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2012 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Courts of Justice

Chairman: Thomas K. Norment, Jr.

Clerk: Angi Murphy, Cheryl Law
Staff: J. French, M. Felch, K. Walsh
Date of Meeting: January 16, 2012
Time and Place: 8:00 AM - Senate Room B
Organizational Meeting and Legislation

S.B. 8 Guardians; disposition of remains.

Patron: Lucas

Guardians; disposition of remains.  Grants both public and private guardians authority to make arrangements for the funeral and disposition of remains, including cremation, interment, entombment, memorialization, inurnment, or scattering of the cremains, or some combination thereof, if the guardian is not aware of any person that has been otherwise designated to make such arrangements.

S.B. 9 Guardianship; restriction of visitation.

Patron: Lucas

Guardianship; restriction of visitation.  Allows a guardian to restrict visitation of an incapacitated person, unless there is a previously executed advance directive or durable power of attorney specifying otherwise.

S.B. 44 Virginia State Bar; allows full-time law school professors to be admitted as an active member.

Patron: Marsh

Virginia State Bar admission for full-time law school professors.  Allows a full-time law professor to be admitted as an active member of the Virginia State Bar without examination provided that (i) he has been engaged in the full-time practice of law for five of the seven years immediately preceding application for membership to the Virginia State Bar; (ii) he is employed as a full-time professor at an American Bar Association accredited Virginia law school; and (iii) he meets all other requirements for admission to the Virginia State Bar. The bill provides that membership is limited to the period of employment as a full-time professor.

S.B. 59 Injunctions; requirement for bond.

Patron: Obenshain

Injunctions; requirement for bond.  Requires a moving party to post bond only for temporary injunctions. Under current law, a bond is required for both temporary and permanent injunctions. This bill is a recommendation of the Boyd-Graves Conference.

S.B. 60 Divorce; failure to respond by defendant.

Patron: Obenshain

Divorce; service of process; failure to respond. Provides that if a defendant fails to file an answer in a divorce suit or otherwise appear after having been served with notice of the suit, no additional notice to take depositions is required to be served on the defendant and the court may enter any order or final decree without notice to the defendant. This bill is a recommendation of the Boyd-Graves Conference.

S.B. 89 Exemptions from garnishment.

Patron: Howell

Exemptions from garnishment.  Corrects the form listing garnishment exemptions by replacing the reference to "rent or services of a laborer or mechanic" with "spousal or child support" to reflect amendments made in 1990 (Acts, Ch. 942) that were never incorporated into the form. This bill also contains technical amendments. This bill is a recommendation of the Committee on District Courts.

S.B. 90 Definition of private investigator; out-of-state private security services.

Patron: Howell

Definition of private investigator; out-of-state private security services.  Allows a private security services business licensed by another state to contract with a private security services business licensed by the Commonwealth to act as a private investigator for a specific investigation.

S.B. 94 Rules of Evidence; adoption.

Patron: Edwards

Rules of Evidence; adoption. Provides that the Rules of Evidence (available here ) that have been prepared and adopted by the Supreme Court of Virginia and approved by the Virginia Code Commission shall take effect on July 1, 2012. The bill also repeals current evidentiary provisions in the Code of Virginia that are included in the Rules of Evidence. This bill is a recommendation of the Virginia Code Commission.

S.B. 95 Mandatory judicial retirement; increases age from 70 to 73.

Patron: Edwards

Mandatory judicial retirement. Increases the mandatory retirement age under the Judicial Retirement System from 70 years of age to 73 years of age. This is a recommendation of the Judicial Council.

S.B. 109 Land trusts; successor trustee.

Patron: Edwards

Land trusts; successor trustee.  Provides that the beneficiaries of a land trust, by majority decision, shall name a successor trustee when the trustee named in the deed of conveyance creating the trust is unable to serve if no successor trustee is named in the deed or designated by the trust instrument or no procedure to designate a successor trustee is set forth in the deed or trust instrument.

S.B. 110 Irrevocable trusts; trustee's power to appoint assets into second trust.

