Good Monday morning, Alexandria!
🌦️ Today’s weather: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 76 degrees. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph. Scattered showers tonight, mainly between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 64 degrees. Southeast wind 5 to 8 mph becoming light and variable after midnight. The chance of precipitation is 50%. Tuesday will be partly sunny, with a high near 82 degrees. West wind 5 to 7 mph.
Virginia’s Department of Rail and Public Transportation has just released their draft six- year improvement program for fiscal year 2026, totaling roughly $7 billion. The funds cover both operational costs and larger sums for capital improvement projects statewide.
The City of Alexandria, for example, will get money to help cover the $200,000 operational cost for their GO Alex program, which is the city’s outreach program to get residents to ride transit, carpool and commute by bicycle. Hampton Roads’ transportation department will receive funds towards replacing two large buses, a project that will total $1.6 million – and that’s just one of their more than 30 plus capital improvement projects. Localities depend on the state money to update the equipment used to serve the public in various regions of Virginia.
When a loved one passes away, families often face difficult decisions about funeral arrangements, finances, and the distribution of property. One common question is whether having a will automatically means the estate must go through probate.
Not necessarily. Whether probate is required in Virginia depends largely on how the deceased person’s assets were owned and whether those assets have another method of transferring to heirs or beneficiaries.
Understanding when probate is required—and when it can be avoided—can help families navigate estate administration with greater confidence.
Probate is the legal process used to administer certain assets belonging to a deceased person, or decedent. In Virginia, probate generally takes place through the circuit court in the city or county where the decedent lived.
When probate is necessary, the court recognizes the will, if there is one, and appoints a personal representative to handle the estate. The personal representative is responsible for identifying and collecting assets, addressing valid debts and taxes, and distributing the remaining property according to the will or Virginia’s intestacy laws.
Importantly, having a will does not automatically mean every asset must pass through probate. A will generally controls probate assets, while certain property passes directly to another person through ownership arrangements or beneficiary designations.
Probate is generally necessary when someone dies owning assets in their individual name that do not have another method of transferring ownership.
Examples can include:
In these situations, probate may be necessary to give the personal representative authority to transfer or distribute the property.
Some assets can transfer automatically after death and therefore may not need to pass through probate.
Jointly owned property: Assets held jointly with rights of survivorship generally pass to the surviving owner.
Beneficiary-designated accounts: Life insurance policies, retirement accounts, and certain bank accounts can pass directly to the beneficiaries named on the account.
Revocable living trusts: Assets properly transferred into a revocable living trust generally avoid probate because the trust owns the property rather than the deceased individual.
Virginia also provides a simplified option for certain small estates. Under Va. Code § 64.2-601, qualifying personal property valued at $75,000 or less may be transferred using a small estate affidavit rather than a full probate proceeding, provided the statutory requirements are satisfied.
This simplified procedure applies to qualifying personal property, not real estate, and can be particularly useful when an estate consists of modest assets such as a bank account or vehicle.
When probate is necessary, the personal representative must complete several steps before the estate can be closed. These typically include identifying and valuing estate assets, filing the required inventory, addressing creditor claims and taxes, and distributing assets to beneficiaries.
Virginia also imposes deadlines for certain estate filings. The inventory generally must be filed within four months after qualification, while the first accounting is generally due within 16 months.
The Alexandria Health Department (AHD) is notifying residents about potential measles exposures in northern Virginia after confirming the state’s first case of 2025. Health officials are currently working to identify people who may have been exposed to this highly contagious virus at two locations in mid-April.
The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) has pinpointed possible exposure sites at Kaiser Permanente medical centers in Woodbridge and Fredericksburg. People who visited the Advanced Urgent Care at Kaiser Permanente Caton Hill Medical Center in Woodbridge on April 15 between 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. might have been exposed.
Good Sunday morning, Alexandria!
☀️ Today’s weather: Partly sunny, with a high near 78 degrees. North wind around 8 mph. Tonight, there will be a slight chance of showers after 2 a.m. Increasing clouds, with a low around 57 degrees. East wind 3 to 7 mph. The chance of precipitation is 20%. Mostly cloudy on Monday, with a high near 76 degrees. Southeast wind 6 to 10 mph.
Curious about strength training but not sure where to start? Or perhaps you're looking for a more efficient alternative to traditional gyms?
Imperium Strength & Longevity invites the Alexandria community to an Open House on Sunday, November 1, from 11 AM to 2 PM.
Early Sunday morning, the Alexandria Police Department (APD) launched a death investigation after finding a man’s body in the street on the 700 block of N. Pitt Street.
The APD shared this information on social media at 4:21 a.m. on April 20.
A man was shot to death Saturday night (April 19) in the parking lot of an apartment complex in Alexandria’s West End.
The Alexandria Police Department found an adult male with a light pulse and suffering from two gunshot wounds in the parking lot of the Canterbury Square apartment complex near Holmes Run and Duke Street at around 10:15 p.m, according to the police scanner.
Good Saturday morning, Alexandria!
☀️ Today’s weather: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 86 degrees. Southwest wind 11 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Tonight will be mostly cloudy, with a low around 66 degrees. Southwest wind 6 to 10 mph becoming northwest after midnight. Sunday will be partly sunny, with a high near 76 degrees. North wind 6 to 9 mph.
Starting Monday, April 21, Alexandria’s Department of Transportation and Environmental Services is rolling out its annual street maintenance program.
The project, which runs through November 2025, aims to resurface about 50 lane miles of road each year and repair concrete curbs and gutters.
We made it to Friday in Alexandria! Here’s a look at our top stories of the week.
Our top post was on the plan to close Waterfront Park and Point Lumley Park for two years. It’s part of the city’s efforts to fight flooding by rebuilding sections of sea wall and installing a pump station to recirculate floodwaters to the Potomac River.
