Bill Commons

VA HB 303

enacted

Divorce; adultery, filing, parties living separate and apart, report.

Virginia · 2026 Regular Session · lower

Quick answers

Did VA HB 303 pass?

Yes. VA HB 303 has been enacted into law as of 2026-04-13. Latest recorded action (2026-04-13): Approved by Governor-Chapter 918 (effective 7/1/2026)

What is VA HB 303 about?

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.

Who sponsors VA HB 303?

Richard C. "Rip" Sullivan, Jr. is the primary sponsor of VA HB 303.

Description

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.

Introduced
2026-01-09
Latest action
2026-04-13 — Approved by Governor-Chapter 918 (effective 7/1/2026)
Bill type
bill
Last updated
—

Sponsors

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

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

  1. 2026-01-09

    Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26101259D

    filing,introduction

  2. 2026-01-09

    Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice

    referral-committee

  3. 2026-01-26

    Assigned HCJ sub: Civil

    referral-committee

  4. 2026-01-28

    Subcommittee recommends reporting (6-Y 2-N)

  5. 2026-02-04

    Reported from Courts of Justice (16-Y 6-N)

    committee-passage

  6. 2026-02-06

    Read first time

    reading-1

  7. 2026-02-09

    Read second time and engrossed

    reading-2

  8. 2026-02-10

    Read third time and passed House (67-Y 31-N 0-A)

    passage,reading-3

  9. 2026-02-11

    Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)

  10. 2026-02-11

    Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice

    referral-committee

  11. 2026-03-05

    Senate committee offered

  12. 2026-03-05

    Reported from Courts of Justice with amendments (12-Y 1-N 1-A)

    committee-passage

  13. 2026-03-09

    Rules suspended

  14. 2026-03-09

    Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)

  15. 2026-03-09

    Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)

  16. 2026-03-10

    Read third time

    reading-3

  17. 2026-03-10

    Courts of Justice Amendments agreed to

    amendment-passage

  18. 2026-03-10

    Engrossed by Senate as amended

  19. 2026-03-10

    Passed Senate with amendments (24-Y 16-N 0-A)

    passage

  20. 2026-03-11

    Senate amendments agreed to by House (64-Y 34-N 0-A)

    amendment-passage

  21. 2026-03-30

    Enrolled

    enrolled

  22. 2026-03-30

    Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB303ER)

    passage

  23. 2026-03-30

    Signed by President

    passage

  24. 2026-03-31

    Signed by Speaker

    passage

  25. 2026-03-31

    Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026

    enrolled,executive-receipt

  26. 2026-03-31

    Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026

    executive-receipt

  27. 2026-04-13

    Approved by Governor-Chapter 918 (effective 7/1/2026)

    executive-signature

Versions

Documents

Votes

  • Subcommittee recommends reporting

    2026-01-28 · pass · 6-2

    Member-level votes (11)
    • Marcus B. Simon: yes
    • Richard C. "Rip" Sullivan, Jr.: yes
    • Michelle Lopes Maldonado: yes
    • Atoosa R. Reaser: not voting
    • Karen Keys-Gamarra: yes
    • Karen R. "Kacey" Carnegie: yes
    • Virgil Thornton: not voting
    • Terry G. Kilgore: no
    • James A. "Jay" Leftwich: no
    • Jason S. Ballard: not voting
    • Patrick A. Hope: yes

  • Reported from Courts of Justice

    2026-02-04 · pass · 16-6

    Member-level votes (22)
    • Patrick A. Hope: yes
    • Michelle Lopes Maldonado: yes
    • Vivian E. Watts: yes
    • Marcus B. Simon: yes
    • Richard C. "Rip" Sullivan, Jr.: yes
    • Karrie K. Delaney: yes
    • Phil M. Hernandez: yes
    • Rae Cousins: yes
    • Atoosa R. Reaser: yes
    • Katrina Callsen: yes
    • Karen Keys-Gamarra: yes
    • Leslie Chambers Mehta: yes
    • Karen R. "Kacey" Carnegie: yes
    • Virgil Thornton: yes
    • Charlie Schmidt: yes
    • Terry G. Kilgore: no
    • James A. "Jay" Leftwich: no
    • Jason S. Ballard: no
    • Wren M. Williams: yes
    • Will Davis: no
    • Madison Whittle: no
    • Justin Pence: no

