§ 8.01-576.Order of court on rehearing or new trial; restitution to defendant.

Winning a rehearing under § 8.01-575 is only the first step — this section tells the court what to do once that rehearing or new trial happens. If the outcome favors the defendant, the court is not limited to just vacating the old result going forward; it can order genuine restitution. That means ordering the plaintiff from the original attachment to give back money already collected under the earlier judgment, plus the proceeds of any real or personal estate that had been sold, restoring the defendant — or, if the defendant has since died, the defendant’s heir or personal representative — to the position they would have been in without that judgment. The court backs this up by entering an actual judgment against the plaintiff for the amount owed.

But a rehearing does not guarantee a different result. The court may instead conclude the original judgment was correct and confirm it outright. Either way the rehearing comes out, the statute makes sure someone is made whole on costs: the court awards costs to whichever party ultimately prevails.