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§ 8.01-251.Limitations on enforcement of judgments.

Chapter 4. Limitations of Actions · Article 4. Limitations on Enforcement of Judgments and Decrees · Last amended 2026 · Last verified July 16, 2026

In one sentenceSection 8.01-251 limits enforcement of a judgment to twenty years (ten years for judgments dated on or after July 1, 2021, except child-support judgments) from entry or domestication, allows two successive ten-year extensions by recorded certificate, and gives judgment liens against later grantees only five years from deed recordation plus lis pendens.

Full Text of § 8.01-251

Text sizeJump to: (A) (B) (C) (D) (E) (F) (G)

A. No execution shall be issued and no action brought on a judgment dated, extended, or renewed, prior to July 1, 2021, including a judgment in favor of the Commonwealth and a judgment rendered in another state or country, after 20 years from the date of such judgment or domestication of such judgment or 20 years from the date of such extension or renewal of such judgment, whichever is later, unless the period is extended as provided in this section. No execution shall be issued and no action brought on a judgment dated on or after July 1, 2021, including a judgment in favor of the Commonwealth and a judgment rendered in another state or country, after 10 years from the date of such judgment or domestication of such judgment, unless the period is extended as provided in this section, except that no execution shall be issued and no action brought on a judgment dated on or after July 1, 2021, that was created by nonpayment of child support after 20 years from the date of such judgment or domestication of such judgment.
B. The limitation prescribed in subsection A may be extended by the recordation of a certificate in the form provided in subsection G prior to the expiration of the limitation period prescribed herein in the clerk's office in which such judgment is recorded and executed by either the judgment creditor or his assignee or by the judgment creditor's or his assignee's attorney or authorized agent. Recordation of the certificate shall extend the limitations period of the right to enforce such judgment for 10 years from the date of the recordation of the certificate. A judgment creditor or his assignee may record one additional extension by recording another certificate in the form provided in subsection G prior to the expiration of the original 10-year extension of the limitation period, which shall extend the limitations period of the right to enforce such judgment for 10 years from the date of recordation of the second certificate.
The clerk of the court shall index the certificate in both names in the index of the judgment lien book and give reference to the book and page in which the original lien is recorded. This procedure is subject to the exception that if the action is against a personal representative of a decedent, the motion shall be within two years from the date of his qualification, the extension may be for only two years from the time of the recordation of the certificate, and there may be only one such extension.
C. No suit shall be brought to enforce the lien of any judgment, including judgments in favor of the Commonwealth, upon which the right to issue an execution or bring an action is barred by other subsections of this section, nor shall any suit be brought to enforce the lien of any judgment against the lands that have been conveyed by the judgment debtor to a grantee for value, unless the same be brought within five years from the due recordation of the deed from such judgment debtor to such grantee and unless a notice of lis pendens shall have been recorded in the manner provided by § 8.01-268 before the expiration of such five-year period.
D. In computing the time, any time during which the right to sue out execution on the judgment is suspended by the terms thereof, or by legal process, shall be omitted. §§ 8.01-230 et seq., 8.01-247 and 8.01-256 shall apply to the right to bring such action in like manner as to any right.
E. This section shall not be construed to impair the right of subrogation to which any person may become entitled while the lien is in force, provided that he institutes proceedings to enforce such right within five years after the same accrued, nor shall the lien of a judgment be impaired by the recovery of another judgment thereon, or by a forthcoming bond taken on an execution thereon, such bond having the force of a judgment.
F. Limitations on enforcement of judgments entered in the general district courts shall be governed by § 16.1-94.1. For judgments entered in a general district court prior to July 1, 2026, if an abstract of such judgment is docketed in the judgment book of a circuit court, such judgment shall be treated as a judgment entered by the circuit court and may be extended in the same manner as a judgment entered by the circuit court, although the original date of entry of the judgment shall remain the date that was entered by the general district court. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection B, for judgments entered in a general district court on or after July 1, 2026, for which enforcement is sought by a debt buyer that has purchased any such judgment from the judgment creditor, the judgment creditor's assignee, or another debt buyer, the 10-year limitation period specified by § 16.1-94.1 shall apply regardless of whether an abstract of such judgment is docketed in the judgment book of a circuit court.
G. Any extension of the limitations of the right to enforce a judgment shall conform substantially with the following form:
CERTIFICATE OF EXTENSION OF LIMITATION OF RIGHT TO ENFORCE JUDGMENT LIEN Place of Record ___________________________________________________________________________ Date Judgment Docketed ___________________________________________________________________________ Judgment Lien Book __________________ Book Page __________________ Name of Judgment Creditor(s) or Assignee(s) ___________________________________________________________________________ Address of Judgment Creditor(s) or Assignee(s) ___________________________________________________ Phone number of Judgment Creditors(s) or Assignee(s) (if available) ___________________________________________________________________________ Name of Judgment Creditor(s) or Assignee(s)' attorney or agent ___________________________________________________________________________ Address of Creditor(s) or Assignee(s)' attorney or agent ___________________________________________________________________________ Name of Debtor(s) ___________________________________________________________________________ I/we, the undersigned [ ] judgment creditor(s) [ ] agent of judgment creditor(s) [ ] attorney for judgment creditor(s), do hereby certify that the aforementioned judgment lien be extended 10 years from the date of my/our endorsement upon this certificate.
[ ] Judgment creditor(s) or assignee(s) [ ] agent of judgment creditor(s) or assignee(s) [ ] attorney for judgment creditor(s) or assignee(s): ________________ Commonwealth of Virginia County/City of ____________________ Subscribed, sworn to and acknowledged before me by _______________, this _____ day of ________, 20 _____ My Commission expires: ____________________ Notary Public: ____________________
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Plain-English Summary

