republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2018/hb-746.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Wills and revocable trusts; eliminating certain inconsistencies."
description: "Eliminates certain inconsistencies between wills and revocable trusts by extending to revocable trusts (i) revocation of benefits to a spouse and appointments to a spouse as a fiduciary upon divorce or annulment, (ii) the default rules for nonademption of certain bequests, (iii) the default rules related to the lapsing of a failed devise or bequest to the residue, and (iv) the anti-lapse rule that provides that a testamentary disposition fails when the taker predeceases the testator. The bill also provides that a court may modify the terms of a decedent's will to correct a mistake to conform to the decedent's intent, as proved by clear and convincing evidence. The bill further provides that, if shown by clear and convincing evidence, a court may modify the terms of a decedent's will to achieve the decedent's tax objectives in a manner that is not contrary to the decedent's probable intention. Under current law, such reformation is allowed to modify the terms of a trust for similar purposes. The provisions of the bill related to modification of a will apply retroactively to wills executed prior to July 1, 2018, and judicial proceedings commenced prior to July 1, 2018, except that such modification shall not be made if a judicial proceeding has been commenced prior to July 1, 2018, and the court finds that modification would substantially interfere with the effective conduct of the judicial proceeding or prejudice the rights of the parties."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2018"
identifier: "HB 746"
citation: "Virginia HB 746 (2018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Wills", "Trusts", "and Fiduciaries"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["James A. \"Jay\" Leftwich"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 18
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2018-01-09"
last_action: "2018-02-26"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/fa5ee432-c884-4c1e-a334-1036af25124e"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+sum+HB746"
source_hash: "f979e570c73480a23d40a67d09a49e4434eeda37bdd86bec752eea955fcb7d3c"
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 746 (2018) — Wills and revocable trusts; eliminating certain inconsistencies.

Eliminates certain inconsistencies between wills and revocable trusts by extending to revocable trusts (i) revocation of benefits to a spouse and appointments to a spouse as a fiduciary upon divorce or annulment, (ii) the default rules for nonademption of certain bequests, (iii) the default rules related to the lapsing of a failed devise or bequest to the residue, and (iv) the anti-lapse rule that provides that a testamentary disposition fails when the taker predeceases the testator. The bill also provides that a court may modify the terms of a decedent's will to correct a mistake to conform to the decedent's intent, as proved by clear and convincing evidence. The bill further provides that, if shown by clear and convincing evidence, a court may modify the terms of a decedent's will to achieve the decedent's tax objectives in a manner that is not contrary to the decedent's probable intention. Under current law, such reformation is allowed to modify the terms of a trust for similar purposes. The provisions of the bill related to modification of a will apply retroactively to wills executed prior to July 1, 2018, and judicial proceedings commenced prior to July 1, 2018, except that such modification shall not be made if a judicial proceeding has been commenced prior to July 1, 2018, and the court finds that modification would substantially interfere with the effective conduct of the judicial proceeding or prejudice the rights of the parties.

## Version chain

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

1. **Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0044)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+ful+CHAP0044)
2. **House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB746ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+ful+HB746ER)
3. **House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/18 18101509D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+ful+HB746)
4. **House: Printed as engrossed 18101509D-E** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+ful+HB746E)

## Votes

- Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE — **98–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Courts of Justice — **13–2** (pass) · legislature
- Passed Senate — **22–18** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Courts of Justice with amendment — **18–0** (pass) · legislature
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **39–0** (pass) · legislature
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment — **8–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- James A. "Jay" Leftwich — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2018-01-09** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/18 18101509D `introduction`
- **2018-01-09** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2018-01-16** Assigned Courts sub: Subcommittee #2 `referral-committee`
- **2018-01-31** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2018-02-01** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2018-02-01** Committee amendment agreed to
- **2018-02-01** Engrossed by House as amended HB746E
- **2018-02-01** Printed as engrossed 18101509D-E
- **2018-02-02** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (98-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2018-02-05** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2018-02-05** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2018-02-14** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2018-02-16** Enrolled
- **2018-02-16** Signed by Speaker
- **2018-02-19** Signed by President
- **2018-02-19** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on February 19, 2018
- **2018-02-19** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, February 26, 2018
- **2018-02-26** Approved by Governor-Chapter 44 (effective 7/1/18) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/fa5ee432-c884-4c1e-a334-1036af25124e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).