Chapter 44, Chapter 44

The county commission of each county shall appoint not more than four fiduciary commissioners, except that in counties in which there exists a separate tribunal for police and fiscal purposes, such tribunal shall appoint such commissioners: Provided, That the county commission or…

The fiduciary commissioners shall have general or limited supervision, as may be, of all fiduciary matters that are referred to them, and of the fiduciaries in charge thereof, and shall make all ex parte settlements of the accounts of such fiduciaries. Such commissioners shall ha…

(a) When, from any cause, none of the fiduciary commissioners can act as to any matter or matters which may be passed on under the provisions of this chapter, such commission or tribunal in lieu thereof, may appoint some other person to act as to such matter or matters, and such …

No person shall perform the duties of a fiduciary commissioner or special fiduciary commissioner in any matter wherein he will be passing upon his own account or acts; nor, where he will be called to pass upon any account or acts with reference to which he served as attorney or c…

The fiduciary commissioner shall inspect all inventories and accounts of sales returned to him by the fiduciary supervisor or by fiduciaries, require the same to be executed in triplicate and in proper form, and, within ten days after they are respectively received and approved b…

(a) The fiduciary supervisor shall at least once a month as a Class II legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, cause to be published in a newspaper of general circulation within the county wherein letters of adminis…

No person shall perform the duties of a fiduciary commissioner in any matter wherein he will be passing upon his own account or acts; nor, where he will be called to pass upon any account or acts with reference to which he served as attorney or counselor; nor shall he be in any m…

Each fiduciary commissioner shall, at least once each month, ascertain from the records of the county commission of his country what estates and fiduciary matters have been referred to him generally by the county commission or the fiduciary supervisor, since such commissioner’s l…

The county commission, whenever any controversy arises in connection with the probate of any will, or with the appointment and qualifications of personal representatives, guardians, committees or curators, or with the settlement of the accounts of any fiduciary, may, of its own m…

(a) When necessary solely for the purpose of financing the cost of settling estates, the county commission may authorize the fiduciary supervisor to charge and collect at the time of qualification of the fiduciary of a decedent’s estate a fee not to exceed: (1) $25 for all estate…

(a) The county commission, or tribunal in lieu thereof, shall create a special county fund pursuant to the provisions of section nine, article one, chapter seven of this code called the “County Fiduciary Fund”. All moneys received by the fiduciary supervisor shall be deposited in…

(a) Subject to the provisions of subsection (c) of this section and to the provisions of article thirteen of this chapter, any power, authority or duty conferred upon the clerk of the county commission with respect to the settlement, regulation and supervision of estates in any p…

(a) In all estates of decedents administered under the provisions of this article where more than 60 days has elapsed since the filing of any notice required by §44-3A-4 of this code, an estate may be closed by a short form settlement filed in compliance with this section: Provid…

The clerk of the county commission shall inspect all appraisements of sales returned to him by fiduciaries, require the same to be executed in quadruplicate and in proper form, and, within ten days after they are respectively approved and recorded by him deliver one copy thereof …

When the personal representative shall deliver to the fiduciary supervisor, the appraisement required by section fourteen, article one of this chapter, and is notified as to the completeness thereof, the fiduciary supervisor shall, unless otherwise ordered by the county commissio…

Every claim against the estate of a decedent shall be itemized, accompanied by a proper voucher, stating the character of the claim, whether open account, note, bond, bill, writing obligatory, judgment, decree, or other evidence of debt, and the amount thereof, and from what date…

Each fiduciary commissioner shall, at least once each month, ascertain from the records of the county commission of his county what estates and fiduciary matters have been referred to him by the county commission, or the clerk thereof since the fiduciary commissioner’s last inspe…

The county commission, whenever any controversy arises in connection with the probate of any will, or with the appointment and qualification of personal representatives, guardians, committees or curators, or with the settlement of the accounts of any fiduciary, may, of its own mo…

Every claim so itemized, so accompanied by proper vouchers, and so verified, shall be taken to be proved, and shall be allowed, unless before the fiduciary supervisor shall make up his report of claims, the personal representative or a distributee, or a legatee, or, in the case o…

Claims against any decedent’s estate may be filed with or presented to the fiduciary supervisor, at any time following the qualification of the personal representative, notwithstanding the notice to creditors shall not have been published previously to such filing or presentation…

Whenever at the death of any person there shall be a contingent or unliquidated claim against his estate, or an outstanding bond, recognizance or undertaking upon which the deceased shall have been principal or surety or indemnitor, and on which at the time of his death the liabi…

Every appraisement returned under this article shall be recorded by the clerk of the county commission in appropriate books and indexed in the same manner as the record of fiduciaries.

