reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 6. Investments by Fiduciaries › §44-6-6. Establishment of Common Trust Funds; Investments

(a) Any bank or trust company qualified to act as fiduciary in this state may establish common trust funds for the purpose of furnishing, or making available, investments to itself as fiduciary, or to itself and others, as cofiduciaries, and may, as such fiduciary or cofiduciary, invest funds which it lawfully holds for investment in interests in such common trust funds, if such investment is not prohibited by the instrument, judgment, decree or order creating its fiduciary status or relationship, and if, in the case of cofiduciaries, the bank or trust company procures the consent of its cofiduciaries to such investment: Provided, That unless such fiduciary acquiring or holding any interest in any common trust fund is specifically permitted by the instrument, judgment, decree or order creating the fiduciary status or relationship to invest in securities other than those described in section two of this article, or any amendments or reenactments thereof, such common trust funds shall be invested only in those securities described in said section two and subject to the limitations and conditions of said section, and any amendments or reenactments thereof, except that a common trust fund or funds may be established for the purchase of securities of the type described in said section two without regard to the percentage limitation specified in subparagraph (1), subdivision (h) of said section two, in which event the funds invested by a fiduciary in interests in such last mentioned common trust fund or funds shall not exceed the percentage limitation specified in said subparagraph (1), subdivision (h) unless a larger investment is permitted by the instrument, judgment, decree or order creating the fiduciary status or relationship.
(b) Any bank or trust company qualified to act as a fiduciary in this state may establish and maintain common trust funds for the collective investment of funds held in any fiduciary capacity by it or by any bank or trust company qualified to act as fiduciary in this state which is owned or controlled by a bank holding company which owns or controls such establishing bank or trust company. Any such commonly owned or controlled bank or trust company may, as fiduciary or cofiduciary with others, invest funds which it holds in common trust funds so established and maintained. The restrictions contained in subsection (a) of this section shall apply to the establishment, maintenance and investment of common trust funds under this subsection.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 6. Investments by Fiduciaries › §44-6-7. Accounting Required of Fiduciaries as to Common Trust Funds

Unless ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction, the bank or trust company operating such common trust fund, as provided for in section six of this article, shall not be required to render an accounting with regard to such fund, before any commissioner of accounts, but it may, by application to the circuit court of the county in which is located the principal place of business of said bank or trust company, secure the approval of an accounting in such condition as the court may fix: Provided, however, That nothing herein shall be interpreted as relieving any fiduciary acquiring, holding or disposing of an interest in any common trust fund from making an accounting as required by law with respect of such interest.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 6. Investments by Fiduciaries › §44-6-8. How §§44-6-6 to 44-6-8 Cited; Purpose; Provisions Severable

This act, being said sections six, seven and eight of this article, may be cited as the “Uniform Common Trust Fund Act”. It shall be so interpreted and construed as to effectuate its general purpose to make uniform the law of those states which have or may hereafter enact it, or similar legislation. It shall apply to fiduciary relationship, or status, now in existence or hereafter established. If any of its provisions or the application thereof to any person or circumstance be held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the other provisions or applications which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end its provisions are declared to be severable.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 6. Investments by Fiduciaries › §44-6-9. Investment of Trust Assets in Mutual Funds; Investments in Mutual Fund Companies Otherwise Served by the Bank; Investment of Trust Assets in Time Deposits

(a) A bank or trust company qualified and acting in a fiduciary capacity in this state may, in the exercise of its investment discretion or at the direction of another person authorized to direct investment of funds held by the bank or trust company as fiduciary, invest and reinvest trust assets in mutual funds which are the securities of an open-end or closed-end management investment company or investment trust registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. Section 80a-1, et seq.), as amended: Provided, That the portfolio of such investment company or investment trust does not consist of investments prohibited by the governing fiduciary instrument.
(b) The fact that a bank or trust company or an affiliate of the same provides services to an investment company or investment trust, including, but not limited to, services as an investment advisor, custodian, transfer agent, registrar, sponsor, distributor, manager or otherwise, and is receiving reasonable compensation for those services, does not preclude such bank or trust company from investing or reinvesting in mutual funds which are the securities of the open-end or closed-end management investment trust registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. Section 80a-1, et seq.), as amended. Such bank or trust company or affiliate thereof is entitled to receive fiduciary fees with respect to such assets. For such services the bank or trust company or affiliate thereof shall also be entitled to the normal fiduciary fee.
(c) A bank or trust company qualified and acting in a fiduciary capacity in this state may, in the exercise of its investment discretion or at the direction of another person authorized to direct investment of funds held by the bank or trust company as fiduciary, invest and reinvest trust assets in time deposits, including certificates of deposit, of the bank or trust company in accordance with the provisions of subdivision (f), section two of this article: Provided, That such investments are authorized by the governing fiduciary instrument.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 6. Investments by Fiduciaries › §44-6-10. Purchase of Service or Product Through or Directly From Bank or Trust Company or Affiliate

