---
type: "Bill"
title: "Foreign divorce decrees; exercise of power by courts of the Commonwealth, non-domiciled party."
description: "Foreign divorce decrees; exercise of power by courts of the Commonwealth; non-domiciled party. Provides that a court of the Commonwealth with proper jurisdiction may exercise certain powers relating to a foreign decree dissolving a marriage or granting a divorce from the bond of matrimony if a proceeding is initiated by a non-domiciled party to such divorce, provided that the party domiciled in the Commonwealth is still domiciled in the Commonwealth at the commencement of an action."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 1406"
citation: "Virginia HB 1406 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Virgil Thornton"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 26
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2026-01-22"
last_action: "2026-04-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/1700dabb-5f7e-45c0-a663-73b7e220944f"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB1406"
source_hash: "fb5ed74d2e0b8357055c5607736135db12f0ada4b260e1acf364716cbf36edd2"
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 HB 1406 (2026) — Foreign divorce decrees; exercise of power by courts of the Commonwealth, non-domiciled party.

Foreign divorce decrees; exercise of power by courts of the Commonwealth; non-domiciled party. Provides that a court of the Commonwealth with proper jurisdiction may exercise certain powers relating to a foreign decree dissolving a marriage or granting a divorce from the bond of matrimony if a proceeding is initiated by a non-domiciled party to such divorce, provided that the party domiciled in the Commonwealth is still domiciled in the Commonwealth at the commencement of an action.

## Version chain

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

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1093730.PDF)
2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1218094.PDF)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1210758.PDF)

## Votes

- Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting — **10–0** (pass) · lower
- H VOTE: — **96–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- Passage R — **40–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Virgil Thornton — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-22** Presented and ordered printed 26103533D `introduction`
- **2026-01-22** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-03** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1406)
- **2026-02-05** Assigned HCJ sub: Civil `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-09** Subcommittee recommends reporting (10-Y 0-N)
- **2026-02-11** Reported from Courts of Justice (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-13** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-16** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2026-02-17** Read third time and passed House (97-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-18** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
- **2026-02-18** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-05** Reported from Courts of Justice (14-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-09** Rules suspended
- **2026-03-09** Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-03-09** Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
- **2026-03-10** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-03-10** Passed Senate Block Vote (40-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-03-30** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-03-30** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1406ER) `passage`
- **2026-03-30** Signed by President `passage`
- **2026-03-31** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1406)
- **2026-03-31** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-03-31** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-31** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-08** Approved by Governor-Chapter 470 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-08** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0470)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/1700dabb-5f7e-45c0-a663-73b7e220944f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).