You bought a condo off Jefferson Avenue, you’ve been with your partner for nine years, and neither of you has ever wanted a marriage license. Then a coworker’s brother dies at 41 with no will, and his family spends eight months in circuit court sorting it out. Here’s what most single adults in Virginia don’t know: the Commonwealth already keeps a written list of who inherits your property if you die without a will, and an unmarried partner isn’t anywhere on it. Not after nine years, not after thirty. A will isn’t a document for wealthy people. It’s the document that stops a statute from making your decisions for you.
What Virginia Does With Your Property If You Die Without a Will
Dying without a will is called dying “intestate.” Virginia Code § 64.2-200 sets a fixed order for real estate, and Virginia Code § 64.2-201 sends personal property down the same path, including bank accounts, vehicles, investments, and everything in your house.
If you’re unmarried, that order runs like this: your children and their descendants first, then your parents or surviving parent, then your siblings and their descendants, then grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, with half of the estate going to each side of your family. If no qualifying relative exists anywhere on that tree, your property escheats to the Commonwealth.
Notice who never appears. Your partner. Your best friend. The stepchild you helped raise but never adopted. Your church, your alma mater, the rescue that gave you your dog. None of them inherit under Virginia’s intestacy statutes, no matter how obvious your wishes were to everyone who knew you.
Living Together for Years Doesn’t Make You Spouses Here
Many people assume a long relationship eventually converts into something the law recognizes. In Virginia, it doesn’t. Virginia Code § 20-13 requires a license and a solemnized ceremony, and the Commonwealth does not allow common law marriages to be formed inside its borders.
Seven years of living together carries the same inheritance weight as seven weeks, which is none. Virginia will honor a common law marriage that was validly formed in a state that allows them, so a couple who moved here from Texas or Colorado may be in a different position. If that describes you, ask an attorney before you assume anything either way.
A Newport News Example of What “Nothing” Looks Like
Picture Dana, 44, who owns a condo in Newport News titled in her name alone. She has roughly $60,000 in a credit union account, a paid-off car, no children, and a partner who has lived with her for seven years. Both of her parents are living. She dies suddenly, with no will.
Under Virginia Code § 64.2-200, the condo passes to her parents. Under Virginia Code § 64.2-201, the credit union account and the car follow the same route. Her partner inherits nothing and has no legal right to stay in the home where he’s been paying half the bills for seven years.
There’s a second sting. Because her personal estate falls under the $75,000 ceiling in Virginia Code § 64.2-600, her parents can likely collect the account with a small estate affidavit 60 days after her death under Virginia Code § 64.2-601. Her partner has no standing to sign that affidavit or to object to it. This example is hypothetical and does not describe an actual client matter.
The Four Documents Most Single Adults in Virginia Need
A will is one piece of the puzzle. When you’re single, the documents that cover you while you’re still alive often matter more because there’s no spouse the law will automatically turn to. A complete estate plan usually pairs all four of these.
1. A Will
Under Virginia Code § 64.2-403, a Virginia will has to be in writing and signed by you. If it isn’t entirely in your own handwriting, you need to sign it or acknowledge your signature in front of two competent witnesses who are present at the same time and who then sign in your presence.
Virginia does recognize a handwritten (holographic) will if the entire document is in your handwriting and signed, but two disinterested witnesses have to prove your handwriting later. That’s a burden you’re handing to people who are already grieving. Adding a self-proving affidavit under Virginia Code § 64.2-452 lets the clerk admit your will without tracking down witnesses years after the fact. Virginia does not currently authorize electronic wills, so the signed paper original is the document that counts.
2. A Durable Financial Power of Attorney
This names the person who can pay your mortgage, manage your accounts, and deal with your insurer if you’re incapacitated. Under Virginia Code § 64.2-1602, a Virginia power of attorney is durable by default, so it survives your incapacity unless the document expressly says otherwise.
Virginia Code § 64.2-1603 provides that your signature is presumed genuine if you acknowledge it before a notary, which is exactly why banks reject powers of attorney that were never notarized. One practical note for 2026: Virginia notaries now must keep a journal of every notarial act and verify identity with satisfactory evidence, so bring a current photo ID to your signing appointment.
Without a valid power of attorney, the fallback is a court proceeding. Someone has to petition the circuit court to be appointed your conservator or guardian, which costs time and money you could have avoided with one signed document.
3. An Advance Medical Directive
This names your health care agent and records the treatment you do and don’t want. Under Virginia Code § 54.1-2983, you sign it in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. An agent named this way has decision-making priority over everyone on the default list described in the next Virginia Code §.
4. Beneficiary Designations and Deeds
Your 401(k), TSP, IRA, life insurance, and any payable-on-death account pass according to the form on file, not according to your will. Virginia also allows a transfer on death deed for real estate under Virginia Code § 64.2-621 and following, which sends your home directly to a named beneficiary without probate, provided the deed is recorded in the circuit court land records before you die.
Who Decides Your Medical Care If You Never Signed a Directive
This is the part that catches unmarried people off guard. When a patient can’t make an informed decision and left no advance directive, Virginia Code § 54.1-2986 tells the attending physician exactly who to ask, in this order:
- A guardian appointed for you
- Your spouse, unless a divorce action has been filed and isn’t final
- An adult child
- A parent
- An adult brother or sister
- Any other relative, in descending order of blood relationship
- Any adult who has shown special care and concern for you and knows your values and preferences
Your partner of nine years lands in that last category, behind every blood relative you have, including the cousin you haven’t spoken to since 2011. That last category also comes with a hard limit. A person authorized only under item 7 cannot authorize withholding or withdrawing life-prolonging procedures.
