Virginia
Death Laws & End-of-Life Guide

At a Glance

The 3-day rule.

In Virginia, a death certificate must be filed within 3 days of death and before the body is buried or cremated. The funeral director prepares the certificate; the attending physician certifies the cause of death. (Va. Code 32.1-263)

Who files it.

The licensed funeral director, funeral service licensee, or next of kin who first assumes custody of the body completes the certificate. A funeral director or licensee files it electronically; next of kin aren't required to. The physician or autonomous nurse practitioner in charge of the patient's care must complete and file the medical certification through the Electronic Death Registration System within 24 hours after death. (Va. Code 32.1-263(B), (C))

Who can order copies.

Immediate family members and legal representatives with a power of attorney can order certified copies. Someone else with a direct and tangible interest gets a Verification of Death instead, which shows the name, the dates of death and birth, the place of death and the last four digits of the Social Security number.

• -Virginia Department of Health Vital Records: vdh.virginia.gov/vital-records
• -Cost: $15 per certified copy. The fee rose from $12 on July 1, 2026 under Chapter 616 of the 2026 Acts of Assembly, and it applies to each copy issued.
• -Expedited service available through VitalChek

Who can order a death certificate in Virginia?

Only immediate family can get a full certified copy: mother, father, spouse, child, brother, sister or a grandparent, with valid identification, plus a legal representative with a power of attorney or a funeral service licensee. Someone else with a direct and tangible interest gets a Verification of Death, not the certificate. Death records become public after 25 years. Certified copies come from Virginia's Office of Vital Records, Virginia Department of Health; DMV offices and local health departments take walk-in orders, online through the VDH application system, in person in Richmond or at a DMV or local health department, by drop-off, by mail, or by phone through VitalChek.

How do I get a death certificate in Virginia?

Order certified copies from Virginia's vital records office; this section's source link is the official process. The funeral home or cremation provider usually orders the first copies for you. Ask each bank, insurer, court, and agency whether it needs its own certified copy before you decide how many to order.

How much does a death certificate cost in Virginia?

$15 per certified copy in Virginia, as shown above. Additional-copy pricing varies; the official source linked in this section has the current fee schedule.

At a Glance

When probate is required.

Virginia's Small Estate Act lets the successors collect a decedent's assets with an affidavit instead of qualifying a personal representative. Three conditions: the decedent's entire personal probate estate, wherever located, doesn't exceed $75,000; at least 60 days have passed since the death; and no application for a personal representative is pending or has been granted anywhere. The limit was raised from $50,000 effective July 1, 2025 (2025 Acts ch. 148). The affidavit reaches personal property, not real estate. (Va. Code 64.2-601)

Source: Probate in Virginia (Virginia Judicial System pamphlet) ↗

A surviving spouse's allowances.

A surviving spouse, and in some cases minor children, can claim a family allowance, exempt property, and a homestead allowance from the estate. The claim has to be made no later than one year after the later of two dates: the will being admitted to probate, or an administrator qualifying on an intestate estate. Before July 1, 2026 that year ran from the death. To protect the claim against a good-faith buyer of the decedent's real estate, record the election in the circuit court clerk's office within one year after the death. (Va. Code 64.2-313)

Source: Va. Code § 64.2-313 (Virginia Law) ↗

If you die without a will.

Virginia intestate succession (Va. Code 64.2-200) determines who inherits:

• -Surviving spouse only (no descendants): gets everything
• -Spouse + descendants all from that spouse: spouse gets everything
• -Spouse + descendants from a prior relationship: spouse gets one-third; descendants split the remaining two-thirds
• -No spouse, descendants survive: descendants inherit equally
• -No spouse or descendants: parents, then siblings, then more distant relatives

What goes through probate.

Only assets owned solely by the deceased without beneficiary designations. Joint tenancy property, accounts with named beneficiaries, and life insurance pass outside probate automatically.

Handwritten wills.

Virginia accepts a will wholly in the person's own handwriting and signed by them, with no witnesses at signing (Va. Code § 64.2-403(B)). At probate, at least two disinterested witnesses have to prove it's entirely in the person's handwriting and signed by them. A typed will needs two witnesses present at the same time. If a will misses a formality, a circuit court can accept it on clear and convincing evidence that the person meant it as their will, but that case has to be filed within one year of the death and it can't fix a missing signature (§ 64.2-404).

Source: Va. Code § 64.2-403 (Virginia Law) ↗Source: Va. Code § 64.2-404 ↗

How long does probate take in Virginia?

