor(s)
___________________________________________________________________________
			I/we, the undersigned [ ] judgment creditor(s) [ ] agent of judgment
creditor(s) [ ] attorney for judgment creditor(s), do hereby certify that the
aforementioned judgment lien be extended 10 years from the date of my/our
endorsement upon this certificate.
			[ ] Judgment creditor(s) or assignee(s) [ ] agent of judgment creditor(s) or
assignee(s) [ ] attorney for judgment creditor(s) or assignee(s):
________________
			Commonwealth of Virginia
			County/City of ____________________
			Subscribed, sworn to and acknowledged before me by
			_______________, this _____ day of ________, 20 _____
			My Commission expires: ____________________
			Notary Public: ____________________

HISTORY: Code 1950, §§ 8-393, 8-394, 8-396, 8-397; 1956, c. 512; 1958, c. 221;
1960, c. 274; 1977, c. 617; 1983, c. 499; 2002, c. 394; 2005, cc. 139, 203;
2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 486; 2022, c. 324.