Patron: Edwards

Irrevocable trusts; trustee's power to appoint assets into second trust.  Authorizes the trustee of an irrevocable trust to appoint all or part of the principal or income of a trust into a second trust for the benefit of the beneficiaries of the original trust.

S.B. 115 Revision of Title 64.1.

Patron: McDougle

Revision of Title 64.1.  Creates proposed Title 64.2 (Wills, Trusts, and Fiduciaries) as a revision of existing Titles 26 (Fiduciaries Generally), 31 (Guardian and Ward), and 64.1 (Wills and Decedents' Estates), as well as portions of Titles 37.2 (Behavioral Health and Developmental Services) and 55 (Property and Conveyances). Proposed Title 64.2 consists of 27 chapters divided into five subtitles: Subtitle I (General Provisions); Subtitle II (Wills and Decedents' Estates); Subtitle III (Trusts); Subtitle IV (Fiduciaries and Guardians); and Subtitle V (Provisions Applicable to Probate and Nonprobate Transfers). Subtitle I consists of title-wide definitions and provisions that are broadly applicable to wills, trusts, and fiduciaries. Subtitle II addresses the descent of property either through intestate succession or by will, including nonprobate transfers. Subtitle III contains various uniform acts enacted in Virginia dealing with the creation and management of trusts. Subtitle IV deals with various fiduciary relationships, including powers of attorney, guardianships of minors and incapacitated adults, and the commissioners of accounts. Subtitle V contains provisions that are applicable to both probate and nonprobate transfers. This bill is a recommendation of the Virginia Code Commission.

S.B. 116 Court costs, fines, etc.

Patron: McDougle

Court costs, fines, etc.  Extends from 15 to 30 the number of days a person has to pay fines, costs, etc., before collection activity can begin or a driver's license can be suspended.

S.B. 164 Fraudulent and voluntary conveyances; power of court to set aside; sanctions.

Patron: Petersen

Fraudulent and voluntary conveyances; power of court to set aside; sanctions.  Authorizes the court to set aside a fraudulent or voluntary conveyance during an action brought by a creditor to execute on a judgment, either on the motion of the creditor or on its own motion. The bill also allows the court to assess sanctions, including attorney fees, against any party found to have knowingly engaged in a fraudulent conveyance.

S.B. 180 Protection of certain trustees from liability.

Patron: Stuart

Protection of certain trustees from liability.  Provides for the protection of a trustee from liability when he follows the directions of a trust director or fails to act while awaiting directions from a trust director. The bill specifies that the trust director must be fiduciary and have the power to direct the trustee on any matter. The provisions of this bill only apply upon incorporation into the trust instrument.

S.B. 197 Attorney General; allowed to represent in civil matters a person appointed by circuit court judge.

Patron: Marsden

Representation by Attorney General.  Allows the Attorney General to represent in civil matters a person appointed by a circuit court judge to act as the judge's agent in the execution of a lawful court order.

S.B. 249 Marriage ceremonies; performance by commissioned lay pastors.

Patron: Obenshain

Marriage ceremonies; performance by commissioned lay pastors.  Allows commissioned lay pastors to obtain an order granting them the authority to perform marriage ceremonies.

S.B. 270 Fiduciaries; permission to notarize a will.

Patron: Norment

Fiduciaries; permission to notarize a will.  Clarifies that a notary nominated as a fiduciary in a will shall not be disqualified from notarizing a will if he is only named in it for the purpose of being nominated as a fiduciary. Currently, a fiduciary who is named in a will is prohibited from acting as a notary, whether or not he is a party to or has a beneficial interest in the will.

S.B. 360 Hearings in the Supreme Court of Virginia; Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission.

Patron: Deeds

Hearings in the Supreme Court of Virginia; Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission.  Clarifies that the hearings allowed under the Constitution related to complaints filed by the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission are to be evidentiary hearings and that both the Commission and the judge are entitled to present evidence and argument during such hearings subject to any scheduling orders issued by the Court.