Wills, Trusts and Estates (Annual Survey of Virginia) Law, 2008-2009

The 2009 Session of the General Assembly enacted wills, trusts, and estates legislation (1) preventing, in cases where persons die aft.er June 30, 2009, application of a regrettable 2008 Supreme Court of Virginia decision dealing with the rights of illegitimate heirs in intestate succession, and (2) amending Virginia\u27s version of the Uniform Principal and Income Act to provide for taxpayer benefit and clarity in matters relating to total return unitrusts, the marital deduction, and the income taxation of trusts. In addition, there were several other enactments along with four opinions from the Supreme Court of Virginia during the one-year period ending June 1, 2009 that presented issues of interest in this area. This article reports on all of these legislative and judicial developments, and it concludes with a call to the 2010 General Assembly to repeal the one-year statute of limitations applicable to paternity claims of illegitimate persons in succession matters