Section 8.01-251 controls how long a Virginia judgment stays enforceable. For judgments dated, extended, or renewed before July 1, 2021, no execution can issue and no action can be brought on the judgment more than twenty years after the judgment or its domestication, or twenty years after a prior extension or renewal, whichever is later. Judgments dated on or after July 1, 2021, get a shorter default: ten years from the judgment or domestication, unless extended — except that a judgment created by nonpayment of child support keeps the twenty-year period even under the newer rule.

Subsection B lets a judgment creditor keep a judgment alive past that deadline by recording a certificate, in the form set out in subsection G, before the period expires; recordation extends enforcement ten years from the date of recordation, and the creditor may record one further such extension before the first one lapses, for a maximum of two extensions total. A different, shorter rule applies against a decedent’s personal representative: the extension there runs only two years from recordation, and only one extension is allowed. Subsection C separately protects a value-paying grantee of the judgment debtor’s land — a suit to enforce the judgment lien against land the debtor has conveyed away is barred unless brought within five years of the deed’s recordation and a notice of lis pendens is recorded within that same five years.

Subsection D excludes from the computation any time execution was suspended by the judgment’s own terms or by legal process, and applies the general limitations provisions of §§ 8.01-230 et seq., 8.01-247, and 8.01-256 to actions on a judgment the same way they apply to any other right. Subsection E preserves subrogation rights exercised within five years, and protects a judgment lien from being impaired by a second judgment on the same debt or by a forthcoming bond. Subsection F sends judgments entered in the general district courts to a separate statute, § 16.1-94.1, though older district-court judgments later docketed in circuit court are treated as circuit court judgments for extension purposes, and post-2026 general district court judgments enforced by certain debt buyers follow § 16.1-94.1’s ten-year period regardless of circuit-court docketing.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is a Virginia judgment enforceable after it is entered?

It depends on the date: twenty years for judgments dated, extended, or renewed before July 1, 2021, and ten years for judgments dated on or after July 1, 2021, except that a judgment for unpaid child support keeps the twenty-year period even under the newer rule, all under Section 8.01-251(A).

Can a judgment creditor extend the enforcement deadline?

Yes. Subsection B allows recording a certificate in the form set out in subsection G before the period expires, which extends enforcement ten years from the recordation date, and permits one additional such extension before the first one lapses.

What protects someone who buys land from a judgment debtor?

Subsection C bars enforcing the judgment lien against land the debtor conveyed to a value-paying grantee unless suit is brought within five years of the deed’s recordation and a notice of lis pendens is recorded within that same period.

Do judgments entered in general district court follow this same twenty-year or ten-year rule?

No. Subsection F sends those judgments to § 16.1-94.1 instead, though a general district court judgment later docketed in circuit court is treated as a circuit court judgment for extension purposes.

How many times can a judgment’s enforcement period be extended by certificate?

Generally twice, ten years each time, under subsection B — except against a decedent’s personal representative, where only one two-year extension is allowed.

Amendment History

Code 1950, §§ 8-393, 8-394, 8-396, 8-397; 1956, c. 512; 1958, c. 221; 1960, c. 274; 1977, c. 617; 1983, c. 499; 2002, c. 394; 2005, cc. 139, 203; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 486; 2022, c. 324; 2026, c. 848.

Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are reproduced verbatim from the Code of Virginia, published by the Code of Virginia, Virginia Division of Legislative Automated Systems. Last verified July 16, 2026. · Official source
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