---
type: "Bill"
title: "No-fault divorce; gender-neutral terminology."
description: "No-fault divorce; gender-neutral terminology.Replaces the terms \"husband\" and \"wife\" with gender-neutral termsin the no-fault divorce statute."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "SB 247"
citation: "Virginia SB 247 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Scott A. Surovell"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 26
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2020-01-02"
last_action: "2020-03-10"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/0ab4248e-9c61-43bf-bd26-c7be5d04f316"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SB247"
source_hash: "991ad8a1c99dab8027b81f3f2a0cbdb9ec42c3ac9a6797e01ec6213b826b02d2"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia SB 247 (2020) — No-fault divorce; gender-neutral terminology.

No-fault divorce; gender-neutral terminology.Replaces the terms "husband" and "wife" with gender-neutral termsin the no-fault divorce statute.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0270)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0270)
2. **Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB247ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB247ER)
3. **Engrossed by House - committee substitute SB247H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB247H1)
4. **Engrossed by House - committee substitute SB247H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB247)

## Votes

- VOTE: Passage (58-Y 42-N) — **57–42** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (13-Y 9-N) — **13–9** (pass) · lower
- House substitute agreed to by Senate (33-Y 6-N) — **33–6** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N) — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Judiciary (11-Y 0-N) — **11–0** (pass) · upper
- Read third time and passed Senate (37-Y 2-N) — **37–2** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Scott A. Surovell — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-01-02** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20100400D `introduction`
- **2020-01-02** Referred to Committee on the Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-08** Moved from Courts of Justice to Judiciary due to a change of the committee name
- **2020-01-15** Reported from Judiciary (11-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-17** Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N)
- **2020-01-20** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2020-01-21** Read third time and passed Senate (37-Y 2-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-12** Placed on Calendar
- **2020-02-12** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-12** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-14** Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (13-Y 9-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-14** Committee substitute printed 20108257D-H1 `substitution`
- **2020-02-18** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-19** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-19** Committee substitute agreed to 20108257D-H1
- **2020-02-19** Engrossed by House - committee substitute SB247H1
- **2020-02-19** Passed House with substitute (58-Y 42-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-19** VOTE: Passage (58-Y 42-N)
- **2020-02-21** House substitute agreed to by Senate (33-Y 6-N)
- **2020-02-21** Title replaced 20108257D-H1
- **2020-02-25** Enrolled
- **2020-02-25** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-02-26** Signed by President
- **2020-03-03** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on February 3, 2020
- **2020-03-03** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 10, 2020
- **2020-03-10** Approved by Governor-Chapter 270 (effective 7/1/20) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/0ab4248e-9c61-43bf-bd26-c7be5d04f316`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).