Most of what adult children need to know about Virginia estate and incapacity planning is concentrated in a small number of documents and a handful of state-specific rules. With no state estate or inheritance tax to plan around since 2007, the work is almost entirely about probate avoidance, incapacity protection, and family coordination.
The four documents to have in place this year
1. Power of Attorney (Va. Code §64.2-1600 et seq.)
Virginia’s Uniform Power of Attorney Act, enacted in 2010, provides the modern statutory framework for financial POAs.1 A Virginia POA is typically durable by default (survives incapacity) unless specified otherwise, must be in writing, signed by your parent and acknowledged before a notary.
Important practical notes for Virginia:
- The Uniform Power of Attorney Act includes a list of specific authority items (gifting, trust amendments, beneficiary changes, etc.) that must be explicitly granted in the document if you want the agent to have them. Default boilerplate often omits these.
- Virginia banks, brokerages, and Circuit Court Clerks are required by statute to accept properly executed POAs but can have practical compliance hurdles. A Virginia-format POA from a Virginia attorney is meaningfully easier to use in practice.
- Virginia recognizes out-of-state POAs that were validly executed where signed (Va. Code §64.2-1620), but out-of-state documents face the same practical compliance issues plus added uncertainty.
2. Advance Medical Directive (Va. Code §54.1-2981 et seq.)
Virginia’s Health Care Decisions Act provides a combined statutory form — the Advance Medical Directive— that names a health-care agent and records the principal’s wishes about life-sustaining treatment and end-of-life care.2 It serves both functions that other states often split between a healthcare-POA and a living will.
The form should be signed by your parent and witnessed by two adults (with statutory restrictions on who may serve as a witness). Notarization is not required but is often included for added reliability.
3. Last Will and Testament
The will controls distribution of your parent’s probate assets — the assets that don’t pass by trust, beneficiary designation, or right of survivorship. Virginia requires the testator’s signature and two witnesses (Va. Code §64.2-403). Self-proving affidavits (notarized affidavits signed at execution by testator and witnesses) avoid the need to locate witnesses later for probate.
4. Revocable Living Trust (Va. Code §64.2-700 et seq.)
A revocable living trust is the workhorse of Virginia estate planning for families that want to avoid probate. Your parent transfers assets into the trust during life, retains full control as trustee, and names a successor trustee to manage and distribute assets at death without probate. Virginia’s Uniform Trust Code provides a modern, predictable framework for trust administration.3
Virginia’s tax backdrop
No state estate or inheritance tax
Virginia repealed its state estate tax effective July 1, 2007.4 The state has never had a separate inheritance tax. The federal estate-tax exemption (~$13.99M per individual in 2025) applies to all Virginia residents; very few Virginia estates approach the federal threshold.
State income tax with limited retiree breaks
Virginia has a graduated state income tax up to 5.75%, with limited subtractions for retirement income. Social Security is fully exempt from Virginia income tax. Virginia offers an age-65 deduction of approximately $12,000 (with income-based phaseout) that helps moderate-income retirees. Retirement income from pensions, IRAs, and 401(k)s is generally subject to Virginia income tax above the age-65 deduction.
Probate in Virginia
Virginia probate is administered by the local Circuit Court Clerk— one of the Commonwealth’s less-known but more useful features. Probate is generally less court-supervised in Virginia than in many other states; the Clerk and the Commissioner of Accounts handle most administrative aspects.
- Formal probate. The standard probate process. The Executor (or Administrator if no will) qualifies through the Clerk, files an inventory with the Commissioner of Accounts, settles claims, and files accountings.
- Small-estate process. Virginia allows simplified administration for personal property under approximately $50,000 using a small-estate affidavit under Va. Code §64.2-601 et seq.
A properly funded revocable living trust avoids probate entirely for the assets it holds. For Virginia families with real estate, business interests, or out-of-state property, trust planning is the standard probate-avoidance move.
Elective share for surviving spouses
Virginia provides a statutory elective share for surviving spouses under Va. Code §64.2-308.3 (and related provisions). The share is calculated under an augmented-estate framework similar to the Uniform Probate Code approach.5
This rule matters most in second-marriage estate planning. The fix is a properly drafted prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, or planning structures that anticipate the elective share proactively.
Virginia’s homestead exemption
Virginia’s homestead exemption (Va. Code §34-4) is modest by comparison to Florida or Texas. The exemption protects a relatively small amount of equity in property from forced sale by general creditors. This is important for general creditor protection but doesn’t change Medicaid’s separate ~$752,000 home-equity ceiling for LTC eligibility.
Local real-estate tax relief for older Virginians
Virginia authorizes (but does not require) localities to offer real-estate tax relief or exemption for elderly and disabled homeowners under Va. Code §58.1-3210. Most Virginia counties and cities have implemented some form of program, but eligibility, income limits, and benefit structures vary substantially by locality.
Notable examples:
- Fairfax County. Generous program for seniors with moderate income; eligibility includes a relatively high income cap.
- City of Richmond. Separate program with its own eligibility criteria.
- Most counties.Apply through the local Commissioner of the Revenue’s office annually.
The program is materially under-claimed in many Virginia localities because the application is opaque. Worth a phone call to your parent’s Commissioner of the Revenue’s office.
What to do this quarter
- Locate (or create) your parent’s four documents: POA, Advance Medical Directive, Will, and (if appropriate) Revocable Living Trust.
- If documents exist but are more than five years old, have them reviewed — especially POAs predating the 2010 Uniform Power of Attorney Act framework.
- Confirm whether your parent qualifies for local real-estate tax relief through the Commissioner of the Revenue.
- Get an estate-plan review if the will was drafted in another state.
- For Medicaid planning specifically — the LTC eligibility rules that interact with gifting and trust structures — see the Virginia Medicaid guide.