(a) A bank or trust company acting in any fiduciary capacity, including, but not limited to, the capacities described in this article, may purchase any service or product, including, but not limited to, insurance or securities: underwritten or otherwise distributed by the bank, the trust company or by an affiliate; through or directly from the bank, the trust company or an affiliate; or from a syndicate or selling group that includes the bank, the trust company or an affiliate: Provided, That the purchase is otherwise prudent under article six-c of this chapter; the compensation for the service or product is reasonable; and the transaction is not prohibited by the instrument governing the fiduciary relationship. The compensation charged for the service or product may be in addition to the compensation that the bank or trust company is otherwise entitled to receive from the fiduciary account.
(b) A bank or trust company shall disclose at least annually any purchase authorized by this section that was made by the bank or trust company during that reporting period. The disclosure shall be given, in writing or electronically, to all persons entitled to receive statements of account activity. The disclosure shall include a description of any capacities in which the bank or trust company or an affiliate acts for the issuer of the securities or the provider of the products or services and a declaration of the fact that the bank or trust company or an affiliate may have an interest in the products or services.
(c) This section applies to the purchase of securities made at the time of the initial offering of the securities or at any time thereafter.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 6. Investments by Fiduciaries › §44-6-11. Application Only to Executors, Administrators, Guardians, Curators or Committees

The provisions of this article apply only to executors, administrators, guardians, curators or committees, as the case may be, and do not apply to or affect trustees who are governed by the provisions of the West Virginia Uniform Prudent Investor Act in article six-c of this chapter and the West Virginia Uniform Trust Code in chapter forty-four-d of this code.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 6A. Uniform Management of Institutional Funds Act › §44-6A-4. Appropriation for Expenditure or Accumulation of Endowment Fund; Rules of Construction

(a) Subject to the intent of a donor expressed in the gift instrument, an institution may appropriate for expenditure or accumulate so much of an endowment fund as the institution determines is prudent for the uses, benefits, purposes, and duration for which the endowment fund is established. This section does not limit the authority of the institution to expend funds as permitted under other law, the terms of the gift instrument, or the charter of the institution. Unless stated otherwise in the gift instrument, the assets in an endowment fund are donor-restricted assets (regardless of their treatment for accounting purposes) until appropriated for expenditure by the institution. In making a determination to appropriate or accumulate, the institution shall act in good faith, with the care that an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would exercise under similar circumstances, and shall consider, if relevant, the following factors:
(1) The duration and preservation of the endowment fund;
(2) The purposes of the institution and the endowment fund;
(3) General economic conditions;
(4) The possible effect of inflation or deflation;
(5) The expected total return from income and the appreciation of investments;
(6) Other resources of the institution; and
(7) The investment policy of the institution.
(b) To limit the authority to appropriate for expenditure or accumulate under subsection (a), a gift instrument must specifically state the limitation.
(c) Terms in a gift instrument designating a gift as an endowment, or a direction or authorization in the gift instrument to use only "income", "interest", "dividends", or "rents, issues, or profits", or "to preserve the principal intact", or words of similar import:
(1) Create an endowment fund of permanent duration unless other language in the gift instrument limits the duration or purpose of the fund; and
(2) Do not otherwise limit the authority to appropriate for expenditure or accumulate under subsection (a).
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 6A. Uniform Management of Institutional Funds Act › §44-6A-5. Delegation of Management and Investment Functions