One signed advance directive moves the person you actually trust to the front of that line. Without it, a hospital in Newport News or Virginia Beach is following a statute, not your relationship.
A Virginia Beach Example of the Form Nobody Updated
Marcus lives in Virginia Beach, divorced in 2019, no children. In 2021 he signed a new will leaving everything to his sister. His TSP account still lists his ex-wife as the primary beneficiary because he never filed the change form.
Virginia Code § 64.2-412 revokes the parts of a will that leave property to a former spouse once the divorce is final, so the will itself does what he wanted. That statute doesn’t reach beneficiary designations. Retirement accounts and life insurance pass by contract, outside the will entirely. His sister receives what the will controls, and his ex-wife receives the TSP. This example is hypothetical.
How Probate Works in Newport News and Virginia Beach
Wills are probated by the circuit court clerk, not the juvenile and domestic relations court. In Newport News, that’s the Circuit Court Clerk’s Office at 2500 Washington Avenue, which schedules probate by appointment. In Virginia Beach, the Probate and Wills Division sits in the Circuit Court Clerk’s Office at 2425 Nimmo Parkway, Building 10B. Both want the original will and a certified death certificate.
Three details that save families real money:
- If the entire personal estate is $75,000 or less, successors can often collect assets with a small estate affidavit 60 days after death, under Virginia Code §s 64.2-600 and 64.2-601.
- If a single asset is valued at $35,000 or less, the institution holding it may release it without an affidavit once 60 days have passed, under Virginia Code § 64.2-602.
- You can lodge your original will with the clerk of the circuit court where you live for a $5 fee under Virginia Code § 64.2-409, which beats a fireproof box nobody can locate.
If you’re the one already handling a death in the family, estate administration and probate are their own processes with their own deadlines, and it starts at the clerk’s counter.
If You’re Single and Stationed Around Hampton Roads
Newport News and Virginia Beach sit alongside Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Naval Station Norfolk, and NAS Oceana, and a large share of single adults here are active duty. Two things are worth knowing.
Your SGLI pays according to the designation on file with your branch, and your will does not override it. Separately, under Virginia Code § 64.2-408, a will you executed while in military service that appears on its face to be witnessed as Virginia Code § 64.2-403 requires is presumed properly executed once two disinterested witnesses prove your signature.
Base legal assistance can prepare basic documents. If you own Virginia real estate, support a partner or a child who isn’t legally yours, or claim a state of legal residence outside Virginia, have a Virginia attorney check how the pieces fit together.
Talk With a Virginia Estate Planning Attorney
If you’re single and you want your property, your medical care, and your finances to go where you actually intend, the attorneys at Holcomb Law are ready to help. We handle estate planning matters across Newport News, Hampton, Virginia Beach, Yorktown, and Lynchburg, and we understand how much is at stake for you and the people you would want to protect. Call (757) 913-5204 or contact us online to schedule a consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions
I’m not married and I don’t have kids. Does my partner inherit anything if I die without a will in Virginia?
No. Under Virginia Code § 64.2-200 and 64.2-201, your property passes to your parents, then your siblings and their descendants, then more distant blood relatives. An unmarried partner does not appear in the statute at all, and the length of your relationship doesn’t change that. If you want your partner to receive anything, it has to come through a will, a trust, a beneficiary designation, or a transfer on death deed.
Can I just handwrite my will and keep it in a drawer?
Virginia does recognize a holographic will if it’s entirely in your handwriting and signed by you, under Virginia Code § 64.2-403(B). The catch arrives later, when two disinterested witnesses have to prove to the clerk that the handwriting is yours. Handwritten wills also tend to be vague about the things families actually fight over, like who serves as executor and what happens if a beneficiary dies before you do.
My ex is still the beneficiary on my retirement account. Does the divorce take care of that?
Not for the retirement account. Virginia Code § 64.2-412 revokes the provisions of your will that benefit a former spouse once a divorce is final, but beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance, and payable-on-death accounts pass by contract. They stay in force until you file a change with the plan administrator or the carrier. After any divorce, review every designation you have ever signed.
Do I need a trust, or is a will enough for a single person?
It depends on what you own and what you’re trying to avoid. A will alone means probate through the circuit court clerk. A revocable trust, a transfer on death deed under Virginia Code § 64.2-621 and following, and current beneficiary designations can move assets outside probate entirely. Someone with one condo in Newport News and a 401(k) usually needs less structure than someone with rental property, a business interest, or a beneficiary who can’t manage money.
Where do I file my will in Newport News or Virginia Beach, and does it have to be filed before I die?
A will is probated after your death, at the circuit court clerk’s office in the city where you lived. Newport News handles probate at 2500 Washington Avenue by appointment, and Virginia Beach handles it through the Probate and Wills Division at 2425 Nimmo Parkway. You can also lodge the original with the clerk during your lifetime for a $5 fee under Virginia Code § 64.2-409, so it can’t be lost or quietly thrown away.
Wayne E. Holcomb, Esq. | Holcomb Law, P.C. | Licensed in Virginia]
This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this article does not create an attorney-client relationship. Advertising material under Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct 7.1 through 7.5. Statutory citations reflect the Code of Virginia as published at law.lis.virginia.gov as of July 30, 2026, and are subject to change.
