Rule 2:1003.USE OF SUBSTITUTE CHECKS (derived from Code § 8.01-391.1(A) and

Rule 2:1003 addresses a specific gap the best-evidence rule created once banks stopped routinely returning original paper checks to account holders. Subdivision (a) makes a substitute check — created under the federal Check Clearing for the 21st Century Evidence Act, 12 U.S.C. § 5001 et seq. — admissible in any Virginia legal proceeding, civil or criminal, to the same extent the original check would be. Without this rule, a party might otherwise need to satisfy Rule 2:1002’s original-writing requirement or one of Rule 2:1004’s exceptions before offering a substitute check into evidence.

Subdivision (b) simplifies the foundation further with a presumption. A document received from a banking institution that is designated as a “substitute check” and that bears the legend “This is a legal copy of your check. You can use it the same way you would use the original check” is presumed to be a substitute check created under the federal Act. That presumption spares the proponent from independently proving the document meets every technical requirement of the federal statute before relying on it.

The rule’s title notes it derives from Code § 8.01-391.1(A) and (B), tying Rule 2:1003 to a specific Virginia statutory provision that addresses the same subject as the federal check-clearing law.