(a) Subject to any specific limitation set forth in a gift instrument or in law other than this article, an institution may delegate to an external agent the management and investment of an institutional fund to the extent that an institution could prudently delegate under the circumstances. An institution shall act in good faith, with the care that an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would exercise under similar circumstances, in:
(1) Selecting an agent;
(2) Establishing the scope and terms of the delegation, consistent with the purposes of the institution and the institutional fund; and
(3) Periodically reviewing the agent's actions in order to monitor the agent's performance and compliance with the scope and terms of the delegation.
(b) In performing a delegated function, an agent owes a duty to the institution to exercise reasonable care to comply with the scope and terms of the delegation.
(c) An institution that complies with subsection (a) is not liable for the decisions or actions of an agent to which the function was delegated.
(d) By accepting delegation of a management or investment function from an institution that is subject to the laws of this state, an agent submits to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state in all proceedings arising from or related to the delegation or the performance of the delegated function.
(e) An institution may delegate management and investment functions to its committees, officers, or employees as authorized by law of this state other than this article.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 6A. Uniform Management of Institutional Funds Act › §44-6A-9. Relation to Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act

This article modifies, limits, and supersedes the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, 15 U. S. C. Section 7001 et seq., but does not modify, limit, or supersede Section 101 of that act, 15 U. S. C. Section 7001(a), or authorize electronic delivery of any of the notices described in Section 103 of that act, 15 U. S. C. Section 7003(b).
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 6C. Uniform Prudent Investor Act › §44-6C-1. Prudent Investor Rule

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this section, a trustee who invests and manages trust assets owes a duty to the beneficiaries of the trust to comply with the prudent investor rule set forth in this article.
(b) The prudent investor rule, a default rule, may be expanded, restricted, eliminated or otherwise altered by the provisions of a trust instrument. A trustee is not liable to a beneficiary to the extent that the trustee acted in reasonable reliance on the provisions of the trust instrument.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 6C. Uniform Prudent Investor Act › §44-6C-2. Standard of Care; Portfolio Strategy; Risk and Return Objectives

(a) A trustee shall invest and manage trust assets as a prudent investor would, by considering the purposes, terms, distribution requirements and other circumstances of the trust. In satisfying this standard, the trustee shall exercise reasonable care, skill and caution.
(b) A trustee’s investment and management decisions respecting individual assets must be evaluated not in isolation but in the context of the trust portfolio as a whole and as a part of an overall investment strategy having risk and return objectives reasonably suited to the trust.
(c) Among circumstances that a trustee shall consider in investing and managing trust assets are such of the following as are relevant to the trust or its beneficiaries:
(1) General economic conditions;
(2) The possible effect of inflation or deflation;
(3) The expected tax consequences of investment decisions or strategies;
(4) The role that each investment or course of action plays within the overall trust portfolio, which may include financial assets, interests in closely held enterprises, tangible and intangible personal property and real property;
(5) The expected total return from income and the appreciation of capital;
(6) Other resources of the beneficiaries;
(7) Needs for liquidity, regularity of income and preservation or appreciation of capital; and
(8) An asset’s special relationship or special value, if any, to the purposes of the trust or to one or more of the beneficiaries.
(d) A trustee shall make a reasonable effort to verify facts relevant to the investment and management of trust assets.
(e) A trustee may invest in any kind of property or type of investment consistent with the standards of this article.
(f) A trustee who has special skills or expertise, or is named trustee in reliance upon the trustee’s representation that the trustee has special skills or expertise, has a duty to use those special skills or expertise.
(g) (1) Unless otherwise directed by the terms of the trust instrument, the duties of a trustee of an irrevocable life insurance trust with respect to acquiring or retaining a contract of insurance upon the life of the grantor, or the lives of the grantor and the grantor’s spouse, do not include a duty:
(A) To determine whether the contract is or remains a proper investment;
(B) To exercise policy options available under the contract in the event the policy lapses or is terminated due to failure to pay premiums; or
(C) To diversify the contract.
(2) A trustee is not liable to the beneficiaries of the trust or to any other party for any loss arising from the absence of those duties upon the trustee.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 6C. Uniform Prudent Investor Act › §44-6C-4. Duties at Inception of Trusteeship

Within a reasonable time after accepting a trusteeship or receiving trust assets, a trustee shall review the trust assets and make and implement decisions concerning the retention and disposition of assets, in order to bring the trust portfolio into compliance with the purposes, terms, distribution requirements and other circumstances of the trust, and with the requirements of this article.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 6C. Uniform Prudent Investor Act › §44-6C-9. Delegation of Investment and Management Functions

