republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2026/sb-540.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Undue influence; presumptions in actions contesting validity of a trust or trust instrument."
description: "Undue influence; presumption in actions contesting validity of certain trust or instrument. Provides that, in an action contesting the validity of a trust or trust instrument, where a presumption of undue influence arises, the fact finder shall presume that the undue influence was exerted over the decedent unless evidence leads the fact finder to determine that the decedent did intend for the real or personal property to be conveyed or transferred as indicated. Current law applies this presumption of undue influence only to actions contesting the validity of a will."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "SB 540"
citation: "Virginia SB 540 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Mark D. Obenshain"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 33
vote_count: 9
first_action: "2026-01-13"
last_action: "2026-04-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/04df9351-f56d-4496-85a8-cb22f8f49f99"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/SB540"
source_hash: "a7c95de670c082b8b044f50ad3cb6f676dfa463a56fb1c1563fc7166fa086f54"
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 540 (2026) — Undue influence; presumptions in actions contesting validity of a trust or trust instrument.

Undue influence; presumption in actions contesting validity of certain trust or instrument. Provides that, in an action contesting the validity of a trust or trust instrument, where a presumption of undue influence arises, the fact finder shall presume that the undue influence was exerted over the decedent unless evidence leads the fact finder to determine that the decedent did intend for the real or personal property to be conveyed or transferred as indicated. Current law applies this presumption of undue influence only to actions contesting the validity of a will.

## 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/1090740.PDF)
2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1218214.PDF)
3. **Civil Subcommittee Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1177598.PDF)
4. **Courts of Justice Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1189009.PDF)
5. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1202640.PDF)

## Votes

- Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute — **15–7** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute — **6–4** (pass) · lower
- H VOTE: — **67–30** (pass) · lower
- Passage R — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed R — **35–0** (pass) · upper
- Concur House Substitute R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed R — **36–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (on 3rd reading) — **39–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Mark D. Obenshain — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-13** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26101600D `filing, introduction`
- **2026-01-13** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-11** Reported from Courts of Justice (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-13** Rules suspended
- **2026-02-13** Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) (36-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-02-13** Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
- **2026-02-16** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-16** Engrossed by Senate Block Vote (Voice Vote)
- **2026-02-16** Rules suspended
- **2026-02-16** Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 3rd reading) (39-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-02-16** Read third time and passed Senate Block Vote (39-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-16** Blank Action
- **2026-02-19** Placed on Calendar
- **2026-02-19** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-19** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-19** Assigned HCJ sub: Civil `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-23** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (6-Y 4-N) `substitution`
- **2026-03-02** Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (15-Y 7-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-02** Committee substitute printed 26108465D-H1 `substitution`
- **2026-03-03** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-03-04** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-03-04** committee substitute agreed to `substitution`
- **2026-03-04** Engrossed by House - committee substitute `substitution`
- **2026-03-04** Passed House with substitute (67-Y 30-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-03-06** House substitute agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A) `substitution`
- **2026-03-12** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-03-12** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB540ER) `passage`
- **2026-03-12** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-03-12** Signed by President `passage`
- **2026-03-14** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 14, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-14** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-08** Approved by Governor-Chapter 506 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-08** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0506)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/04df9351-f56d-4496-85a8-cb22f8f49f99`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).