64.1-122.2 - Written notice of probate, qualification, and entitlement to copies of inventories, accounts, and reports to be provided to certain parties.
§ 64.1-122.2. Written notice of probate, qualification, and entitlement tocopies of inventories, accounts, and reports to be provided to certainparties.
A. Except as otherwise provided in this section, a personal representative ofa decedent's estate or a proponent of a decedent's will when there is noqualification, for estates of persons dying on or after January 1, 1994,shall provide written notice of qualification or probate, and notice ofentitlement to copies of wills, inventories, accounts, and reports, to thefollowing 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 § 64.1-64.1 and beneficiaries of any trustcreated by the will; and
4. All living and ascertained beneficiaries under any will of the decedentpreviously probated in the same court.
B. Notice under subsection A need not be provided (i) when the known assetspassing under the will or by intestacy do not exceed $5,000 or (ii) to thefollowing 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 § 64.1-79 or §64.1-80;
4. Any person who is the subject of a conservatorship, guardianship, orcommitteeship, if notice is provided to his conservator, guardian, orcommittee;
5. Any beneficiary of a trust, other than a trust created by the decedent'swill, if notice is provided to the trustee of the trust;
6. Any heir or beneficiary who survived the decedent but is deceased at thetime of qualification or probate, and such person's successors in interest,if notice is provided to such person's personal representative;
7. Any minor for whom no guardian has been appointed, if notice is providedto his parent or person in loco parentis;
8. Any beneficiary of a pecuniary bequest or of a bequest of tangiblepersonal property, provided in either case the beneficiary is not an heir atlaw and the value of the bequest is not in excess of $5,000; 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 aproponent of a will;
3. The mailing address of the clerk of the court in which the personalrepresentative qualified or the will was probated;
4. A statement as follows: "This notice does not mean that you will receiveany money or property";
5. A statement as follows: "If personal representatives qualified on thisestate, they are required by law to file an inventory with the commissionerof accounts within four months after they qualify in the clerk's office, tofile an account within sixteen months of their qualification, and to fileadditional accounts within sixteen months from the date of their last accountperiod until the estate is settled. If you make written request therefor tothe personal representatives, they must mail copies of these documents (notincluding any supporting vouchers, but including a copy of the decedent'swill) to you at the same time the inventory or account is filed with thecommissioner of accounts unless (i) you would take only as an heir at law ina case where all of the decedent'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 specificfiling or to all filings to be made by the personal representative, but itwill not be effective for filings made prior to its receipt by a personalrepresentative. A copy of your request may be sent to the commissioner ofaccounts with whom the filings will be made. After the commissioner ofaccounts has completed work on an account filed by a personal representative,the commissioner files it and a report thereon in the clerk's office of thecourt wherein the personal representative qualified. If you make writtenrequest therefor to the commissioner before this filing, the commissionermust 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's office"; and
6. The mailing address of the commissioner of accounts with whom theinventory and accounts must be filed by the personal representatives, if theyare required.
D. Within thirty days after the date of qualification or admission of thewill to probate, a personal representative or proponent of the will shallforward notice by delivery or by first class mail, postage prepaid, to thepersons entitled to notice at their last known address. If the personalrepresentative or proponent does not determine that the assets of thedecedent passing under the will or by intestacy exceed $5,000 until after thedate of the qualification or admission of the will to probate, notice shallbe forwarded to the persons entitled thereto within thirty days after suchdetermination.
E. Failure to give the notice required by this section shall not of itself(i) affect the validity of the probate of a decedent's will, nor (ii) renderany person required to give notice, who has acted in good faith, liable toany person entitled to receive notice. In determining the limitation periodfor any rights that may commence upon or accrue by reason of such probate orqualification in favor of any entitled person, the time that elapses from thedate that notice should have been given to the date that notice is givenshall not be counted, unless the person required to give notice could notdetermine the name and address of the entitled person after the exercise ofreasonable diligence.
F. The personal representative or proponent of the will shall record withinfour months in the clerk's office where the will is recorded an affidavitstating (i) the names and addresses of the persons to whom he has mailed ordelivered notice and when the notice was mailed or delivered to each or (ii)that no notice was required to be given to any person. A commissioner ofaccounts shall not approve any settlement filed by a personal representativeuntil the affidavit described in this subsection has been recorded. If thepersonal representative of an estate, or the proponent of a will, is unableto determine the name and address of any person to whom notice is requiredafter the exercise of reasonable diligence, a statement to that effect in therequired affidavit shall be sufficient for purposes of this subsection.Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, any person having an interest in anestate may give the notice required by this section and record the affidavitdescribed in this subsection. If this subsection has not been complied withwithin four months after qualification, the Commissioner of Accounts shallissue, through the sheriff or other proper officer, a summons to suchfiduciary requiring him to comply and if he shall not, the Commissioner shallenforce the filing of the affidavit in the manner set forth in § 26-13.
G. The form of the notice to be given hereunder, which shall containappropriate instructions regarding its use, shall be provided to each clerkof the circuit court by the Office of the Executive Secretary of the SupremeCourt and each clerk shall provide copies of such form to the proponents of awill or those qualifying on an estate.
(1993, c. 4; 2001, cc. 78, 265; 2002, c. 716.)