A straightforward Virginia probate typically runs often ~1 yr, as shown in this section. Contested wills, missing heirs, or real property in other states stretch it well past that.

What is the small-estate limit in Virginia?

$75,000. Estates under that figure can use the simplified process or affidavit covered above instead of full probate.

Do I need a probate attorney in Virginia?

Not always. If the estate qualifies for the simplified process covered above, many people handle it without a lawyer. Hire one for full probate, a contested will, or property in more than one state. Before you hire anyone, know the fee structures: hourly, flat, and (in a few states) statutory percentages. Our probate attorney cost guide covers what each should run you.

Does Virginia allow transfer-on-death deeds?

Yes. Virginia authorizes the transfer on death deed under Va. Code sections 64.2-621 to 64.2-638 (Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act). Record it while you’re alive and the property passes to your named beneficiary at death, outside probate, revocable any time before then. Virginia adopted the uniform act in 2013; the deed must be recorded before death and is revocable at any time while the owner is alive.

Source: Va. Code sections 64.2-621 to 64.2-638 (Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act) ↗

Time off work after a death in Virginia

Virginia doesn't require a private employer to give bereavement leave, paid or unpaid. Whatever you get is your employer's policy, and it can be changed or refused.

Who it covers. No employer is covered. Virginia has no leave-mandate statute of any kind for private employers.

How much. None required.

Paid or unpaid. n/a

Virginia mandates nothing for a death in the family, paid or unpaid, at any employer size. The state's only job-protected leave for most workers is the federal FMLA, which does not cover bereavement. Virginia's separate leave statutes are narrow and unrelated: jury duty, military service, and crime-victim court attendance. No Virginia locality can fill the gap either, because Virginia is a Dillon Rule state and localities have no independent authority to impose employment-leave mandates.

Source: Code of Virginia, Title 40.1 (Labor and Employment), chapter list; Virginia Department of Labor and Industry, Virginia Labor Laws ↗

Can I leave money to care for my pet in Virginia?

Yes. Virginia enforces pet trusts under Va. Code § 64.2-726, so money you set aside for an animal is legally binding on whoever you put in charge of it. The trust ends when your animal dies, or when the last of them dies if you covered more than one. Virginia sets no year limit, so an animal that outlives you by decades stays covered. Whoever you name in the trust enforces it, and if you name nobody a court appoints someone. Anyone who cares about your animal can ask the court to appoint an enforcer or to remove one who isn't doing the job. Virginia gives that person the same rights a beneficiary has, including accountings and notices from the trustee, and an enforcer the court appoints can be paid a reasonable amount out of the trust. A judge can cut the amount back if the trust holds more than your animal's care requires. Unless your trust says where the extra should go, it comes back to you if you're living; after your death it follows the residuary clause of whichever document set the animal trust up, your will or your living trust, and otherwise goes to whoever inherits from you. Virginia lets the trust keep paying after your animal dies, for its burial and for any bills the trust still owes, but only if the trust document says so. Write that in, along with the caretaker, the person who enforces the trust, and a backup for each, because the statute won't pick any of them for you.

Source: Va. Code § 64.2-726 ↗

How to set one up, and what it costs →

Die without a will in Virginia and this law picks your heirs.

If you die intestate (without a valid will) in Virginia, Va. Code § 64.2-200 decides who inherits everything a will would have covered. The shares depend on exactly who survives you: spouse, children, parents, siblings. What you told people you wanted doesn't matter. Only a signed will changes these defaults.

What your spouse gets.

What your spouse inherits depends on who else survives you. The four common family shapes:

• -Spouse only (no descendants or parents): everything.
• -Spouse + parents (no descendants): everything; parents get nothing.
• -Spouse + joint descendants: everything.
• -Spouse + blended family: one-third to the spouse; two-thirds to the decedent's children and their descendants.
• -Source: Va. Code § 64.2-200

Children's shares.

The decedent's children and their descendants take everything.

No spouse, no children: the line of succession.

After descendants the estate goes to the parents, then to siblings and their descendants, then splits half to each parent's kindred (grandparents, aunts and uncles, great-grandparents, and so on without end); if neither parent has kindred it goes to the kindred of the decedent's most recent spouse, and only then does it escheat to the Commonwealth (Title 55.1, ch. 24).

At a Glance

Virginia Advance Medical Directive.

Virginia recognizes an Advance Medical Directive under Va. Code 54.1-2983. This combined document can appoint a healthcare agent and specify your wishes for end-of-life care.

Healthcare Agent.

