ENGROSSED
Senate Bill No. 347
(By Senators Wooton, Anderson, Bowman, Buckalew, Dittmar, Grubb,
Miller, Ross, Schoonover, Wagner, White and Yoder)
____________
[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported February 8, 1996.]
_____________
A BILL to amend and reenact section twenty-one, article two,
chapter forty-four of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to order in
which debts of decedent to be paid; and extinguishing the
liability of an estate or surviving spouse for the payment of
funeral expenses provided for by an irrevocable pre-need
funeral contract or trust.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twenty-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.
§44-2-21. Order in which debts of decedent to be paid.
(a) When the assets of the decedent in the hands of his
personal representative, after the payment of charges of
administration, are not sufficient for the satisfaction of all
demands against him they shall be applied in the following order:
(a) (1) To the payment of funeral expenses, to an amount not
exceeding six hundred dollars: Provided, That the reasonable and
necessary funeral and burial expenses, including expenses for
monuments and all other expenses of like nature, incident to a
deceased wife shall be payable by the personal representative out
of the assets of her estate irrespective of any other provision of
this code or of other rule of law and all such expenses shall be
allowed as a charge of administration pursuant to the provisions of
sections five and six of this article, and shall likewise be
allowed as deductions against the assets of such estate pursuant to
the provisions of article eleven, chapter eleven of this code;
(b) (2) To the claims of physicians, not exceeding one hundred
dollars, for services rendered during the last illness of the
decedent; and accounts of druggists, not exceeding the same amount,
for articles furnished during the same period; and claims of
professional nurses or other person rendering service as nurse to
the decedent, at his request or the request of some member of his immediate family, not exceeding the same amount, for services
rendered during the same period; and accounts of hospitals and
sanitariums, not exceeding the same amount, for articles furnished
and services rendered during the same period;
(c) (3) To debts due the United States;
(d) (4) To debts due this state;
(e) (5) To taxes and levies assessed upon the decedent
previous to his death;
(f) (6) To debts due as trustee for persons under
disabilities, as receiver or commissioner under decree of court of
this state, as personal representative, guardian, committee, or
other fiduciary, where the qualification was in this state;
(g) (7) To the balances on any items listed in subdivisions
(a) (1) and (b) (2) hereof of this subsection and to all other
demands except those in the next class; and
(h) (8) To voluntary obligations.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this
section, if the payment of all funeral expenses of the decedent is
provided for by an irrevocable pre-need funeral contract or trust,
then neither the decedent's estate nor the decedent's surviving
spouse, if any, shall have any obligation for the payment of such
funeral expenses.