---
type: "Bill"
title: "Motor vehicle title; designation of beneficiary."
description: "Designation of beneficiary on motor vehicle title; multiple owners. Provides a process whereby a motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer with multiple owners can be titled with a designated beneficiary. The bill requires the consent of all owners and provides that the transfer of ownership would occur upon the death of the last surviving owner."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 989"
citation: "Virginia HB 989 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Amanda E. Batten"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 23
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2020-01-07"
last_action: "2020-04-09"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/cb6504b7-aece-47c5-aef8-0d16d895231e"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB989"
source_hash: "9f72d5e8d6a7576449180c5ff00812544ed9329ed67e5cd422209121169aa42f"
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 989 (2020) — Motor vehicle title; designation of beneficiary.

Designation of beneficiary on motor vehicle title; multiple owners. Provides a process whereby a motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer with multiple owners can be titled with a designated beneficiary. The bill requires the consent of all owners and provides that the transfer of ownership would occur upon the death of the last surviving owner.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0974)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0974)
2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB989ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB989ER)
3. **Impact statement from DPB (HB989)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB989)

## Votes

- VOTE: (98-Y 0-N) — **97–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Transportation (13-Y 0-N) — **13–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Transportation (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Amanda E. Batten — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-07** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20101436D `introduction`
- **2020-01-07** Referred to Committee on Transportation `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-14** Assigned Transportation sub: Motor Vehicles `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-17** Impact statement from DPB (HB989)
- **2020-01-20** Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N)
- **2020-01-23** Reported from Transportation (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-27** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-01-28** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2020-01-29** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (98-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-01-29** VOTE: (98-Y 0-N)
- **2020-01-30** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2020-01-30** Referred to Committee on Transportation `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-27** Reported from Transportation (13-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-03-02** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2020-03-03** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-03-03** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2020-03-06** Enrolled
- **2020-03-06** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-06** Signed by President
- **2020-03-11** Impact statement from DPB (HB989ER)
- **2020-03-12** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 12, 2020
- **2020-03-12** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
- **2020-04-09** Approved by Governor-Chapter 974 (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/cb6504b7-aece-47c5-aef8-0d16d895231e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).