  • H VOTE:

    2026-02-10 · pass · 67-31

    Member-level votes (100)
    • Jessica L. Anderson: yes
    • Bonita G. Anthony: yes
    • Alex Q. Askew: yes
    • Terry L. Austin: no
    • Jason S. Ballard: no
    • Elizabeth B. Bennett-Parker: not voting
    • Robert S. Bloxom, Jr.: no
    • Gretchen M. Bulova: yes
    • Katrina Callsen: yes
    • Karen R. "Kacey" Carnegie: yes
    • Betsy B. Carr: yes
    • Stacey Annie Carroll: yes
    • Mike A. Cherry: no
    • Nadarius E. Clark: yes
    • Laura Jane Cohen: yes
    • Joshua G. Cole: yes
    • Nicole Cole: yes
    • Kelly K. Convirs-Fowler: yes
    • Mitchell Cornett: no
    • Rae Cousins: yes
    • Will Davis: no
    • Karrie K. Delaney: yes
    • Lindsey Dougherty: yes
    • Mark C. Downey: yes
    • Michael B. Feggans: yes
    • Hyland F. "Buddy" Fowler, Jr.: yes
    • Lily V. Franklin: yes
    • Margaret A. Franklin: yes
    • Debra D. Gardner: yes
    • Thomas A. Garrett, Jr.: no
    • Jackie H. Glass: yes
    • Timothy P. Griffin: no
    • Elizabeth R. Guzman: yes
    • Karen Hamilton: no
    • C.E. Cliff Hayes, Jr.: yes
    • Dan I. Helmer: yes
    • Rozia A. Henson, Jr.: yes
    • Phil M. Hernandez: yes
    • Charniele L. Herring: yes
    • M. Keith Hodges: yes
    • Patrick A. Hope: yes
    • Hillary Pugh Kent: no
    • Karen Keys-Gamarra: yes
    • Terry G. Kilgore: no
    • Barry D. Knight: not voting
    • Paul E. Krizek: yes
    • Amy J. Laufer: yes
    • James A. "Jay" Leftwich: no
    • Destiny LeVere Bolling: yes
    • Alfonso H. Lopez: yes
    • Michelle Lopes Maldonado: yes
    • Marty Martinez: yes
    • John Chilton McAuliff: yes
    • Adele Y. McClure: yes
    • Garrett McGuire: yes
    • Ellen H. McLaughlin: no
    • Joseph P. McNamara: no
    • Delores L. McQuinn: yes
    • Leslie Chambers Mehta: yes
    • James W. Morefield: no
    • May Nivar: yes
    • Delores Oates: no
    • Israel D. O'Quinn: no
    • Justin Pence: no
    • Eric Phillips: no
    • Kimberly Pope Adams: yes
    • Marcia S. "Cia" Price: yes
    • Sam Rasoul: yes
    • Atoosa R. Reaser: yes
    • David A. Reid: yes
    • Chris S. Runion: no
    • Charlie Schmidt: yes
    • Don Scott: yes
    • Phillip A. Scott: no
    • Holly M. Seibold: yes
    • Briana D. Sewell: yes
    • Irene Shin: yes
    • Marcus B. Simon: yes
    • Shelly A. Simonds: yes
    • JJ Singh: yes
    • Richard C. "Rip" Sullivan, Jr.: yes
    • Anne Ferrell Tata: no
    • Joshua E. Thomas: yes
    • Virgil Thornton: yes
    • Luke E. Torian: yes
    • Kathy K.L. Tran: yes
    • H. Otto Wachsmann, Jr.: no
    • Wendell S. Walker: no
    • Jeion A. Ward: yes
    • R. Lee Ware: no
    • Vivian E. Watts: yes
    • Michael J. Webert: no
    • Madison Whittle: yes
    • Bill Wiley: no
    • Rodney T. Willett: yes
    • Wren M. Williams: yes
    • Tony O. Wilt: no
    • Thomas C. Wright, Jr.: no
    • Scott A. Wyatt: no
    • Eric R. Zehr: no

