H. B. 2308
(By Delegates Brown and Farris)
[Introduced March 1, 1993; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend article two, chapter forty-four of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
twenty-nine-a, relating to the payment of wages or personal
earnings by employers to survivors of the deceased.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article two, chapter forty-four of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
twenty-nine-a, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. PROOF AND ALLOWANCE OF CLAIMS AGAINST ESTATES OF
DECEDENTS.
§44-2-29a. Payment of wages or personal earnings to survivors
of deceased; release of employer.
Any employer, including the state or a political
subdivision, at any time after the death of its employee, may pay
all wages or personal earnings due to the deceased employee to: (a) The surviving spouse; (b) any one or more of the children
eighteen years of age or older; or (c) the father or mother of
the deceased employee, preference being given in the order named,
without requiring a West Virginia estate tax release where the
wages or personal earnings do not exceed two thousand five
hundred dollars. The payment of wages or personal earnings is a
full discharge and release to the employer from any claim for the
wages or personal earnings. Any person receiving payment of
wages or personal earnings under this section is liable to the
executor or administrator for the sum received by him or her.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for the
payment of wages or personal earnings to the survivors of a
deceased employee and to provide a release to the employer paying
the wages or personal earnings.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.