Virginia
The exemption laws are very liberal. A householder residing in this State may hold exempt from levy or distress the family Bible, family pictures, school-books, and library for the use of the family, not exceeding in all one hundred dollars in value; a seat or pew in any house or place of public worship; a lot in a burial ground; all necessary wearing apparel of the debtor and his family; all beds, bedsteads and bedding necessary for the use of such family, and all stoves and appendages put up for the necessary use of the family, not exceeding three; one cow and her calf till one year old, one horse, six chairs, one table, six knives, six forks, six plates, one dozen spoons, two dishes, two basins, one pot, one oven, six pieces of wooden or earthen ware, one loom and its appurtenances, one safe or press, one spinning-wheel, one pair of cards, one axe, two hoes, ten barrels of corn, or in lieu thereof twenty-five bushels of rye or buckwheat, five bushels of wheat or one barrel of flour, two hundred pounds of bacon or pork, three hogs, ten dollars in value of forage or hay, one cooking-stove and utensils for cooking therewith, and one sewing-machine; and, in the case of a mechanic, the tools and utensils of his trade, not exceeding one hundred dollars in value; and in case of an oysterman or fisherman, his boat and tackle, not exceeding two hundred dollars in value, the same shall be sold, and out of the proceeds the oysterman or fisherman shall first receive two hundred dollars in lieu of such boat and tackle; and if the householder is at the time actually engaged in the business of agriculture, there shall also be exempt from such levy or distress, while he is so engaged, to be selected by him or his agent, the following articles, or so many there he may have, to wit: one yoke of oxen, or a pair of horses or mules in lieu thereof (unless he selects or has selected a horse or mule under the preceding section, in which case he shall be entitled to select under this section only one), with the necessary gearings, one wagon or cart, two plows, one drag, one harvest cradle, one pitchfork, one rake, and two iron wedges; wages, owing to a laboring man being a householder, not exceeding fifty dollars per month, shall also be exempt from distress, levy, or garnishment. These embrace what is known as the Poor Debtor’s Exemption. (Code, ch. 178.)
The Homestead Exemption is as follows: Every householder residing in this State shall, in addition to the property or estate to hold exempt from levy, distress, or garnishment, under ch. 178, be entitled to exempt from levy, seizure, garnishment, or sale under any execution, order, or process issued on any demand for any debt or liability on contract, his real and personal estate, or either, to be selected by him, including money and debts due him, to the value of not exceeding two thousand dollars.