(a) A trustee may delegate investment and management functions that a prudent trustee of comparable skills could properly delegate under the circumstances. The trustee shall exercise reasonable care, skill and caution in:
(1) Selecting an agent;
(2) Establishing the scope and terms of the delegation, consistent with the purposes and terms of the trust; and
(3) Periodically reviewing the agent’s actions in order to monitor the agent’s performance and compliance with the terms of the delegation.
(b) In performing a delegated function, an agent owes a duty to the trust to exercise reasonable care to comply with the terms of the delegation.
(c) A trustee who complies with the requirements of subsection (a) of this section is not liable to the beneficiaries or to the trust for the decisions or actions of the agent to whom the function was delegated.
(d) By accepting the delegation of a trust function from the trustee of a trust that is subject to the law of this state, an agent submits to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state
(e) The delegating trustee is not responsible for the decisions, actions or inactions of the trustee to whom those duties and powers have been delegated if the delegating trustee has exercised reasonable care, skill and caution in establishing the scope and specific terms of the delegation and in reviewing periodically the performance of the trustee to whom the duties and powers have been delegated and the trustee's compliance with the scope and specific terms of the delegation.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 6C. Uniform Prudent Investor Act › §44-6C-10. Language Invoking Standard of Article

The following terms or comparable language in the provisions of a trust, unless otherwise limited or modified, authorizes any investment or strategy permitted under this article: “investments permissible by law for investment of trust funds”, “legal investments”, “authorized investments”, “using the judgment and care under the circumstances then prevailing that persons of prudence, discretion, and intelligence exercise in the management of their own affairs, not in regard to speculation but in regard to the permanent disposition of their funds, considering the probable income as well as the probable safety of their capital”, “prudent man rule”, “prudent trustee rule”, “prudent person rule” and “prudent investor rule”.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 6C. Uniform Prudent Investor Act › §44-6C-14. Severability

If any provision of this article or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of this article which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this article are severable.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 7. Resignation of Fiduciaries and Procedure Upon Resignation › §44-7-1. Fiduciary Desiring to Resign to File Petition; Summons Thereon

A personal representative or curator desiring to resign his or her trust, may file his or her petition for that purpose in the county commission of the county in which he or she was appointed, stating the names of all persons, so far as known by him or her, interested in the estate in his or her hands or under his or her control, and to which his or her duties as fiduciary relate, and if any of them are under disability, or nonresidents of the state; or if there are persons interested in the estate whose names are unknown, all of these facts, and the names of the guardians and committees of the persons under disability, if there are guardians or committees, shall be stated in the petition. Upon the filing of the petition the clerk of the court shall issue a summons against all the persons so named and the guardians and the committees of those under disability, if they have any, and against “the unknown parties in interest”, if any there are, mentioned in the petition, to appear before the court on a day to be named in the summons, which day may be not less than thirty days from the filing of the petition, and answer the petition, and state to the court the reasons, if any they have, why the petition should not be granted. If any of the persons interested reside in another county in this state, the summons as to them shall be directed and sent by mail by the clerk to the sheriff of that county to be served and returned by him or her; and as to the persons named in the petition who reside out of this state, or who cannot by the use of due diligence be found, and as to the unknown parties, an order of publication shall be awarded against them, which shall be published or posted and published, as in cases of appointment and qualification of personal representatives.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 7. Resignation of Fiduciaries and Procedure Upon Resignation › §44-7-2. Copy of Petition and Summons to Be Served on Fiduciary Commissioner

Such fiduciary as is mentioned in the preceding section shall cause to be served, on the fiduciary commissioner whom the county commissioner shall designate, a copy of his petition and a copy of the summons issued thereon, at least ten days before the return day of the summons. The fiduciary commissioner shall investigate the records of the county commission to see if such fiduciary has rendered such inventories, appraisements and accounts as the law requires, and whether any further accounts should be required of him and on or before the return day certify the facts relating to such matters to the county commission. For making such investigation and certificate the fiduciary commissioner shall be allowed a fee of not less than $1, nor more than $10, as the commission may direct, to be charged and collected as other costs on such petition.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 7. Resignation of Fiduciaries and Procedure Upon Resignation › §44-7-3. Hearing on Petition

