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Virginia Code

Va. Code Ann. § 1-240.1 (2026)

Rights of parents

✓ current as of May 2026
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A parent has a fundamental right to make decisions concerning the upbringing, education, and care of the parent's child.

2013, cc. 668, 678.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 9 cases (6 in the last 5 years), 2017–2025 · leading case: Ryan Bedell v. Christina Price & Walter Ryan Matzuk, 828 S.E.2d 263 (Va. Ct. App. 2019).
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Ryan Bedell v. Christina Price & Walter Ryan Matzuk, 828 S.E.2d 263 (Va. Ct. App. 2019). · cites it 2× “57, 65 (2000) (plurality opinion); see also Code § 1-240.1. “[T]he custody, care and nurture of the child reside first in the parents, whose primary function and freedom include preparation for obligations the state can neither supply nor hinder.”
Kaniesha Shatae Hannon v. Commonwealth of Virginia, 803 S.E.2d 355 (Va. Ct. App. 2017). · cites it 2× “Code § 1-240.1 provides that “[a] parent has a fundamental right to make decisions concerning the upbringing, education, and care of the parent’s child.”
Carlos Ibanez v. Albemarle Cnty. Sch. Bd. (Va. Ct. App. 2024). · cites it 19× “We unanimously agree with the circuit court that the statute Plaintiffs rely on, Code § 1-240.1, contains no waiver of sovereign immunity, and is, therefore, not self-executing.”
J.K., by His Parents/Next Friends, Monte & Ginger Kuligowski v. Trustgard Ins. Co. (Va. Ct. App. 2025). · cites it 10× “57, 65 (2000) (plurality opinion); see also Code § 1-240.1. ‘[T]he custody, care, and nurture of the child reside first in the parents, whose primary function and freedom include preparation for obligations the state can neither supply nor hinder.”
McArthur v. Brabrand (E.D. Va. 2022). · cites it 5× “education under the Virginia Constitution (Count II); substantive and procedural due process rights under the United States and Virginia Constitutions (Count II]); the right of parents to make decisions concerning the care of their children under the United States Constitution…”
Jorge Guevara-Martinez v. Alexandria Dep't of Cmty. & Human Servs. (Va. Ct. App. 2025). · cites it 4× “520 , 533 (2025) (quoting Code § 1-240.1). Hence, “[i]t is cardinal with us that the custody, care and nurture of the child reside first in the parents, whose - 37 - primary function and freedom include preparation for obligations the state can neither supply nor hinder.”
John Elmore Gibbs v. Commonwealth of Virginia (Va. Ct. App. 2018). · cites it 2× “Code § 1-240.1 provides that - 13 - “[a] parent has a fundamental right to make decisions concerning the upbringing, education, and care of the parent’s child.”
Alexandra Mulvey v. Gerald Philip Rhoads & Linda MacNally (Va. Ct. App. 2022). · cites it 2× “57, 65 (2000) (plurality opinion)); see also Code § 1-240.1. This fundamental liberty interest, grounded in the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, dictates “that the custody, care and nurture of the child reside first in the parents, whose primary - 17 - function…”
Thomas Fullen Williams v. Maggie Kelly Panter (Va. Ct. App. 2025). · cites it 2× “To this end, the Commonwealth has explicitly codified this liberty interest in Code § 1-240.1, providing that “[a] parent has a fundamental right to make decisions concerning the upbringing, education, and care of the parent’s child.”
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