Senate Bill No. 427
(By Senators Wooton, Minear, Sharpe, Ross and Kessler)
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[Introduced February 4, 1999;
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section one, article two, chapter
forty-four of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to settlement of
estates; and reducing time for filing proof of claims by
creditors.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section one, article two, chapter forty-four of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. PROOF AND ALLOWANCE OF CLAIMS AGAINST ESTATES OF
DECEDENTS.
§44-2-1. Reference of decedents' estates; proceedings thereon.
(a) Upon the return of the appraisement by the personal
representative to the county clerk, the estate of his or her decedent shall, by order of the county commission to be then
made, be referred to a fiduciary commissioner for proof and
determination of debts and claims, establishment of their
priority, determination of the amount of the respective shares of
the legatees and distributees, and any other matter necessary and
proper for the settlement of the estate: Provided, That in
counties where there are two or more such commissioners, the
estates of decedents shall be referred to such commissioners in
rotation, in order that, so far as possible, there may be an
equal division of the work. Notwithstanding any other provision
of this code to the contrary,
a fiduciary commissioner may not
charge to the estate a fee greater than three hundred dollars and
expenses for the settlement of an estate, except upon: (i)
Approval of the personal representative; or (ii) a determination
by the county commission after a hearing that complicating issues
or problems attendant to such settlement
substantiate the
allowance of a greater fee.
(b) If the personal representative shall deliver delivers to the clerk an appraisement of the assets of the estate showing
their value to be fifty thousand dollars or less, exclusive of
real estate specifically devised and nonprobate assets, or, if it
appears to the clerk that there is only one beneficiary of the
probate estate and that the beneficiary is competent at law, the
clerk shall record said the appraisement and publish a notice
once a week for two successive weeks in a newspaper of general
circulation within the county of administration of the estate,
substantially as follows:
NOTICE OF PENDING OR UNADMINISTERED ESTATE
"Notice is hereby given that settlement of the estate of the
following named decedents will proceed without reference to a
fiduciary commissioner unless within
ninety thirty days from the
first publication of this notice such reference is requested by
a party in interest or an unpaid creditor files a claim and good
cause is shown to support reference to a fiduciary commissioner.
Dated this _____ day of ____________________________, _____.
___________________________________
Clerk of the County Commission of
___________ County, West Virginia."
The clerk shall charge to the personal representative, and receive, the reasonable cost of publication of the notice. If an
unpaid creditor files a claim against the estate, the personal
representative has twenty days after the date of the filing of a
claim against the estate of the decedent to approve or reject the
claim before the estate is referred to a fiduciary commissioner.
If the personal representative approves all claims as filed, then
no reference may be made.
The personal representative shall, within a reasonable time
after the date of recordation of the appraisement in such case:
(i) File a waiver of final settlement in accordance with the
provisions of section twenty-nine of this article; or (ii) make
a report to the clerk of his
or her receipts, disbursements and
distribution and submit an affidavit stating that all claims
against the estate for expenses of administration, taxes and
debts of the decedent have been paid in full. The clerk shall
collect a fee of ten dollars for recording such report and
affidavit and for publication of the notice hereafter provided,
the fee to be in lieu of any other fee provided by law for
recording a report of settlement of the accounts of a decedent's
personal representative. At least once a month the clerk shall cause to be published once a week for two successive weeks in a
newspaper of general circulation within the county of the
administration of the estate, with regard to reports received in
the prior month, a notice substantially as follows:
NOTICE OF FILING OF ESTATE ACCOUNTS
OR WAIVERS OF FINAL SETTLEMENT
"I have before me the account or waiver of final settlement
of the executor(s) or administrator(s) of the estates of the
following deceased persons:
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Any person having a claim against the estate of any such
deceased person, or who has any beneficial interest therein, may
appear before me or the county commission at any time within
thirty days after first publication of this notice, and request
reference of said estate to a commissioner or object to
confirmation of the accounting. In the absence of such request
or objection, the accounting may be approved by the county
commission.
________________________________
Clerk of the County Commission
of ____________ County, W. Va."
If no such request or objection is made to the clerk or to
the county commission, the county commission may confirm the
report of the personal representative and thereupon the personal
representative and his
or her surety shall be discharged; but if
such objection or request is made, the county commission may
confirm the accounting and record the same or may refer the
estate to one of its fiduciary commissioners:
Provided, That the
personal representative has twenty days after the date of the
filing of a claim or claims against the estate of the decedent to
approve or reject the claim before the estate is referred to a
fiduciary commissioner and if all claims are approved as filed,
then no reference may be made.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to reduce from 90 days
to 30 days the time a creditor has to file a claim against an
estate following the first publication of notice by the clerk of
the county commission.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.)
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JUDICIARY COMMITTEE AMEDEND,MMENT
On page one, by striking out the title and substituting
therefor a new title, to read as follows:
Eng. Senate Bill No. 427--A Bill to amend and reenact
section one, article two, chapter forty-four of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
relating to settlement of certain estates; and reducing time for
filing proof of claims by creditors.
Adopted
Rejected