  • Reported from Courts of Justice with amendments

    2026-03-05 · pass · 12-1

    Member-level votes (15)
    • Scott A. Surovell: yes
    • Mark D. Obenshain: yes
    • Ryan T. McDougle: yes
    • R. Creigh Deeds: yes
    • Richard H. Stuart: yes
    • William M. Stanley, Jr.: no
    • Jennifer B. Boysko: not voting
    • Mark J. Peake: yes
    • Jennifer D. Carroll Foy: yes
    • Russet Perry: yes
    • Saddam Azlan Salim: yes
    • Barbara A. Favola: yes
    • Glen H. Sturtevant, Jr.: abstain
    • Kannan Srinivasan: yes
    • Michael J. Jones: yes

  • Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading)

    2026-03-09 · pass · 40-0

    Member-level votes (40)
    • Lashrecse D. Aird: yes
    • Lamont Bagby: yes
    • Elizabeth B. Bennett-Parker: yes
    • Jennifer B. Boysko: yes
    • Jennifer D. Carroll Foy: yes
    • Luther Cifers, III: yes
    • Christie New Craig: yes
    • R. Creigh Deeds: yes
    • Bill DeSteph: yes
    • J.D. "Danny" Diggs: yes
    • Tara A. Durant: yes
    • Barbara A. Favola: yes
    • Timmy French: yes
    • T. Travis Hackworth: yes
    • Christopher T. Head: yes
    • Michael J. Jones: yes
    • Emily M. Jordan: yes
    • Mamie E. Locke: yes
    • L. Louise Lucas: yes
    • David W. Marsden: yes
    • Ryan T. McDougle: yes
    • Jeremy S. McPike: yes
    • Tammy Brankley Mulchi: yes
    • Mark D. Obenshain: yes
    • Mark J. Peake: yes
    • Stella G. Pekarsky: yes
    • Russet Perry: yes
    • Todd E. Pillion: yes
    • Bryce E. Reeves: yes
    • Danica A. Roem: yes
    • Aaron R. Rouse: yes
    • Saddam Azlan Salim: yes
    • Kannan Srinivasan: yes
    • William M. Stanley, Jr.: yes
    • Richard H. Stuart: yes
    • Glen H. Sturtevant, Jr.: yes
    • David R. Suetterlein: yes
    • Scott A. Surovell: yes
    • Schuyler T. VanValkenburg: yes
    • Angelia Williams Graves: yes

  • Passage R

    2026-03-10 · pass · 24-16

    Member-level votes (40)
    • Lashrecse D. Aird: yes
    • Lamont Bagby: yes
    • Elizabeth B. Bennett-Parker: yes
    • Jennifer B. Boysko: yes
    • Jennifer D. Carroll Foy: yes
    • Luther Cifers, III: no
    • Christie New Craig: no
    • R. Creigh Deeds: yes
    • Bill DeSteph: no
    • J.D. "Danny" Diggs: yes
    • Tara A. Durant: no
    • Barbara A. Favola: yes
    • Timmy French: no
    • T. Travis Hackworth: no
    • Christopher T. Head: no
    • Michael J. Jones: yes
    • Emily M. Jordan: no
    • Mamie E. Locke: yes
    • L. Louise Lucas: yes
    • David W. Marsden: yes
    • Ryan T. McDougle: no
    • Jeremy S. McPike: yes
    • Tammy Brankley Mulchi: no
    • Mark D. Obenshain: no
    • Mark J. Peake: no
    • Stella G. Pekarsky: yes
    • Russet Perry: yes
    • Todd E. Pillion: yes
    • Bryce E. Reeves: no
    • Danica A. Roem: yes
    • Aaron R. Rouse: yes
    • Saddam Azlan Salim: yes
    • Kannan Srinivasan: yes
    • William M. Stanley, Jr.: no
    • Richard H. Stuart: yes
    • Glen H. Sturtevant, Jr.: no
    • David R. Suetterlein: no
    • Scott A. Surovell: yes
    • Schuyler T. VanValkenburg: yes
    • Angelia Williams Graves: yes

  • H VOTE:

