HB 303 Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

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

Summary
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.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
Signed into Law
Apr 2026
Introduced Jan 9, 2026 Signed Apr 13, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Enrolled · 3 edits · Apr 13, 2026
MINOR
The bill was enacted into law, updating the Code of Virginia to clarify that adultery must occur before the final separation of parties to be grounds for divorce. It also added a new provision requiring the creation of a work group to study the feasibility of transitioning Virginia to an exclusively no-fault divorce system.
Scope change
The bill's scope was expanded by adding a mandate for a legislative work group to evaluate the future of fault-based divorce grounds in Virginia.
ELIGIBILITY

Changed the requirement for adultery as grounds for divorce from occurring 'prior to the final separation' to occurring 'prior to the date of the last separation'.

REQUIREMENT

Added a new section requiring the Virginia Family Law Coalition and the Virginia State Bar to form a work group.

TIMELINE

Established a timeline for the work group to study specific issues and submit a report to the Governor and legislative leaders.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 9, 2026 · House of Delegates Feb 10, 2026

How they voted

390
Passed
Total votes 39
Mar 9, 2026
D Democratic20
20 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican19
19 Yea
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
27
Key actions
13
Committee
7
Amendments
3
Apr 13, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by Governor-Chapter 918 (effective 7/1/2026)
executive
Mar 31, 2026
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Mar 30, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Mar 30, 2026
Lower · Passed
Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB303ER)
lower
Mar 11, 2026
Lower · Passed
Senate amendments agreed to by House (64-Y 34-N 0-A)
lower
Mar 10, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate with amendments (24-Y 16-N 0-A)
upper
Mar 10, 2026
Introduced
Engrossed by Senate as amended
upper
Mar 10, 2026
Upper · Passed
Courts of Justice Amendments agreed to
upper
Mar 9, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
upper
Mar 5, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Courts of Justice with amendments (12-Y 1-N 1-A)
upper
Mar 5, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate committee offered
upper
Feb 11, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
upper
Feb 10, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read third time and passed House (67-Y 31-N 0-A)
lower
Feb 4, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Courts of Justice (16-Y 6-N)
lower
Jan 28, 2026
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting (6-Y 2-N)
lower
Jan 26, 2026
Committee
Assigned HCJ sub: Civil
lower
Jan 9, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Rip Sullivan
Rip Sullivan
DDemocratic
VA
6