republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2017/hb-1617.md

type, title, description, jurisdiction, legislature, session, identifier, citation, classification, subjects, status, primary_sponsors, version_count, action_count, vote_count, first_action, last_action, source, source_identifier, source_url, source_hash, vintage, source_snapshot, retrieved_at, confidence, tags

type	title	description	jurisdiction	legislature	session	identifier	citation	classification	subjects	status	primary_sponsors	version_count	action_count	vote_count	first_action	last_action	source	source_identifier	source_url	source_hash	vintage	source_snapshot	retrieved_at	confidence	tags
Bill	Legal malpractice; estate planning.	Provides that the statute of limitations for legal malpractice related to estate planning is five years if the legal representation was based on a written contract and three years if the legal representation was based on an unwritten contract. The bill provides that the accrual date for such an action is the date of completion of the representation. The bill further provides that a person who is not party to the representation shall have standing to maintain such an action only if there is a written agreement between the individual who is the subject of the estate planning and the defendant that expressly grants standing to such person. This bill is in response to	us/states/va	Virginia General Assembly	2017	HB 1617	Virginia HB 1617 (2017)	bill	Wills Trusts and Fiduciaries	enacted	Gregory D. Habeeb	3	15	6	2017-01-03	2017-02-17	openstates	ocd-bill/53c35907-fd08-4379-9f18-b1c969b88923	http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+sum+HB1617	bbc6a0a60beee84821d9786359de6e8f24363cdc2cf9768e27554e6f128c30c4	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-va

Virginia HB 1617 (2017) — Legal malpractice; estate planning.

Provides that the statute of limitations for legal malpractice related to estate planning is five years if the legal representation was based on a written contract and three years if the legal representation was based on an unwritten contract. The bill provides that the accrual date for such an action is the date of completion of the representation. The bill further provides that a person who is not party to the representation shall have standing to maintain such an action only if there is a written agreement between the individual who is the subject of the estate planning and the defendant that expressly grants standing to such person. This bill is in response to

Version chain

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

1. Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0043) (committee substitute) — source
2. House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1617ER) (committee substitute) — source
3. House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17101707D (committee substitute) — source

Votes

• Constitutional reading dispensed — 40–0 (pass) · legislature
• Reported from Courts of Justice — 15–0 (pass) · legislature
• Passed Senate — 39–0 (pass) · legislature
• Reported from Courts of Justice — 21–0 (pass) · legislature
• Subcommittee recommends reporting — 9–0 (pass) · legislature
• Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE — 99–0 (pass) · legislature

Sponsors

• Gregory D. Habeeb — primary (person)

Timeline

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

• 2017-01-03 Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17101707D introduction
• 2017-01-03 Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice referral-committee
• 2017-01-13 Assigned Courts sub: Civil Law referral-committee
• 2017-01-24 Read first time reading-1
• 2017-01-25 Read second time and engrossed reading-2
• 2017-01-26 Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (99-Y 0-N) passage, reading-3
• 2017-01-27 Constitutional reading dispensed
• 2017-01-27 Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice referral-committee
• 2017-02-08 Read third time reading-3
• 2017-02-10 Enrolled
• 2017-02-10 Signed by Speaker
• 2017-02-13 Signed by President
• 2017-02-13 Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on 2/13/17
• 2017-02-13 Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, February 20, 2017
• 2017-02-17 Approved by Governor-Chapter 43 (effective - see bill) executive-signature

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/53c35907-fd08-4379-9f18-b1c969b88923. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).