Author Archives: Gregory Bean

In Virginia, real property given by will generally passes immediately upon the probating of the will after the death of the owner. A probated will has the same effect as a deed in passing title to the beneficiaries. However, if the will gives any interest in the land to the executor (for example, if the will gives the property to the executor to sell), then the property will pass to the estate “in trust” for distribution. Real property may also be devised with certain restrictions on use. Questions may arise when the language in the will is ambiguous. For example, a will may give …

Because Virginia General District Courts are not courts of record, there is little literature or case law surrounding jurisdictional issues in these Courts. Questions regarding the jurisdictions of appeals from General District Courts to Circuit Courts are sometimes difficult to answer. Most General District Court cases can be appealed to Circuit Court pursuant to Virginia Code § 16.1-106, and those appeals are heard de novo (i.e. the Circuit Court looks at the case with a clean slate as if it had never before been heard). However, where a General District Court case is dismissed on a jurisdictional motion by the …

The statute of limitations for breach of fiduciary duty in Virginia is two years. Colgate v. Disthene Grp., Inc., 86 Va. Cir. 218 (Va. Cir. 2013); see Virginia Code §§ 8.01-243, 248.  However, Virginia Code § 8.01–229(D) tolls the statute of limitations where a defendant obstructs the filing of an action.  To prevail on this argument, a plaintiff must allege that the defendant “undertook an affirmative act designed or intended, directly or indirectly, to obstruct [the plaintiffs’] right to file [their] action.” Newman v. Walker, 270 Va. 291, 298, 618 S.E.2d 336 (2005). A defendant must intend to conceal the discovery of the …