Virginia Code 55.1-101: When deed or will necessary to convey estate; no parol partition or gift valid
A. No estate of inheritance or freehold in lands shall be conveyed unless by deed or will, and no voluntary partition of lands by coparceners, having such an estate in such land, shall be made except by deed. In addition, no right to a conveyance of any such estate or term in land shall accrue to the donee of the land or those claiming under him, under a gift or promise of gift of such estate or term in land not in writing, even if such gift or promise is followed by possession and improvement of the land by the donee or those claiming under him.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 55.1-101
- Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
- Donee: The recipient of a gift.
- Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
- in writing: include any representation of words, letters, symbols, numbers, or figures, whether (i) printed or inscribed on a tangible medium or (ii) stored in an electronic or other medium and retrievable in a perceivable form and whether an electronic signature authorized by Chapter 42. See Virginia Code 1-257
- Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
B. Any lease agreement or other written document conveying a non-freehold estate in land, which was entered into before, and which remains in effect as of, February 13, 2019, or which is entered into after February 13, 2019, shall not be invalid, unenforceable, or subject to repudiation by the parties to such agreement on account of, or otherwise affected by, the fact that the conveyance of the estate was not in the form of a deed.
Code 1919, § 5141; Code 1950, § 55-2; 2019, cc. 11, 49, 712.