The Virginia military affidavit

How Virginia handles it

One page covers all three trial courts. At the top of DC-418 (revised 07/25) you tick Circuit Court, General District Court, or Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court, fill in the city or county, the case number, and the return date and time. The affidavit itself is compact: check whether the defendant or respondent is in military service or is not in military service, or check that the affiant is unable to determine, then write into the block headed "The following facts support the statement above." There is no DMDC checkbox and no attachment list, so the facts line is where the search result has to be described.

The form quotes the bond rule to you before you sign. Printed between the facts block and the signature: under 50 U.S.C. § 3931, if the court cannot determine military service from your statement, it may require the plaintiff or petitioner to file a bond in an amount approved by the court before entering judgment. Virginia puts that warning on the affidavit rather than in a guide, which is a hint about how often the unable to determine box gets checked without any facts behind it.

The bottom half of the same sheet is the judge's order. Below your signature sit two court-use sections: an Order of Appointment of Counsel, with a line for the appointed lawyer's name and address, a fee amount, and the next hearing date, and a Stay of Proceedings order for a minimum period of 90 days with a date. You complete the top, the court completes the bottom, and the appointment and the stay never need a separate document. The face of the form also states that appointed counsel "shall not be selected by the plaintiff or have any affiliation with the plaintiff."

Va. Code § 8.01-15.2 is what makes the form mandatory and gives it teeth. Subsection A directs that no court enter a judgment by default until the plaintiff files the affidavit, and gives the Supreme Court of Virginia authority to prescribe the form, which is why DC-418 exists. Subsection C is unusual: appointed counsel "may issue a subpoena duces tecum for all discoverable electronic and print files, records, documents, and memoranda regarding the transactional basis for the suit," and if the subpoena asks, "the plaintiff shall also deliver all documents or information concerning the location of the servicemember." Subsection B caps attorney fees assessed for that appointment at $125 unless the court deems a higher amount appropriate.

Virginia also narrows who can use a missing affidavit as a weapon. The last sentence of subsection A: "Failure to file an affidavit shall not constitute grounds to set aside an otherwise valid default judgment against a defendant who was not, at the time of service of process or entry of default judgment, a servicemember as defined in 50 U.S.C. § 3911." A civilian defendant in Virginia cannot reopen a judgment on the paperwork gap alone. A servicemember still can, under the federal reopening rule.

What trips filers up here

• The face of the PDF and the state forms listing print the name slightly differently. The Commonwealth of Virginia District Court Forms Listing, revised 07/2026, prints it as AFFIDAVIT - DEFAULT JUDGMENT - SERVICEMEMBERS CIVIL RELIEF ACT with a 07/25 revision date.
• The declaration wording is prescribed by statute. Retyping it loosely, or having it notarized instead, defeats the point of § 8.01-4.3.
• The appointment order and the stay order live on the same sheet, so filers sometimes fill in the court-use boxes by mistake. A separate form, DC-417, Order for Stay - Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, exists for a stay entered outside the default posture.
• Appointed counsel can subpoena your transactional file and demand what you know about where the servicemember is. That is a discovery cost most default budgets do not carry.

Signing it: declaration, no notary

The signature block reads "Pursuant to Va. Code § 8.01-4.3, I declare, under penalty of perjury, that the above information is true and correct." Section 8.01-4.3 gives an unsworn declaration the same force as an affidavit when it is subscribed as true under penalty of perjury and dated, so no notary is involved. That statute does not reach depositions, oaths of office, or an oath a specific official other than a notary must administer.

No notary is needed. The signature block is an unsworn declaration under penalty of perjury, which is what 50 U.S.C. § 3931(b)(4) expressly allows. Signing it knowing the military statement is false is still a federal crime, and a state perjury exposure on top.

Virginia law on top of the federal rule

Va. Code § 8.01-15.2: Virginia's own default judgment statute bars entry of default until the affidavit is filed, authorizes the Supreme Court of Virginia to prescribe the form, lets appointed counsel subpoena the transactional file and the servicemember's location information, caps assessed attorney fees at $125 absent a higher amount the court deems appropriate, and denies a non-servicemember any right to set aside a judgment for a missing affidavit.

Getting the military-status answer right

The affidavit is only as good as the search behind it. The Defense Manpower Data Center runs the free lookup that courts and creditors rely on, and since 2026 it requires a free account even for a single record. Our guide to the DMDC SCRA website covers the search itself, what a "no information found" result does and does not prove, and the batch route for high-volume filers. The federal rules behind this form, including what happens when you genuinely cannot determine status, sit on the hub page.

If one was filed against you

A false affidavit is not a technicality. In May 2026 the Justice Department settled with a Florida property manager that swore a Navy sailor was not on active duty, took a default eviction judgment, and left him with an eviction on his record that a dozen landlords then refused to rent around: $60,000 to one servicemember plus a civil penalty . If a default judgment was entered against you while you were serving, it can be reopened; the default-judgment shield walks the deadlines.

Serving in Virginia and looking for what the state adds to your own protections rather than court procedure? That is a different page: Virginia SCRA benefits.