In settling the account of any fiduciary, the fiduciary commissioner may require him or any of them, if there are more than one, to produce, before the completion of the account, any securities or moneys comprised in the account or any documents relating to the investments of the…

If any personal representative, guardian, curator or committee shall, by his negligence or improper conduct, lose any debt or other money, he shall be charged with the principal of what is so lost and interest thereon in like manner as if he had received such principal. And if an…

The fiduciary commissioner in stating and settling the account shall allow the fiduciary any reasonable expenses incurred by him as such; and also, except in cases in which it is otherwise provided, a reasonable compensation in the form of a commission on receipts or otherwise. A…

(a) Personal representatives, as defined in section one, article one, chapter forty-two of this code, shall be allowed any reasonable expenses incurred by the personal representative as such and commissions upon the amount of all the personal estate which is subject to administra…

Any fiduciary commissioner or commissioner in chancery, having before him the accounts of a fiduciary for settlement, shall, on request, execute and deliver to such fiduciary a receipt for all vouchers filed with him that receipt, if such vouchers be afterwards lost or destroyed,…

Every account stated under this article shall be reported with any matters specially stated, deemed pertinent by the fiduciary commissioner, or which may be required by any person interested to be so stated.

(a) The provisions of this chapter notwithstanding, every fiduciary for the estate of a resident decedent shall, within five years of appointment as fiduciary make a full and final settlement, report and accounting for the decedent's estate in the manner provided for in this code…

Upon completion of such report of settlement of account the fiduciary commissioner shall give notice thereof, either verbally or in writing, delivered personally or by mail, to all parties interested or their attorneys, and hold the report, vouchers, and any evidence taken in con…

The fiduciary commissioner shall file the report in the office of the court by which he is appointed, as soon as practicable after the expiration of such ten days; and with his report he shall return all evidence taken before him and such exceptions, with such remarks as he may s…

The county commission, at its first regular term occurring not less than ten days after the report has been filed in the office of its clerk, shall examine the same, with the evidence and such exceptions to the report as may be filed at any time before such examination. It shall …

The report, to the extent to which it may be so confirmed by the county commission, or confirmed on appeal by the circuit court, shall be taken to be correct, and shall be binding and conclusive upon creditors of a decedent’s estate, and binding and conclusive upon every benefici…

When it appears by a report made as aforesaid or a special report of the fiduciary commissioner that money is in the hands of such fiduciary, the county commission, before which the report comes, may order the same to be invested or loaned as provided in article six of this chapt…

A statement of all the money, and an inventory of all securities, stocks, bonds and all other property, including the value thereof, which any personal representative, guardian, curator or committee, has received, become chargeable with or disbursed, within one year from the date…

When a county commission has confirmed, either in whole or in a qualified manner, a report of the accounts of any personal representative guardian, curator, committee as aforesaid, the county commission may order payment of what appears due on the accounts to such persons as woul…

When the account of any fiduciary is settled in a suit, it shall be the duty of the clerk of the court in which such suit is, within ten days after the close of the term of court at which the final decree in such suit is entered, to certify, to the clerk of the county commission …

The provisions of this article apply only to personal representatives, 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 Trust Code in chapter forty-four-d of this code.

Any fiduciary who has been appointed or qualified before this article takes effect and has not given sufficient bond, nor returned any appraisement as required by law, nor has had any appraisal made of the estate under his control and management, nor has fully and finally account…

A fiduciary who is in charge of a trust fund, the principal of which is not distributable until some future time, shall not be compellable by a fiduciary commissioner to make statement of his account, before the time for distribution of principal, oftener than once in every three…

When any fiduciary, except a sheriff, presents the statement required of him by law before a fiduciary commissioner or before a commissioner in chancery having before him the account of the fiduciary for settlement, the fiduciary commissioner or commissioner in chancery, as the c…

When a fiduciary commissioner has before him for settlement the account of a fiduciary for any year, if there be any time prior to such year for which the fiduciary has not settled, the settlement shall be also for such time; and also if there be any errors or omissions in accoun…

If any fiduciary fails to present to the fiduciary commissioner, to whom the estate or trust has been referred, a statement of receipts for any year, within two months after its expiration, in accordance with the provisions of section two of this article, or if a fiduciary is fou…

If any fiduciary fails to present to a fiduciary commissioner a statement of his receipts for any year, the county commission shall, upon request made to it, within ten years from the commencement of that year, by any person who is interested as creditor, legatee, distributee, su…

Every fiduciary commissioner shall, on the first Monday of every month, prepare a list of the fiduciaries whose accounts are at the date of such list before the fiduciary commissioner for settlement, except those that may have been mentioned in some previous list and except those…

This article may be cited as the West Virginia Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act.

As used in this article, the term “fiduciary” means the one or more executors of the estate of a decedent, or the one or more trustees of a testamentary or inter vivos trust estate, whichever in a particular case is appropriate.

(a) The clerk of the county commission of each county shall keep a record, to be known as the “Record of Fiduciaries”, in which he or she shall enter, in separate columns, first, the name of every fiduciary authorized to act as such by the county commission or clerk of the county…

In each county in which there exists a separate tribunal for police and fiscal purposes, created under section thirty- four, article VIII of the Constitution of one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, the clerk of the county commission shall have the powers and discharge the …

Unless otherwise ordered by the court, directed by the principal, or provided by a power of attorney, a custodian shall disclose to an agent with specific authority over digital assets or general authority to act on behalf of a principal a catalogue of electronic communications s…