HB 303 VA

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Became Law

Divorce; adultery; filing; parties living separate and apart; work group; report. Specifies that a divorce may be decreed on the grounds of adultery, provided that such adultery occurred prior to the final separation of the parties. The bill further allows for a divorce from bed and board to be decreed on the application of either party upon the parties living separate and apart; under current law, a divorce from bed and board may only be decreed for cruelty, reasonable apprehension of bodily hurt, willful desertion, or abandonment. The bill specifies that no waiting period is required for the filing for such a divorce, but the decree of such a divorce may only be decreed pursuant to certain requirements otherwise specified in the law. The bill further directs the Virginia Family Law Coalition, in conjunction with the Virginia State Bar Family Law Section, to convene a work group to consider whether to eliminate fault-based grounds for divorce in the Commonwealth and to submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the Governor and to the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees for Courts of Justice no later than December 1, 2026.

• Richard C. "Rip" Sullivan, Jr. Democratic · primary

1. Jan 9, 2026 Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26101259D · lower
2. Jan 9, 2026 Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice · lower
3. Jan 26, 2026 Assigned HCJ sub: Civil · lower
4. Jan 28, 2026 Subcommittee recommends reporting (6-Y 2-N) · lower
5. Feb 4, 2026 Reported from Courts of Justice (16-Y 6-N) · lower
6. Feb 6, 2026 Read first time · lower
7. Feb 9, 2026 Read second time and engrossed · lower
8. Feb 10, 2026 Read third time and passed House (67-Y 31-N 0-A) · lower
9. Feb 11, 2026 Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) · upper
10. Feb 11, 2026 Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice · upper
11. Mar 5, 2026 Senate committee offered · upper
12. Mar 5, 2026 Reported from Courts of Justice with amendments (12-Y 1-N 1-A) · upper
13. Mar 9, 2026 Rules suspended · upper
14. Mar 9, 2026 Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A) · upper
15. Mar 9, 2026 Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) · upper
16. Mar 10, 2026 Read third time · upper
17. Mar 10, 2026 Courts of Justice Amendments agreed to · upper
18. Mar 10, 2026 Engrossed by Senate as amended · upper
19. Mar 10, 2026 Passed Senate with amendments (24-Y 16-N 0-A) · upper
20. Mar 11, 2026 Senate amendments agreed to by House (64-Y 34-N 0-A) · lower
21. Mar 30, 2026 Enrolled · lower
22. Mar 30, 2026 Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB303ER) · lower
23. Mar 30, 2026 Signed by President · upper
24. Mar 31, 2026 Signed by Speaker · lower
25. Mar 31, 2026 Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026 · lower
26. Mar 31, 2026 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 · executive
27. Apr 13, 2026 Approved by Governor-Chapter 918 (effective 7/1/2026) · executive

The published texts of this bill as it moves through the legislature. Each links to the official document on the state legislature site. Data from OpenStates.

• Enrolled · PDF
• Enrolled · HTML
• Senate Amendments · HTML
• Courts of Justice Amendment · HTML
• Courts of Justice Amendment · HTML
• Introduced · PDF
• Introduced · HTML