Virginia Estate Planning Basics: The Documents Every Adult Needs

Estate planning in Virginia comes down to a few documents that decide who handles your affairs, who inherits your property, and who speaks for you if you cannot speak for yourself. Most adults need three core pieces: a will, a durable financial power of attorney, and an advance directive for health care. Many people add a revocable living trust on top.

This guide gives you the plain-language overview. It covers each core document, how probate works in Virginia, the small-estate limits, the state tax picture, and what happens if you die with no will. Each state guide linked below goes deeper on one topic.

Use this page as a planning map, not as legal advice. Virginia courts apply these statutes to the facts of each estate, and a small mistake at signing can put a document at risk. When property, a blended family, or a possible dispute is involved, confirm your plan with a licensed Virginia attorney before you sign.

Why Planning Matters in Virginia

Here is what a basic plan does for you and your family:

• You choose who inherits, instead of leaving it to a statute.
• You name the person who settles your estate and the person who raises your minor children.
• You name someone to manage your money and your medical care if you become unable to.
• You can keep your family out of a court guardianship fight and shorten the work after death.

Without a plan, Virginia law fills the gaps. A statute decides who inherits. A judge may decide who manages your finances and care during incapacity. Your family carries more cost, delay, and uncertainty than they need to.

The Three Core Documents

1. Last Will and Testament

A will is the foundation of most Virginia plans. It names who receives your probate property, names an executor to settle the estate, and names a guardian for your minor children. It can also set up a trust for a young or vulnerable beneficiary.

Virginia sets a short list of rules for a valid will under the Code of Virginia, Title 64.2, Chapter 4:

• The maker must be at least 18 and of sound mind (Va. Code 64.2-401).
• A typed or printed will must be in writing, signed by the maker, and signed by two competent witnesses who are present at the same time. The witnesses then sign in the maker's presence (Va. Code 64.2-403).
• Virginia also recognizes a wholly handwritten will, called a holographic will, with no witnesses, if the writing and signature are in the maker's own hand.
• A will can be made self-proving so the witnesses do not have to appear at probate (Va. Code 64.2-452 and 64.2-453).

The two-witness rule is the part that trips up homemade wills, so read the Virginia will requirements guide before you sign anything. A will does not avoid probate and does not help during incapacity, which is why it works alongside the other documents below.

2. Durable Financial Power of Attorney

A financial power of attorney lets a person you trust, called your agent, handle money matters if you cannot. That covers banking, bills, real estate, taxes, and benefits. Without one, your family may have to ask a court for a conservatorship to manage your finances, which costs time and money.

Virginia follows the Uniform Power of Attorney Act in Title 64.2, Chapter 16. Two points matter most:

• A Virginia power of attorney is durable by default. It survives your later incapacity unless the document says it ends at incapacity (Va. Code 64.2-1602).
• The principal must sign, and a signature is presumed genuine when acknowledged before a notary. Notarization is the practical standard and is needed to record a power of attorney used for real estate (Va. Code 64.2-1603).

Some powers are strong enough that the document has to grant them in plain words. These include making gifts, creating or changing survivorship and beneficiary designations, and creating or changing a trust (Va. Code 64.2-1622). The Virginia power of attorney guide walks through what to grant and how third parties must accept the document.

3. Advance Directive for Health Care

An advance directive is Virginia's health care document. One witnessed writing can do two jobs: it can give instructions about the care you do or do not want, and it can name a health care agent to make decisions when you cannot make them yourself. Virginia folds the living will and the medical agent into this single document.

The rules sit in the Health Care Decisions Act, Title 54.1, Chapter 29, Article 8:

• A written advance directive must be signed by you in the presence of two subscribing witnesses (Va. Code 54.1-2983).
• Section 54.1-2984 offers an optional suggested form you can follow.
• Notarization is not required by statute, but it is recommended to limit disputes and help with recognition outside Virginia.

If you never sign one, Virginia law lets a default surrogate decide, usually a spouse, then an adult child, then a parent, in a set order. Naming your own agent keeps the choice in your hands. The Virginia advance directive guide covers the form and the surrogate rules.

Should You Add a Revocable Living Trust?

A revocable living trust holds your assets during life and passes them at death without probate for whatever the trust owns. You stay in control as trustee while you are able, and a successor trustee steps in at incapacity or death.

A trust is not required, and many Virginia estates do not need one. Virginia probate is handled by the Clerk of the Circuit Court rather than a drawn-out court case, and the state probate tax is low. A trust still helps when you own out-of-state real estate, want privacy, want smooth management during incapacity, or have a complex family situation. The Virginia living trust guide compares the trust route to plain probate, and the national will vs trust guide explains the trade-off in general terms.

How Probate Works in Virginia

Probate in Virginia is the process of proving a will, qualifying an executor or administrator, paying debts and taxes, and distributing what is left. Here is the basic shape:

• The executor named in the will (or an administrator if there is no will) qualifies before the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the city or county where the person lived.
• The Clerk issues a certificate of qualification that proves the executor's authority to banks and others.
• A Commissioner of Accounts, appointed by the court, reviews the inventory and accountings rather than a judge supervising every step.
• The estate pays valid debts, files final tax returns, and distributes the remaining assets to heirs or beneficiaries.

