How to Complete and File the Virginia List of Heirs (Form CC-1611)

Virginia Form CC-1611 is the one-page sworn list of heirs that goes to the circuit court clerk as part of probate. You complete it by naming every person who would inherit under Virginia’s intestate succession rules, sign it under oath before a clerk, deputy clerk, or notary, and file the original with the circuit court where the personal representative qualifies. If the decedent owned real estate in another Virginia jurisdiction, a copy also has to be filed there. The recording fee is $18.¹

Getting it right matters. Once recorded, the list is prima facie evidence of the facts it contains, which means courts and title companies rely on it when property changes hands.²

Who Files It and When

The form has three checkboxes for your role, and each one carries its own trigger.³

If you are the executor named in the will or the administrator appointed by the court, you file the list at the time you qualify. This holds whether or not there is a will.⁴
If a will is being presented for probate but nobody is qualifying as personal representative, the person submitting the will files the list at that time.
If the decedent died without a will and nobody has qualified within 30 days of death, any heir may file the form directly.⁴

Personal representatives have a specific reason not to drag their feet: you cannot receive any compensation for administering the estate until the list of heirs is on file. The sole workaround is a separate affidavit to the commissioner of accounts swearing that, despite diligent effort, you have not been able to identify the heirs’ names, ages, or addresses.²

Filling Out the Form

Form CC-1611 is a one-page PDF on the Virginia Judicial System website, and the circuit court clerk’s office keeps blank copies as well.⁵

At the top, enter the court file number (the clerk assigns this), the name of the court, the decedent’s full legal name, and the date of death. The form does not ask for the decedent’s Social Security number or home address.

Below the header, check the box that indicates whether this is an additional list filed to supplement one already recorded. Then check the box for your role: proponent of the will, personal representative, or heir-at-law.³

The body of the form is a table with four columns: name of heir, address, relationship to the decedent, and age. A few points of execution:

For age, “adult” is acceptable for anyone 18 or older. Give the actual age for minor heirs.⁶
Relationships should be specific: son, daughter, sister, nephew. Not “relative.”
The list reflects the heirs who were living on the date of death. Do not list someone who predeceased the decedent, but do list their descendants if those descendants step into their place under the intestate succession rules.⁷

Signing Under Oath

After the table, print your name, sign, and date. The signature has to be sworn before a clerk, deputy clerk, or notary public. The form has checkboxes for all three. A notary enters a commission expiration date and registration number, and Virginia caps notary fees at $10 per oath or acknowledgment.⁸ Because you are signing under oath, verify every name and relationship against death certificates, birth certificates, or marriage records first.

Figuring Out Who Counts as an Heir

You identify heirs using Virginia’s intestate succession rules in Virginia Code § 64.2-200, even if the decedent left a will leaving everything to one person. The will controls who actually receives property. The CC-1611 creates the public record of who had a legal interest at the moment of death.

Virginia’s order of descent for real estate runs this way:⁹

If the decedent leaves a surviving spouse and either no children or only children who are also the spouse’s children, the entire estate goes to the spouse.
If the decedent leaves a surviving spouse along with children who are not all the spouse’s children, two-thirds goes to the decedent’s children and their descendants, and one-third goes to the spouse.
With no surviving spouse, everything passes to the decedent’s children and their descendants.
With no spouse or children, the estate passes to the decedent’s parents or surviving parent.
With no spouse, children, or parents, it passes to siblings and their descendants.
Beyond that, the estate splits between the maternal and paternal sides, passing to grandparents, then aunts and uncles, and outward.

This is where most mistakes happen. People leave off a sibling, forget a predeceased child’s descendants, or misread how the spouse’s share works when the decedent had children from a prior relationship. Work through the categories in order and stop at the first one that produces living heirs.

Where to File and What It Costs

File the original with the circuit court clerk’s office in the jurisdiction where the personal representative qualifies. If the decedent owned real estate in another Virginia county or city, you also have to file a copy with the circuit court clerk there. The statute requires filing in every jurisdiction where the decedent’s real estate is located, and missing one leaves a gap in that property’s chain of title.⁴

The recording fee under Virginia Code § 17.1-275 is $18 for a document of 10 pages or fewer, so a single-page CC-1611 costs $18 to record.¹ The statute treats this as an administrative expense of the estate, so it comes out of estate funds rather than your own.

After You File

The clerk records the list in the will book and indexes it under both the decedent’s name and the heirs’ names, making it a searchable public record. From that point, the recorded list is prima facie evidence of the facts it contains, and courts, title companies, and lenders rely on it unless someone proves otherwise.²

If something changes or you find an error later — a previously unknown child surfaces, or you learn that someone you listed had actually predeceased the decedent — file a corrected list. The form has a checkbox for exactly this situation: “This LIST OF HEIRS is filed in addition to the LIST OF HEIRS previously filed with this Court on [date].”³ The amended list runs through the same oath, recording, and indexing steps as the original.

One Boundary to Know

If the entire personal probate estate is worth $75,000 or less, Virginia Code § 64.2-601 lets heirs collect assets by small estate affidavit instead of qualifying a personal representative.¹⁰ That threshold covers personal property only. If the decedent owned real estate in Virginia, the list of heirs still has to be filed to establish the chain of title, even when the rest of the estate qualifies for the small estate route.

1
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 17.1-275 – Fees Collected by Clerks of Circuit Courts
2
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code Title 64.2 Chapter 5 Article 2 – List of Heirs and Affidavit of Real Estate
3
Supreme Court of Virginia. Virginia Code 64.2-509 – List of Heirs
4
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 64.2-509 – List of Heirs
5
Virginia Judicial System. Virginia Code 64.2-509 – List of Heirs
6
Virginia Bar Association. Guide to the Administration of Decedents Estates in Virginia
7
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 64.2-509 – List of Heirs
8
Commonwealth of Virginia. A Handbook for Virginia Notaries Public
9
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 64.2-200 – Course of Descents Generally; Right of Commonwealth if No Other Heir
10
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 64.2-601 – Payment or Delivery of Small Asset by Affidavit