CODE OF VIRGINIA

FILING OF PETITION; JURISDICTION; INSTRUCTIONS TO BE PROVIDED (§ 64.2-2001)

A. A petition for the appointment of a guardian or conservator shall be filed
with the circuit court of the county or city in which the respondent is a
resident or is located or in which the respondent resided immediately prior to
becoming a patient, voluntarily or involuntarily, in a hospital, including a
hospital licensed by the Department of Health pursuant to § 32.1-123, or a
resident in a nursing facility or nursing home, convalescent home, assisted
living facility as defined in § 63.2-100, or any other similar institution or,
if the petition is for the appointment of a conservator for a nonresident with
property in the state, in the city or county in which the respondent’s
property is located.

B. Article 2 (§ 64.2-2105 et seq.) of the Uniform Adult Guardianship and
Protective Proceedings Jurisdiction Act provides the exclusive jurisdictional
basis for a court of the Commonwealth to appoint a guardian or conservator for
an adult.

C. Where the petition is brought by a parent or guardian of a respondent who is
under the age of 18, or by any other person and there is no living parent or
guardian of a respondent who is under the age of 18, the petition may be filed
no earlier than six months prior to the respondent’s eighteenth birthday.
Where such a petition is brought, a court may enter an order appointing the
parent or guardian of the respondent, or other person if there is no living
parent or guardian, as guardian or conservator prior to the respondent’s
eighteenth birthday. Such order shall specify whether it takes effect
immediately upon entry or on the respondent’s eighteenth birthday. Where
the petition is brought by any other person and there is a living parent or
guardian of a respondent who is under the age of 18, the petition may be filed
no earlier than the respondent’s eighteenth birthday.

D. Instructions regarding the duties, powers, and liabilities of guardians and
conservators shall be provided to each clerk of court by the Office of the
Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court, and the clerk shall provide such
information to each guardian and conservator upon notice of appointment.

E. The circuit court in which the proceeding is first commenced may order a
transfer of venue if it would be in the best interest of the respondent.

HISTORY: 1997, c. 921, § 37.1-134.7; 2001, c. 274; 2002, c. 736; 2005, c. 716,
§ 37.2-1001; 2006, c. 552; 2011, c. 518; 2012, c. 614; 2013, c. 523; 2016, c.
31.