Senate Bill No. 231
(By Senator Wooton)
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[Introduced February 1, 1994; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section twenty-seven, article two,
chapter forty-four of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one as amended, relating to
eliminating the two-year period to bring a civil action
against distributees of an estate by persons who fail to
present their claims to the fiduciary commissioner prior to
distribution.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twenty-seven, 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.
§44-2-27. When creditors can sue estate of deceased person where
there has been no administration.
(a) Every creditor who has not presented his claim to the
fiduciary commissioner before distribution of the surplus by thepersonal representative, or before that time has not instituted
a civil action or suit thereon against the personal
representative, may, if not barred by limitation, bring a civil
action against the distributees and legatees, jointly or
severally, at any time within two years after such distribution.
But no distributee or legatee shall be required to pay to
creditors suing by virtue of this section a greater sum than the
value of what was received by him out of the decedent's estate,
nor shall any distributee or legatee be required to pay to any
one creditor a greater proportion of such creditor's debt than
the value of what was received by such distributee or legatee
bears to the total estate distributed. A creditor suing by
virtue of this section shall not recover against such
distributees and legatees the costs of his civil action.
(b) Any creditor of a deceased person upon whose estate
there is no administration pursuant to subsection (b), section
one of this article, may, if not barred by limitation, bring a
civil action against the sole beneficiary at any time within two
years after recordation of the appraisement.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to eliminate the two-year
period in which a civil action can be filed against the
distributees of an estate by persons who fail to present their
claims to the fiduciary commissioner prior to distribution.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.