Exceptions to answers for insufficiency are abolished. The test of the sufficiency of any defensive pleading in any suit in equity or action at law shall be made by a motion to strike; if found insufficient, but amendable, the court may allow amendment on terms. If a second pleading is adjudged insufficient, the court may enter such judgment or decree or take such other action that it deems appropriate.
Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-274
Motion to strike defensive pleading in equity and at law; exceptions abolished
Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case Richard Lee Brown v. Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2021)
Most recently applied in Richard Lee Brown v. Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (July 2021)
Code 1950, § 8-122; 1954, c. 605; 1977, c. 617; 1978, c. 336.
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: Virginia Law Portal (LIS). Reproduced from public-domain Virginia statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.