When the summons has been served upon all the parties named and referred to in the petition, and any necessary order of publication has been duly completed, the commission shall, on the day named in the summons, or on some later day to which a continuance may have been taken, proceed to hear the matter. If no objection is made to the resignation of the fiduciary by any person interested in the estate mentioned in the petition, and if the commissioner’s certificate shows he has fully and properly rendered all inventories, appraisements and accounts due from him his resignation may be accepted and entered of record by the commission. But if objection be made by any such person on the ground that the fiduciary has not fully settled and accounted for the estate committed to his care, at the time of filing his petition, or for any other valid reason, or it appears from the commissioner’s certificate that an inventory, an appraisement, or an account is due from the fiduciary, the petition and objections or commissioner’s certificate shall be referred to the fiduciary commissioner or to some other fiduciary commissioner or to a special commissioner appointed for the purpose, to do and perform such duties, and report upon such matters and things as are stated in the order of reference, and report the same to the commission. The same proceedings shall be had on such order of reference and the report when made as are had in the circuit court in a suit in chancery in that court. If it shall appear to the commission in any such case that the fiduciary has not fully settled and accounted for the estate committed to his charge, or that there is money or other property in his hands, or under his control, not yet paid over or disposed of, such orders as may be necessary and proper for the disposition and safekeeping thereof shall be made by the commission, and when such orders are complied with by the fiduciary, his resignation may be accepted. His resignation when accepted shall not affect or impair the liability of the sureties on his official bond in force at the time of his resignation and the acceptance thereof, for any default by him in the discharge of his duties as such fiduciary, remaining unsettled or unsatisfied. The costs in such cases shall be paid as the court may order.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 7. Resignation of Fiduciaries and Procedure Upon Resignation › §44-7-4. Application Only to Personal Representatives, Curators or Minor Guardians

The provisions of this article apply only to personal representatives, curators and minor guardians, as the case may be, and do not apply to or affect guardians and conservators of an adult protected person who are governed by the provisions of the Guardian and Conservatorship Act in chapter forty-four-a of this code or trustees who are governed by the provisions of the West Virginia Uniform Trust Code in chapter forty-four-d of this code.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 8. Real Estate of Decedents › §44-8-1. Sale, Conveyance and Management of Decedent’s Real Estate; Powers of Executor and Administrator With Will Annexed

Real estate devised to be sold shall, if no person other than the executor be appointed for the purpose, be sold and conveyed by the executor and the proceeds of sale, or the rents and profits of any real estate which the executor is authorized by the will to receive, shall be received by the executor who qualifies, or by his or her successor. If none qualify, or the one qualifying shall die, resign or be removed before the trust is executed or completed, the administrator with the will annexed shall sell or convey the lands so devised to be sold, and receive the proceeds of sale, or the rents and profits aforesaid, as an executor might have done: Provided, That title to real estate which is devised to be sold shall pass to the individuals entitled to receive the proceeds thereof in such proportions as they are entitled to receive said proceeds absent any contrary testamentary intent upon the closing of the testator’s estate or, if the estate is not closed, five years after the death of the testator.
When any will heretofore or hereafter executed gives to the executor named therein the power to sell the testator’s real estate, which has not been theretofore specifically devised therein, the executor may sell any such real estate unless otherwise provided in said will. If such will directs the sale of testator’s real estate but names no executor, or names an executor and the executor dies, resigns or becomes incapable of acting, and an administrator with the will annexed is appointed, the administrator with the will annexed may sell such real estate as aforesaid.
Nothing in this section shall be deemed or construed so as to invalidate any conveyance made prior to the effective date of the amendments thereto adopted by the Legislature at its regular session held in the year 1987.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 8. Real Estate of Decedents › §44-8-2. Rents, Profits or Proceeds of Sale to Be Paid to Persons Entitled

It shall be one of the duties of an executor or administrator, by virtue of his office, and as such embraced by his official bond, faithfully to pay the rents and profits, or proceeds of sale, of real estate which may lawfully come to his hands or to the hands of any person for him to such persons as are entitled thereto.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 8. Real Estate of Decedents › §44-8-3. Real Estate to Be Assets for Payment of Debts

