A. A defendant in any judgment, his heirs or personal representatives, may, on motion, after ten days’ notice thereof to the plaintiff in such judgment, or his assignee, or if he be dead, to his personal representative, or if he be a nonresident, to his attorney, if he have one, apply to the court in which the judgment was rendered, to have the same marked satisfied, and upon proof that the judgment has been paid off or discharged, such court shall order such satisfaction to be recorded in the judgment docket book together with a separate instrument or order discharging the judgment and referencing the judgment docket book and page where the original judgment was entered, and a certificate of such order to be made to the clerk of the court in which such judgment is required by § 8.01-446 to be docketed, and the clerk of such court shall immediately, upon the receipt of such certificate, enter the same in the judgment docket book where such judgment is docketed. If the plaintiff be a nonresident and have no attorney of record residing in this Commonwealth, the notice may be published and posted as an order of publication is required to be published and posted under §§ 8.01-316 and 8.01-317. Upon a like motion and similar proceeding, the court may order that a separate instrument or order be recorded to reflect that a judgment has been “discharged in bankruptcy” for any judgment that may be shown to have been so discharged.

Terms Used In Virginia Code 8.01-455

  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
  • Personal representative: includes the executor of a will or the administrator of the estate of a decedent, the administrator of such estate with the will annexed, the administrator of such estate unadministered by a former representative, whether there is a will or not, any person who is under the order of a circuit court to take into his possession the estate of a decedent for administration, and every other curator of a decedent's estate, for or against whom suits may be brought for causes of action that accrued to or against the decedent. See Virginia Code 1-234
  • Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.

B. The cost of such proceedings, including reasonable attorney fees, may be ordered to be paid by the plaintiff.

Code 1950, § 8-383; 1977, c. 617; 2014, c. 330.