Only probate property goes through this process. Assets with a named beneficiary, a payable-on-death tag, survivorship rights, or trust ownership usually pass outside probate. The Virginia probate guide covers the steps, the timeline, and the costs in detail.

Virginia Small-Estate Limits

Virginia gives smaller estates two simpler paths so the family can avoid full administration. Keep the two limits straight, because they use different numbers:

Both paths require that 60 days have passed since death and that no personal representative has qualified or has an application pending. The Virginia small estate affidavit guide walks through the affidavit, and the collecting a single small asset guide covers the one-asset shortcut.

Does Virginia Have an Estate or Inheritance Tax?

Here is the good news. Virginia has no state estate tax and no state inheritance tax. The state estate tax was repealed for deaths on or after July 1, 2007, per the Virginia Department of Taxation. No beneficiary owes a Virginia inheritance tax.

A few taxes can still touch an estate:

• Virginia charges a state probate tax when a will is admitted or administration is granted. The rate is 10 cents per $100 of estate value, and estates of $15,000 or less are exempt (Va. Code 58.1-1712). A local probate tax of up to one-third of that amount may also apply.
• The decedent may owe a final Virginia income tax return, and estate income may need a Virginia fiduciary return.
• Federal estate tax applies only to very large estates. The federal exclusion is $15 million per person for deaths in 2026, per the IRS, so most estates owe nothing.

The Virginia probate costs guide breaks down the probate tax and the clerk's fees you should expect.

Who Inherits If You Have No Will

If you die without a valid will, Virginia's intestacy statute decides who inherits your probate property under Title 64.2, Chapter 2. The core rules in Va. Code 64.2-200 work like this:

• If you leave a spouse and no descendants, or all of your descendants are also your spouse's, your spouse inherits everything.
• If you leave a descendant who is not also your spouse's child, your spouse takes one-third and your descendants share the other two-thirds.
• If you leave no spouse, the estate passes to your children and their descendants, then to your parents, then to your siblings and their descendants, and on to more distant relatives.

This is a default, and it may not match what you would choose. Stepchildren are not heirs unless adopted, and unmarried partners and friends inherit nothing under intestacy. A will or trust replaces these defaults with your own choices. The Virginia intestate succession guide shows how each family situation plays out.

How These Documents Fit Into Your Estate Plan

Each document covers a different moment, and they work as a set:

• The durable power of attorney and the advance directive protect you while you are alive but unable to act.
• The will and any revocable living trust direct your property after death.
• A guardian named in your will protects your minor children, and planning ahead with a power of attorney and advance directive can keep you out of an adult guardianship case. See the Virginia guardianship planning guide.

Beneficiary designations on life insurance, retirement accounts, and bank accounts sit beside all of this. They pass outside your will, so review them after every marriage, divorce, birth, or death. Outdated beneficiaries are one of the most common ways a careful plan goes wrong.

Getting Started

You do not have to do everything at once. A sensible order looks like this:

1. List what you own and roughly what it is worth.
2. Decide who should inherit, who should be your executor, who should raise your children, and who should be your financial and medical agents.
3. Sign the three core documents: a will, a durable power of attorney, and an advance directive.
4. Check the beneficiary designations on your accounts and insurance.
5. Tell your executor and agents where the documents are.
6. Review the plan every few years and after any major life change.

For the bigger picture across all states, the national estate planning overview shows how these pieces connect.

The Bottom Line

Most Virginia adults need three documents: a will, a durable financial power of attorney, and an advance directive. Add a revocable living trust if your situation calls for it. Virginia keeps probate with the Clerk of the Circuit Court, offers small-estate shortcuts at $35,000 and $75,000, and charges no state estate or inheritance tax. Sign the core documents while you are healthy, keep your beneficiaries current, and review the plan as life changes.

Official Sources

• Code of Virginia, Title 64.2, Chapter 4 (Wills), Virginia General Assembly, https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title64.2/chapter4/
• Code of Virginia, Title 64.2, Chapter 16 (Uniform Power of Attorney Act), Virginia General Assembly, https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacodefull/title64.2/chapter16/
• Code of Virginia, Title 54.1, Chapter 29, Article 8 (Health Care Decisions Act), Virginia General Assembly, https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/54.1-2983/
• Code of Virginia, Title 64.2, Chapter 2 (Descent and Distribution), Virginia General Assembly, https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title64.2/chapter2/
• Code of Virginia, Title 64.2, Chapter 6 (Small estates), Virginia General Assembly, https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title64.2/chapter6/section64.2-601/
• Probate in Virginia, Virginia Judicial System, https://www.vacourts.gov/courts/circuit/resources/probate_in_virginia.pdf
• Estate and Inheritance Taxes, Virginia Department of Taxation, https://www.tax.virginia.gov/estate-and-inheritance-taxes

Sources

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Consult a qualified attorney about your situation. It is not legal advice.