§ 8.01-540.Issuance of attachment; against what attachment to issue.

Once a petition for attachment is filed, this section tells the judge or magistrate how to decide whether to issue it. The review happens ex parte, without the defendant present, and the only evidence the judge or magistrate can consider is the sworn petition itself, filed in the clerk’s office. Before issuing the attachment, the judge or magistrate has to find reasonable cause to believe the grounds for attachment may exist and confirm the petition satisfies §§ 8.01-534, 8.01-537, and, where relevant, the vessel-specific requirements of § 8.01-538.

What the attachment reaches depends on what the plaintiff sought. If he is after specific personal property, the attachment can hit the property itself plus enough of the defendant’s estate to cover probable damages for detaining it, or, if the plaintiff prefers, just the defendant’s estate for the property’s value plus detention damages. If instead he is pursuing a debt, contract damages, or tort damages, the attachment reaches the defendant’s estate for the amount the petition says the plaintiff is at least entitled to recover.

Magistrates can issue attachments too, not just judges. When a magistrate does, the attachment is returnable under § 8.01-541, and the magistrate promptly forwards the petition and any bond to the clerk’s office, after which the case proceeds exactly as if a judge had issued the attachment in the first place.