Virginia · statute · Va. Code tit. 57 · 95 active provisions
The General Assembly, on January 16, 1786, passed an act in the following words: "Whereas, Almighty God hath created the mind free; that all attempts to influence it by temporal punishment, or burthens, or by civil incapacitations, tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and are a departure from the plan o…
The General Assembly does hereby declare again that the rights asserted in § 57-1 are the natural and unalienable rights of mankind and this declaration is the policy of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
On the 200th Anniversary of the enactment of the Virginia Act for Religious Freedom, the 1986 Virginia General Assembly commends their eighteenth century predecessors for their wisdom and foresight and declares that from this date forth, the second full week of every January is designated as Religious Freedom Week in t…
A. As used in this section: "Demonstrates" means meets the burdens of going forward with the evidence and of persuasion under the standard of clear and convincing evidence. "Exercise of religion" means the exercise of religion under Article I, Section 16 of the Constitution of Virginia, the Virginia Act for Religious F…
A. As used in this section: "Establishment" means any building or part thereof, including without being limited to public inns and hotels, any structure, enclosure, tract of land, and all improvements, appurtenances, and additions, bodies of water whether natural or artificial, and any other place of whatsoever nature…
A. The glebe lands and church property, or the proceeds thereof held by the authorities of any county under the act of January 12, 1802, or under any other act, which may not have been applied to some particular object under a local statute passed for the purpose, shall be appropriated to such object or objects, other…
Where, previous to January 30, 1806, any donation was made of money or any other thing, for a charitable purpose, and the donation was to be controlled or managed by a vestry, the governing body of the county, city or town, in which the charity was intended by the donor to be exercised, shall exercise the same powers,…
The act entitled "An act to incorporate R. E. Lee Camp, No. 1, Confederate Veterans," approved March 13, 1884; and the act entitled "An act making an annual appropriation for the support of the home of R. E. Lee Camp, No. 1, Confederate Veterans," approved February 12, 1886, shall continue in force. The Governor is her…
The act entitled "An act to incorporate the Lee Memorial Association," approved January 14, 1871, as amended by an act approved December 29, 1877, as amended by an act approved March 3, 1879, as amended by an act approved March 13, 1884; the act entitled "An act to authorize the investment of moneys belonging to the Le…
Every gift, grant, devise, or bequest made on or after April 2, 1839, for literary or educational purposes, and every gift, grant, devise, or bequest made on or after April 6, 1976, for charitable purposes, whether made in any case to any type of entity or to a natural person, shall be as valid as if made to or for the…
Every conveyance or transfer of real or personal property, whether inter vivos or by will, which is made to or for the benefit of any church, church diocese, religious congregation or religious society, whether by purchase or gift, shall be valid. Any such conveyance or transfer that fails to state a specific purpose s…
The circuit court of the county or the circuit court of the city, or the judge thereof in vacation, wherein there is any parcel of such land or the greater part thereof may, on the application of the proper authorities of an unincorporated church or religious body or branch or division thereof, from time to time appoin…
A. If a division has heretofore occurred or shall hereafter occur in a church or religious society, to which any such congregation whose property is held by trustees is attached, the members of such congregation over 18 years of age may, by a vote of a majority of the whole number, determine to which branch of the chur…
When personal property shall be given or acquired for the benefit of an unincorporated church or religious body, to be used for its religious purposes, the same shall stand vested in the trustees having the legal title to the land, to be held by them as the land is held, and upon the same trusts or, if the church has c…
Such trustees, and such as are mentioned in §§ 57-21 , 57-22 , and 57-23 , may, in their own names, sue for and recover any real or personal estate held by them respectively in trust, or damages for injury thereto, and be sued in relation to the same. Such suit notwithstanding the death of any of the trustees, or the a…
Any one or more members of any church diocese or religious congregation whose property is held by trustees may, in his or their names, on behalf of such church diocese or congregation, commence and prosecute a suit in equity against any such trustee to compel him to apply such real or personal estate for the use or ben…
Whenever the governing body of any church diocese or any religious congregation whose property is held by trustees, for whose use a conveyance, devise, or dedication of land has been lawfully made, shall deem that their interest will be promoted by a sale of the whole or a part of such land, or by a mortgage thereof, o…
A. The trustees of such a church diocese, congregation, or church or religious denomination, or society or branch or division thereof, in whom is vested the legal title to such land held for any of the purposes mentioned in § 57-7.1 , may file their petition in the circuit court of the county or the city wherein the la…
Any order entered pursuant to §§ 57-14 and 57-15 may provide that any instrument evidencing a debt secured by a deed of trust or mortgage made in behalf of a church diocese, congregation, church or religious denomination or society or branch or division thereof, hereinafter referred to inclusively as "church," may be s…
A. How property acquired, held, transferred, etc. -- Whenever the laws, rules or ecclesiastic polity of any church or religious sect, society or denomination commits to its duly elected or appointed bishop, minister or other ecclesiastical officer, authority to administer its affairs, such duly elected or appointed bis…
Whenever the laws, rules, or ecclesiastic polity of an unincorporated church or religious body provide for it to create a corporation to hold, administer, and manage its real and personal property, such corporation shall have the power to (i) acquire by deed, devise, gift, purchase, or otherwise, any real or personal p…
Whenever any church in the Commonwealth has been in the undisputed possession, for a period of 25 years or more, of any real estate, and for which there is no deed of record, the church, after giving notice once a week for four successive weeks in some newspaper published in, or having general circulation in, the count…
In any case where, since June 18, 1914, there has been, or at any time hereafter there may be, (i) any gift, grant, or devise of real estate or personal property for charitable purposes to an unincorporated body, society, group, association, or post, including those referenced in § 57-19 , whether such gift, grant, or…
When any conveyance of land has been or shall be made to trustees for the use of any society of Freemasons, Odd Fellows, Sons of Temperance, posts of Veterans of Foreign Wars or of the American Legion, Spanish War Veterans, Disabled American Veterans and of other associations of veterans of the armed forces of the Unit…
Except as otherwise provided in this section, the trustee for the use of any benevolent or other association referred to in § 57-19 shall not hereafter take or hold, at one time, any land exceeding five acres; and the trustees of two or more bodies or societies may hold jointly, land not exceeding five acres; provided…