All real estate of any person who may hereafter die, as to which he may die intestate, or which, though he die testate, shall not by his will be charged with or devised subject to the payment of his debts, or which may remain after satisfying the debts with which it may be so charged, or subject to which it may be so devised, shall be assets for the payment of the decedent’s debts and all lawful demands against his estate, in the order in which the personal estate of a decedent is directed to be applied.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 8. Real Estate of Decedents › §44-8-4. By What Court Assets Administered

Such assets, so far as they may be in the hands of the personal representative of the decedent, may be administered by the court in whose clerk’s office there is or may be filed a report of the accounts of such representative, and of the debts and demands against the decedent’s estate, or they may, in any case, be administered by a court of equity.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 8. Real Estate of Decedents › §44-8-5. Liability of Heir or Devisee for Real Estate Conveyed; When Such Real Estate Not Liable

Any heir or devisee who shall sell and convey any real estate, which by this article is made assets, shall be liable to those entitled to be paid out of such assets, for the value thereof, with interest; in such case the estate conveyed shall not be liable, if at the time of the conveyance the purchaser shall have no notice of any fraudulent intent on the part of the grantor, and no suit shall have been commenced for the administration of such assets, nor any report have been filed, as aforesaid, of the debts, and demands of those entitled. But no alienation of such estate, made by an heir or devisee, within one year after the death of the testator or intestate, shall be valid against creditors of such testator or intestate, although no such suit shall have been commenced or report of debts and demands filed within such year.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 8. Real Estate of Decedents › §44-8-6. Heir or Devisee Liable in Equity; Judgment Against Personal Representative Prima Facie Evidence

An heir or devisee may be sued in equity by any creditor to whom a debt is due, for which the estate descended or devised is liable, or for which such heir or devisee is liable in respect to such estate; and he shall not be liable to an action at law for any matter for which there may be any redress by such suit in equity. And any judgment or decree, except one taken by default, for such debt hereafter rendered against the personal representative of the decedent, shall be prima facie evidence of such debt against the heir or devisee in such suit in equity.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 8. Real Estate of Decedents › §44-8-7. Suit to Subject Real Estate to Payment of Debts; Parties; Evidence

When the personal estate of a decedent is insufficient for the payment of his debts, his executor or administrator may commence and prosecute a suit in equity to subject his real estate to the payment thereof as provided in this article. The surviving wife or husband, heirs and devisees, if any, and all the known creditors of the decedent, shall be made defendants in such suit. If such suit be not brought within six months after the qualification of such executor or administrator, any creditor of such decedent, whether he has obtained a judgment at law for his claims or not, may institute and prosecute such suit on behalf of himself and the other creditors of such decedent, in which the personal representative, surviving wife or husband, heirs and devisees, if any, of the decedent shall be made defendants. If any creditors’ suit shall have been brought against the decedent in his lifetime, and be undisposed of at the time of the death of the decedent, a separate suit shall not be instituted by any other creditor, nor by the executor or administrator, but the plaintiff shall, or, if he fails to do so within six months after the qualification of the executor or administrator, such executor or administrator or any general creditor, by intervening, may, in the suit already pending, by amended and supplemental bill, cause all proper and necessary parties to be brought into such suit; and thenceforth the same shall proceed as a suit instituted under this section. In every suit under this section anyone claiming to be a creditor of the decedent, whether he may have been made a party thereto or not, or whether he may have been served with process therein or not, may present his claim, and, upon such presentation, shall be deemed to have been made a party to the suit and to have been served with process therein. And evidence respecting such claim may be taken, and the same may be allowed and paid, in whole or in part, or rejected in the same manner and with the same effect, as if such claimant had been originally made a party and served with process.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 8. Real Estate of Decedents › §44-8-7a. Jurisdiction of Court in Suits to Subject Real Estate of Decedents to Payment of Their Debts

In every suit under the preceding section, whether brought by the personal representative or by any creditor, or whether a general creditors’ suit is pending at the time of the death of the decedent, the court shall have general jurisdiction with all the powers of a court of equity, and shall have authority to construe any deed, will or other writing, or dispose of any other matter pertaining to the real estate, or any part thereof, of the said decedent, the same as though a separate suit had been brought for that purpose.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 8. Real Estate of Decedents › §44-8-8. Reference to Special Commissioner and Publication of Notice to Creditors in Such Suit

