§ 8.01-55.Compromise of claim for death by wrongful act.

Section 8.01-55 governs settling a wrongful death claim rather than trying it to verdict. The personal representative may compromise any claim arising under § 8.01-50 — including a claim resting on a liability insurance policy — either before or after suit is filed, but only with court approval: the court where the action was filed if one exists, or, if no action has been brought, any circuit court. The personal representative, a potential defendant, or an interested insurance carrier may petition for that approval, though if a potential defendant or insurer files the petition, the personal representative must be joined as a party. The petition must state the compromise, its terms, and the reasons for it.

The court must convene the parties in interest, in person or through an authorized representative, though grandchildren whose living parents are already parties do not need to be separately convened. A party counts as convened either by endorsing the court’s approval order or by receiving notice of the hearing and proposed compromise under § 8.01-296 for a Virginia resident, § 8.01-320 for a nonresident, or whatever other reasonable notice the court requires.

If every party in interest — including any guardian ad litem — endorses the approval order, the court may approve the compromise without a hearing, unless it decides a hearing is necessary anyway. A beneficiary’s endorsement must be notarized, unless it comes from an attorney licensed in Virginia who serves as guardian ad litem for that beneficiary.

Once the court approves the compromise, if the parties cannot agree on how the proceeds should be distributed — or some of them are incapable of making a valid agreement — the court directs the distribution the same way a jury would under § 8.01-52. In every other respect, what the personal representative receives under the compromise is treated as if it had been recovered through an action under § 8.01-52.