No action or suit shall abate for want of form where the motion for judgment or bill of complaint sets forth sufficient matter of substance for the court to proceed upon the merits of the cause. The court shall not regard any defect or imperfection in the pleading, whether it has been heretofore deemed mispleading or insufficient pleading or not, unless there be omitted something so essential to the action or defense that judgment, according to law and the very right of the cause, cannot be given.
Code 1950, §§ 8-102, 8-109; 1954, c. 333; 1977, c. 617.
Structure Code of Virginia
Title 8.01 - Civil Remedies and Procedure
Chapter 7 - Civil Actions; Commencement, Pleadings, and Motions
§ 8.01-271. Compliance with Rules of Supreme Court
§ 8.01-271.01. Electronic filings in civil actions in circuit court
§ 8.01-271.1. Signing of pleadings, motions, and other papers; oral motions; sanctions
§ 8.01-273. Demurrer; form; grounds to be stated; amendment
§ 8.01-274. Motion to strike defensive pleading in equity and at law; exceptions abolished
§ 8.01-274.1. Motion or petition for rule to show cause for violation of court order
§ 8.01-275. When action or suit not to abate for want of form; what defects not to be regarded
§ 8.01-275.1. When service of process is timely
§ 8.01-277. Defective process; motion to quash; untimely service; motion to dismiss
§ 8.01-277.1. Objections to personal jurisdiction or defective process; what constitutes waiver
§ 8.01-280. Pleadings may be sworn to before clerk; affidavit of belief sufficient
§ 8.01-281. Pleading in alternative; separate trial on motion of party
§ 8.01-282. Motion to strike evidence