No decree for the distribution of the proceeds of the real estate of such deceased person among his creditors shall be made until a reference is made to a commissioner in chancery to ascertain and report all the liens on the real estate or any part thereof, the holders of such liens, the amount due to each, and the priorities thereof, and report made of all general claims and the priorities of the same, and until a notice to all creditors to present and prove their claims is published as hereafter provided. The notice shall be in the following form or to the following effect:
To all creditors of A ............... B ............., deceased, including those holding liens by judgment or otherwise on his real estate, or any part thereof.
In pursuance of a decree of the .......... court, of the county of ................, made in a cause therein pending, to subject the real estate of the said A .................. B .................. to the payment of his debts, including those which are liens on such real estate, or any part of it, you are hereby required to present your claims to the undersigned for adjudication, at (designating place) on or before the .......... day of ..........; otherwise you may by law be excluded from all benefit of such real estate.
Given under my hand this .......... day of ............, 19.....
C…..D….,
Commissioner in Chancery.
Such notice shall be published as a Class II legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, and the publication area for such publication shall be the county in which the action is pending. The court shall designate the newspaper in which such notice shall be published. The court may direct such other notice to be given as it may deem proper. Such publication of such notice shall be equivalent to personal service thereof on all creditors, including those holding liens on such real estate, unless the court shall in the order directing publication otherwise order. Any creditor who may have filed his claim before a fiduciary commissioner may withdraw the same and the proof thereof made before such commissioner, and may file such claim and proof before the commissioner in chancery, and the commissioner in chancery shall, unless there be objection by any party to the suit, accept such proof for what the same may legally show. No other publication to creditors than the one provided by this section shall be necessary, and when any notice of the reference is required by law or by the court to be published, the notice of the reference shall be included in the above notice, so that there may be but one publication.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 8. Real Estate of Decedents › §44-8-9. Decree of Distribution; Claims Barred When

When such suit shall be fully matured for hearing and the report of any such commissioner shall have been confirmed, and the provisions of the preceding section shall have been fully complied with, the court may decree a distribution of the proceeds of such real estate among such of the creditors of the deceased as shall have shown themselves entitled thereto according to their several priorities, if any; which decree, so made, shall be a bar to the claim of any creditor of the deceased, or lienholder on real estate of the deceased, who has failed to present his claim to the commissioner as required by such notice, except that if a surplus remain after such distribution, the creditor or lienholder so failing may share in the same upon proving his claim at any time before a final decree is made in such suit. But if he fail to present his claim for adjudication before such final decree, he shall be forever barred of all right to participate in the proceeds of such real estate, so far as the other creditors of the said deceased, who have not so failed, are concerned.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 8. Real Estate of Decedents › §44-8-10. No Costs Recoverable In, and Injunction Against, Second Suit

After the commencement of any such suit as aforesaid, if any creditor of the deceased commence another suit, action or proceeding, upon a claim against him or his estate, no costs shall be recovered in such last-mentioned suit, action, or proceeding; and the court, or judge thereof in vacation, may enjoin the plaintiff therein from the prosecution of any such suit, action or proceeding, and require him to assert his claim or lien in the suit provided for by this article, or make any other order or decree that may seem right and proper to protect the interests of all parties having claims or liens.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 9. Persons Presumed to Be Dead and Their Estates › §44-9-1. When Person Presumed to Be Dead

In case any person has been or shall be absent for seven or more successive years from the place of his last domicile within this state; or, having been a resident of this state, has heretofore gone from and has not returned to this state for seven or more successive years; or, being a resident of this state, shall hereafter go from and not return to this state for seven or more successive years; or, being a nonresident of this state and being entitled to, or having an interest in, property in this state, has been or shall be absent for seven or more successive years from the place of his last-known domicile; and in any of the foregoing cases shall for such period of time have been, or shall be, unheard of by those who, had he been alive, would naturally have heard of him such person shall, in any case where his death shall come in question, be presumed in law to be dead, in the absence of proof to the contrary, or unless proof be made that he was alive within that time.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 9. Persons Presumed to Be Dead and Their Estates › §44-9-1a. When Person in Military Service Presumed to Be Dead; Administration of Estate; When Spouse May Remarry

