Updated September 7, 2026. Quick answer: Virginia does not use the death-based or publication-triggered rule most states use. Deadline to preserve full recovery against remaining estate assets (not a claim bar): the later of 6 months after first publication or 90 days after mailing.
What is the creditor-claim deadline in Virginia?
| Deadline to preserve full recovery against remaining estate assets (not a claim bar) | the later of 6 months after first publication or 90 days after mailing |
“A statement that all persons having a claim against the decedent shall present such claim to the personal representative…on or before the later of (i) at least six months from the date of the first publication of the notice or (ii) 90 days after the personal representative mails or otherwise delivers a copy of the notice as published to the claimant.”
Source: Va. Code § 64.2-508.1
What makes Virginia different
Virginia has no true non-claim statute; creditors are never absolutely barred by a fixed post-death deadline; the newly enacted (2026) § 64.2-508.1 lets a personal representative publish notice to cap, not extinguish, recovery to remaining estate assets.
Does this deadline apply the same way if the estate never opens probate?
These deadlines are creatures of the probate process itself; they run once an estate is opened (by publication, mailing, appointment, or the grant of letters, depending on Virginia’s own rule above). A creditor of a decedent whose estate never enters probate at all is not cut off by this particular statute, though the underlying debt’s own ordinary statute of limitations still applies.
Sources
| Statute | Va. Code § 64.2-508.1 |
| Virginia courts (general reference) | Virginia judicial branch |
| Confidence | High |
Every statute quoted on this page was read directly from the state’s own legislature/code site this session, or, where that site blocked automated access, from a reputable legal-citation mirror quoting the same official text with its official citation (disclosed below). General information, not legal advice; the exact deadline in a given estate can turn on facts (whether a personal representative was appointed, whether notice was ever published or mailed) that only your own probate court file can confirm.