The Virginia advance directive can designate a healthcare agent to make medical decisions when you can't. The agent can make decisions in any situation where you lack capacity, not just terminal illness.

VAPOST (Virginia Physician Orders for Scope of Treatment).

Virginia uses the VAPOST form for seriously ill patients. The VAPOST is a medical order signed by a physician that provides specific instructions for CPR, medical interventions, and artificial nutrition.

Where do I get Virginia's advance directive form?

Start with Va. Code 54.1-2983 et seq. (Virginia Advance Medical Directive Act), linked as this section's source. Use the current form or sample that the official source provides or identifies. Form authority and execution requirements vary by state, so confirm the source before signing and get legal help if your situation or the instructions are unclear.

Does Virginia require a notary or witnesses for an advance directive?

Virginia requires 2 adult witnesses; notarization isn’t required. Anyone 18 or older of sound mind can make one.

At a Glance

Cremation regulations.

Virginia has no waiting period before cremation. What it has is two gates. First, no body may be cremated until the Chief Medical Examiner, an Assistant Chief Medical Examiner, or an appointed medical examiner certifies there's no further need for medicolegal inquiry into the death (Va. Code 32.1-309.3). Second, the crematory needs a signed cremation authorization form and visual identification of the deceased by the next of kin or their representative (Va. Code 54.1-2818.1). Crematories are registered and inspected by the Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers within the Department of Health Professions. If a crematory can't cremate within 24 hours of taking custody, it has to refrigerate the body at about 40 degrees Fahrenheit or less unless the body was embalmed (18VAC65-20-436).

Right of disposition.

Va. Code 54.1-2800 sets the order of next of kin: the person you designated under Va. Code 54.1-2825, then the legal spouse, adult children, parents, adult siblings, guardians of minor children or minor siblings, maternal grandparents, paternal grandparents, maternal and paternal adult siblings, and then any other relative in descending order of blood relationship.

Green burial.

Green burial is permitted in Virginia. Natural burial is allowed at cemeteries that permit it. Virginia has several dedicated green burial grounds.

Who decides what happens to the body in Virginia

Virginia sets this order by statute. The first person on the list who is available and willing decides, and a funeral home takes its instructions from them.

1. designated agent under § 54.1-2825 (signed, notarized writing accepted in writing by the designee): 'shall have priority over all persons otherwise entitled'
2. legal spouse
3. child aged 18 years or older
4. parent of a decedent aged 18 years or older
5. custodial parent or noncustodial parent of a decedent younger than 18
6. siblings over 18 years of age
7. guardian of minor child
8. guardian of minor siblings
9. maternal grandparents
10. paternal grandparents
11. maternal siblings over 18 and paternal siblings over 18
12. any other relative in the descending order of blood relationship

Naming someone in advance. Va. Code § 54.1-2825(A): a signed and notarized writing that the designee has accepted in writing. It is a standalone designation, not part of the advance directive, and it only defeats the family if a copy reaches the funeral service establishment and the cemetery within 48 hours after the establishment receives the remains. § 54.1-2825(B) separately recognizes a U.S. Department of Defense Record of Emergency Data (DD Form 93) or successor form for a person who dies while serving in the armed forces as defined in 10 U.S.C. § 1481. § 54.1-2807.02 also recognizes an agent named in an advance directive under § 54.1-2984 as an authorized decision-maker where there is no next of kin.

When the same tier disagrees. Va. Code § 54.1-2807.01: absent a § 54.1-2825 designation, any of the next of kin may petition the circuit court where the decedent resided to determine which of them has authority. The court considers the decedent's expressed wishes, the legal and factual relationship among the disputing next of kin and between each of them and the decedent, and any other relevant factor. At least one next of kin must notify the funeral service establishment of the dispute within 48 hours of its receiving the remains, at which point the establishment must immediately stop arrangements until the family agrees or a court rules; after 30 days with no written agreement or court order it may proceed on any next of kin's authorization or under § 54.1-2807.02. The disputing parties are responsible for the costs the establishment incurs holding the body.

In Virginia, the code defines who counts as next of kin in a listed sequence but prefixes it with 'regardless of the relationship to the decedent,' and § 54.1-2807(B) says the directions of any next of kin govern, so the statute does not enforce a strict tier-by-tier rank the way Utah, Wisconsin, or West Virginia do. Only the § 54.1-2825 designee is given express statutory priority over everyone else, and real conflicts are resolved by circuit court petition rather than by counting a majority within a tier.

