A. Every person who qualifies in a circuit court or clerk’s office as a personal representative of a decedent, guardian, conservator, committee, trustee, or receiver, and the surety upon any such fiduciary’s bond, shall, by executing the bond required of the fiduciary, be deemed to have designated the clerk of the court in which the qualification is had, and his successor in office, as the true and lawful attorney of the fiduciary upon whom service of any notice, process, or rule issuing from a court of the Commonwealth or a commissioner of such court may be executed, whenever the fiduciary cannot be found and served within the Commonwealth after the exercise of due diligence. This section only applies if the proceeding relates to the proper administration or distribution of the fiduciary estate, including a proceeding to assert a claim against the estate or to remove the fiduciary or to obtain a personal judgment against him and his surety, either or both, for nonfeasance, misfeasance, or malfeasance in the performance of the fiduciary’s duties. The designation shall terminate and no longer be in effect when the fiduciary’s final account shall stand confirmed as provided in § 64.2-1212 or by order of court.

B. Every nonresident trustee who, pursuant to § 64.2-427 or 64.2-428, files a consent in writing with a clerk of a circuit court that any service of process or notice may be by service upon a resident of the Commonwealth at such address as the trustee may appoint in the written instrument filed with the clerk shall, by filing such consent, be deemed to have designated the clerk of the court in which the consent is filed, and his successor in office, as the true and lawful attorney of the nonresident trustee upon whom service of any notice, process, or rule issuing from a court of the Commonwealth may be executed, whenever the resident appointed to receive service cannot be found and served within the Commonwealth after the exercise of due diligence.

History

1954, c. 601, § 26-7.1; 1997, c. 801; 2000, c. 320; 2012, c. 614.