Presumptive findings of death of any person engaged in any service or activity of, or employment by the United States in connection with or with respect to any hostilities in which the United States is engaged, whether war be formally declared or otherwise by an official or officer of the United States, who is authorized to make such presumptive findings by any act of Congress, shall create a presumption of the death of such person in the State of West Virginia. Proceedings under section three of this article may be commenced at any time after such finding is made.
No administrator, executor or personal representative of any person who is presumed to be dead under this section shall make final distribution of the assets of any such person until the expiration of three years after the date of the making of such presumptive findings by persons authorized to do so by the provisions of this section: Provided, That assets in the estate of any such person, which are exempt from attachment by creditors, including moneys paid by the United States of such nature, and other assets of any such estate which would otherwise be available for support of the wife, children and other dependents of such person, if he were alive, after allowance for debts and costs of administration, may be paid by the personal representative for the support of the wife and children and the dependents of such person upon order of the circuit court of the county which has jurisdiction in probate proceedings until such time as distribution may be made or administration terminated, and such sums shall be treated for all purposes of law as expenditures legally chargeable against such person, as if he were living to the time a final presumption of death becomes effective in this state. In case any such person presumed to be dead as a result of a finding, as aforesaid, is not heard from as provided in section one of this article, for a period of three years after making of such presumption, the presumption provided in section one of this article shall become effective to permit final distribution of his estate.
No surviving spouse of any person who is presumed to be dead under this section shall marry another until after the expiration of two years following the finding aforesaid, unless proceedings for divorce were commenced by such spouse or the missing person prior to the date such presumptive finding was made by an official of the United States; and after such two-year period the surviving spouse shall be free to remarry, or at any time unless the other spouse be heard from prior to the actual date of remarriage.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 9. Persons Presumed to Be Dead and Their Estates › §44-9-1b. When Person in Area Proclaimed to Be in a State of Emergency Presumed Dead

A person last seen at any site within the area proclaimed by the Governor on November 5, 1985, to be in a state of emergency as a result of the flooding in this state on or about November 4, 1985, whose body has not been found or identified within six months of the date last seen at such site, and who is unheard of by those who, had he been alive, would naturally have heard of him and whose disappearance can reasonably be believed to have been caused by such flooding shall in any case where his death shall come in question be presumed in law to be dead, in the absence of proof to the contrary or unless proof be made that he was alive within that time.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 9. Persons Presumed to Be Dead and Their Estates › §44-9-2. Jurisdiction of Estate of Supposed Decedent

Whenever it is believed that facts giving rise to the presumption of death exist with reference to any person, the county court of the county of such person’s last-known domicile in this state, or, if such person was a nonresident of this state, the county court of the county where the greater part of his property within this state may be situated, may be applied to by petition under oath, and shall have jurisdiction, to probate the will of such person, and to grant letters testamentary or of administration upon his estate to the same person, and upon the same procedure, except as otherwise provided in this article, as if such supposed decedent were in fact known to be dead.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 9. Persons Presumed to Be Dead and Their Estates › §44-9-3. Application for Probate or Administration, and Publication of Notice Thereof

Whenever letters testamentary or of administration are applied for on the estate of any person supposed to be dead on account of the existence of facts giving rise to the presumption of death, the county court or clerk thereof, if satisfied that the person applying therefor, or presenting a will or codicil of the supposed decedent for probate, would be entitled to such letters, or to such probate, if the supposed decedent were in fact dead, shall cause to be published, as hereinafter provided, a notice that such application has been made and that on a day certain, which shall not be less than two weeks after the last publication of such notice, the court will hear evidence concerning the alleged absence of the supposed decedent and the circumstances and duration thereof. Such notice shall be published as a Class II legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, and the publication area for such publication shall be the county.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 44. Administration of Estates and Trusts › Article 9. Persons Presumed to Be Dead and Their Estates › §44-9-4. Ancillary Letters on Estates of Nonresidents Supposed to Be Dead

Whenever letters testamentary or of administration shall have been granted in any other state, territory or country, on the estate of a resident thereof presumed to be dead on account of absence for seven or more successive years from the place of his last domicile, the person to whom such letters have been granted, may present a petition to the county court of the county in this state in which all or the greater portion of the estate of such supposed decedent in this state may be found, accompanied by a complete exemplified copy of the record for the grant of such letters, praying for the grant of ancillary letters testamentary or of administration upon the estate of such supposed decedent situate, owing, or belonging to him within this state; and the court may grant to some fit person, resident of this state, such ancillary letters, after notice shall be given in the manner provided for in the preceding section.