Source: Va. Code § 54.1-2800 (definition of 'next of kin'), § 54.1-2807(B) (authority and directions of next of kin govern), § 54.1-2825 (Person to make arrangements for funeral and disposition of remains), § 54.1-2807.01 (When next of kin disagree), § 54.1-2807.02 (Absence of next of kin) ↗

If you can't afford the funeral in Virginia

Three separate pots of money, on three different agencies' websites, collected nowhere. A family that qualifies for all three usually claims none of them.

1. When nobody can pay. There's no statewide indigent burial program. Virginia handles it locality by locality under Va. Code § 32.1-309.2, 'Disposition of unclaimed dead body; how expenses paid.' The old sections families used to be pointed to, §§ 32.1-284 and 32.1-288, were repealed effective March 7, 2014. Families find help through their local department of social services, listed at https://www.dss.virginia.gov/localagency/. The county or city itself. The primary law-enforcement agency notifies the county or city attorney, a court authorizes a funeral service establishment to take the body, and the locality pays. Local departments of social services are the front door for benefit help.

What it pays. not published. The statute says the responsible jurisdiction bears the 'reasonable expenses of disposition' and the court must approve the expenses before payment. It names no dollar figure, so the amount varies by locality.

What disqualifies you. The body is unclaimed: law enforcement can't identify next of kin within 10 days, or the family refuses to claim within 10 days of notice. The locality that pays is the county or city where the person lived, or where the death happened if they weren't a Virginia resident or their residence is unknown. Any estate or nonprobate assets are 'seized for such purpose' first.

The official page ↗

2. If the death was caused by a crime. 'expenses directly related to funeral or burial, not to exceed $10,000' (Va. Code § 19.2-368.11:1). The overall cap: payments 'shall not exceed $35,000 in the aggregate.'

Virginia crime victim compensation ↗

3. Money the person was already owed. Search Virginia's unclaimed property before you borrow anything. Searching and claiming are free.

Virginia unclaimed property ↗

Nobody hands the family a check here. The locality pays a funeral home the court has approved, and it only kicks in once the body counts as unclaimed, which takes 10 days. If the person left any assets at all, those get taken first to cover the cost.

At a Glance

No Virginia estate tax.

Before July 1, 2007, Virginia had an estate tax equal to the federal credit for state death taxes. The federal credit was eliminated, which effectively repealed the Virginia tax. Virginia Tax's own words: 'Today, Virginia no longer has an estate tax.'

No Virginia inheritance tax, with one leftover exception.

Beneficiaries inheriting from a Virginia decedent pay no state inheritance tax. Virginia Tax does flag one exception it hasn't retired: certain remainder interests are still subject to the inheritance tax. If someone died holding a life estate and the remainder is now falling in, ask a Virginia attorney before assuming there's nothing to pay. Virginia Tax points to the 'Virginia Estate and Inheritance Taxes' section of Public Document 15-93 for the detail.

Federal estate tax.

Virginia residents are still subject to the federal estate tax. The federal exemption is $15 million per individual in 2026.

Does Virginia have an estate tax?

No. Virginia has no state estate tax. Only the federal estate tax applies, and only to estates over $15 million per person (2026), $30 million for a married couple.

Does Virginia have an inheritance tax?

No. Virginia doesn’t tax inheritances. Heirs owe no state tax on what they receive.

What is the federal estate tax exemption for 2026?

$15 million per person, $30 million for a married couple, indexed for inflation. The Working Families Tax Cuts Bill (Public Law 119-21, 2025) made the higher exemption permanent. Estates below the threshold owe no federal estate tax.

At a Glance

The Virginia Donor Registry.

Virginia maintains a donor registry through Donate Life Virginia. Registration through the Virginia DMV when obtaining or renewing a driver's license is the most common method.

Your family can't override an adult donor's decision.

Under the Virginia Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, a registered donor's decision is legally binding, and nobody else can amend or revoke the gift after your death (Va. Code 32.1-291.8). One exception: if the donor is an unemancipated minor, a parent who is reasonably available can revoke or amend the gift (Va. Code 32.1-291.8(G)). Organ procurement organizations still consult families in practice, so tell your family what you decided to reduce conflict and delays.

Source: Va. Code § 32.1-291.8 (Preclusive effect of anatomical gift, amendment, or revocation) ↗

How to register.

Register online at donatelifevirginia.org, at any Virginia DMV location, or by completing a donor card.

• -Online: donatelifevirginia.org
• -At the Virginia DMV when renewing your license
• -Donor card: available from Donate Life Virginia