    2026-03-11 · pass · 64-34

    Member-level votes (99)
    • Jessica L. Anderson: yes
    • Bonita G. Anthony: yes
    • Alex Q. Askew: yes
    • Terry L. Austin: no
    • Jason S. Ballard: no
    • Robert S. Bloxom, Jr.: no
    • Gretchen M. Bulova: yes
    • Katrina Callsen: yes
    • Karen R. "Kacey" Carnegie: yes
    • Betsy B. Carr: yes
    • Stacey Annie Carroll: yes
    • Mike A. Cherry: no
    • Nadarius E. Clark: yes
    • Laura Jane Cohen: yes
    • Joshua G. Cole: yes
    • Nicole Cole: yes
    • Kelly K. Convirs-Fowler: not voting
    • Mitchell Cornett: no
    • Rae Cousins: yes
    • Will Davis: no
    • Karrie K. Delaney: yes
    • Lindsey Dougherty: yes
    • Mark C. Downey: yes
    • Michael B. Feggans: yes
    • Hyland F. "Buddy" Fowler, Jr.: no
    • Lily V. Franklin: yes
    • Margaret A. Franklin: yes
    • Debra D. Gardner: yes
    • Thomas A. Garrett, Jr.: no
    • Jackie H. Glass: yes
    • Timothy P. Griffin: no
    • Elizabeth R. Guzman: yes
    • Karen Hamilton: no
    • C.E. Cliff Hayes, Jr.: yes
    • Dan I. Helmer: yes
    • Rozia A. Henson, Jr.: yes
    • Phil M. Hernandez: yes
    • Charniele L. Herring: yes
    • M. Keith Hodges: no
    • Patrick A. Hope: yes
    • Hillary Pugh Kent: no
    • Karen Keys-Gamarra: yes
    • Terry G. Kilgore: no
    • Paul E. Krizek: yes
    • Amy J. Laufer: yes
    • James A. "Jay" Leftwich: no
    • Destiny LeVere Bolling: yes
    • Alfonso H. Lopez: yes
    • Michelle Lopes Maldonado: yes
    • Marty Martinez: yes
    • John Chilton McAuliff: yes
    • Adele Y. McClure: yes
    • Garrett McGuire: yes
    • Ellen H. McLaughlin: no
    • Joseph P. McNamara: no
    • Kirk McPike: yes
    • Delores L. McQuinn: yes
    • Leslie Chambers Mehta: yes
    • James W. Morefield: no
    • May Nivar: yes
    • Delores Oates: no
    • Israel D. O'Quinn: no
    • Justin Pence: no
    • Eric Phillips: no
    • Kimberly Pope Adams: yes
    • Marcia S. "Cia" Price: yes
    • Sam Rasoul: yes
    • Atoosa R. Reaser: yes
    • David A. Reid: yes
    • Chris S. Runion: no
    • Charlie Schmidt: yes
    • Don Scott: yes
    • Phillip A. Scott: no
    • Holly M. Seibold: yes
    • Briana D. Sewell: yes
    • Irene Shin: yes
    • Marcus B. Simon: yes
    • Shelly A. Simonds: yes
    • JJ Singh: yes
    • Richard C. "Rip" Sullivan, Jr.: yes
    • Anne Ferrell Tata: no
    • Joshua E. Thomas: yes
    • Virgil Thornton: yes
    • Luke E. Torian: yes
    • Kathy K.L. Tran: yes
    • H. Otto Wachsmann, Jr.: no
    • Wendell S. Walker: no
    • Jeion A. Ward: yes
    • R. Lee Ware: no
    • Vivian E. Watts: yes
    • Michael J. Webert: no
    • Madison Whittle: no
    • Bill Wiley: no
    • Rodney T. Willett: yes
    • Wren M. Williams: yes
    • Tony O. Wilt: no
    • Thomas C. Wright, Jr.: no
    • Scott A. Wyatt: no
    • Eric R. Zehr: no

Related bills

No related bills recorded for this bill.

Official source

https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB303

Attribution

Data from openstates_bulk_csv, retrieved 2026-07-24T05:35:59.552682Z

Inspect retained evidence for changes recorded after evidence tracking began:

Source and document changesStatus and relationship changes

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