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ACROSS SESSIONS
- Subject Index: Since 1995
- Bills & Resolutions: Since 1994
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2009 SESSION
Edwards (Chairman), Quayle, Lucas, Puller, Cuccinelli, Obenshain, Deeds
Clerk: Angi Murphy
Staff: J. French, M. Felch, K. Stokes
Date of Meeting: January 15, 2009
Time and Place: 3:00 PM, 3rd Floor East Conference Room
Patron: Ticer
Nonresident decedents' personal property in Virginia. Clarifies that a transferor of a nonresident decedent's stocks, bonds, securities, money or tangible personal property held in Virginia may comply with either the law of Virginia or the law of the state or country in which the nonresident decedent was domiciled regarding the transfer of the decedent's property held in Virginia.
Patron: Puller
Foreign service officers. Provides that any foreign service officer of the United States who (i) at the time the suit for annulment or divorce is commenced is stationed in any territory or foreign country and (ii) was domiciled in the Commonwealth for the six-month period immediately preceding his being stationed in such territory or country, shall be deemed to have been domiciled in and to have been a bona fide resident of the Commonwealth during the six months preceding commencement of a suit for annulment or divorce. The bill also expands the list of when personal jurisdiction of a person may be exercised to include a cause of action arising from a person having executed an agreement in the Commonwealth which obligates the person to pay spousal support or child support to a person who has satisfied the residency requirements in suits for annulments or divorce for foreign service officers of the United States.
Patron: Locke
Intestate succession; desertion by parents. Provides that if a parent is barred from inheriting from his child through intestate succession because he had willfully deserted or abandoned the child, no person may inherit from the child's estate through intestate succession where the person's only claim on the estate is through the parent who deserted or abandoned the child, unless the person had openly treated the child as his kin and such treatment continued until the death of the child. The bill also provides that the prohibition against a parent inheriting from a child applies regardless of whether the child was still a minor at the time of death.
Patron: Marsh
Medical malpractice limit. Raises the total amount recoverable in certain medical malpractice actions to $2,750,000 on July 1, 2009. Such amount recoverable increases on July 1 each year by the annual percent change in the medical care component of the most recent publication of the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, or by any replacement index adopted by the Department of Labor for medical costs.
Patron: Edwards
Mandatory retirement age for judges. Increases the mandatory retirement age for judges from age 70 to age 75. This is a recommendation of Judicial Council.
Patron: Edwards
Divorce; equitable distribution. Provides that unless good cause is shown that there should not be an interim distribution, the court may, upon request of either party, at any time after a request for equitable distribution has been made and prior to the final judgment of equitable distribution, enter an order providing for a partial division of marital property or a distributive award. Any such order entered shall be taken into consideration at trial and proper credit given towards the final distribution of marital property.
Patron: Smith
Payment of jury costs; civil actions. Provides that, except in cases where Virginia law mandates a trial by jury, a plaintiff who requests a jury trial in a civil case shall be assessed any jury costs if he does not substantially prevail on the merits of his case.
Patron: McEachin
Drug-related personal injury actions; limitations. Extends the two-year statute of limitations for personal injury actions in cases where the injury (i) is latent or by its nature not discoverable at the time of its occurrence and (ii) is the result of the ingestion of or exposure to a drug for a period of one year from the date the injury is discovered or reasonably should have been discovered.
Patron: McDougle
Release of deed of trust; assignment of penalty. Prohibits settlement agents and real estate attorneys from facilitating an assignment, to themselves or any person they designate, of their client's right to the $500 penalty levied on lenders that fail to timely deliver a certificate of satisfaction releasing a deed of trust.
Patron: Stuart
Incorporating powers of fiduciary into will or trust instrument; donation of conservation easements. Provides for the power of fiduciaries to donate conservation easements to obtain the benefit of certain estate tax exclusions to be incorporated in any will or trust instrument by statutory reference.
Patron: Stuart
Condemnations by public service corporations. Prohibits a public service corporation from acquiring by condemnation proceedings land or interest therein that is subject to a conservation easement. If the public service corporation owns a right-of-way in land that is subject to a conservation easement on which it has existing lines or other facilities, then it shall not expand its easement by condemning adjacent land that is subject to a conservation easement. This restriction does not prohibit a corporation from acquiring the right to install, operate, and maintain additional utility facilities within the area of its existing right-of-way or similar interest.
Patron: Stuart
Fees in civil cases. Increases the fee for filing any civil action in general district court to $100 (currently $27); and increases the fees for filing a civil action in circuit court to a sliding scale (currently, between $60 and $160): in cases seeking recovery up to $50,000 - fee is $150; up to $100,000 - $200; up to $250,000 - $300; up to $500,000 - $400; up to $1,000,000 - $500; and above $1,000,000 - $750.
Patron: Reynolds
Mileage reimbursement for circuit court judges. Repeals the section granting mileage reimbursement for circuit judges to travel to and from the courthouse each day if they do not reside in the county seat. The state budget gives circuit court judges $1,500 per year intended to cover their expenses.
Patron: Smith
Occasional remote access to land records; fee. Allows for occasional remote access to land records by the general public and sets a fee in an amount not to exceed the usual copying fee. Such occasional remote users will not be charged the $50 per month subscriber fee.
Patron: Deeds
Line of Duty Act. Amends the definition of "deceased person" under the Line of Duty Act to include an individual who suffers a fatal heart attack or stroke while engaged in delineated nonroutine stressful or strenuous situations not later than 24 hours after engaging in such activity. The bill also allows for the $100,000 payment to the beneficiary of the deceased to be annually adjusted to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index.
Patron: Obenshain
Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act; creation. Replaces current provisions in the Virginia Code (the Uniform Foreign Depositions Act) with this Uniform Act that was adopted by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws in 2007. The Act provides that a party may submit a subpoena issued by a court of record from another state to the clerk of the circuit court serving the jurisdiction in which discovery is sought in the Commonwealth. The foreign subpoena must be accompanied by a written statement that the law of the foreign jurisdiction grants reciprocal privileges for taking discovery by citizens of the Commonwealth. Upon receipt of the foreign subpoena, the clerk shall issue a subpoena for service upon the person to whom the foreign subpoena was directed. The Act further provides that the laws of the Commonwealth govern the service of the subpoena and any action brought for a protective order or to enforce, quash, or modify the subpoena. The Act also requires that the provisions of the Act may only be used by parties in jurisdictions that provide reciprocal privileges to residents of Virginia. This bill is a recommendation of the Boyd-Graves Conference.
Patron: Obenshain
Fraudulent conveyances; attorney fees. Provides that attorney fees shall be awarded to a creditor in an action where a gift; deed; conveyance, assignment, or transfer of or charge upon the estate of a debtor; suit commenced or decree, judgment, or execution suffered or obtained; or bond or other writing is declared void. The award of attorney fees shall be paid out of the proceeds of a resulting judicial sale, if any, but shall not affect a prior lien creditor not represented by the attorney. This bill is a recommendation of the Boyd-Graves Conference.
Patron: Obenshain
Acceptance of credit cards by clerks. Clarifies the language allowing the acceptance of credit cards by clerks to make it clear that the convenience fee collected is to be collected from the person presenting the card as payment and not the credit card issuer. The bill also changes the language calling this fee a service charge to a reasonable convenience fee to mirror the language used in credit contracts.
Patron: Stuart
Property conveyance. Conveys through a quitclaim any interest that the Department of Conservation and Recreation may have in certain subdivision roadways in Stafford County.