ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 347
(By Senators Wooton, Anderson, Bowman, Buckalew, Dittmar, Grubb,
Miller, Ross, Schoonover, Wagner, White and Yoder)
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[Passed March 9, 1996; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT 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; and to amend and reenact
section twenty-six, article three-a of said chapter, all
relating to the order in which debts of a decedent are to be
paid and relieving the decedent's estate and surviving spouse
of the obligation to pay the decedent's funeral expenses if
payment of those funeral expenses is 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; and that section twenty-six, article three-a of said chapter be amended and reenacted, all to
read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. PROOF AND ALLOWANCE OF CLAIMS AGAINST ESTATES OF
DECEDENTS.
§44-2-21. Order in which debts of decedent are to be paid.
(a) If the applicable assets of the estate are insufficient to
pay all claims against the estate in full, the personal
representative shall make payment in the following order:
(1) Costs and expenses of administration;
(2) Reasonable funeral expenses;
(3) Debts and taxes with preference under federal law;
(4) Unpaid child support which is due and owing at the time of
the decedent's death;
(5) Debts and taxes with preference under other laws of the
state of West Virginia;
(6) Reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of
the last illness of the decedent, including compensation for
persons attending the decedent during his or her last illness; and
(7) All other claims.
(b) If the applicable assets of the estate are insufficient to
pay all claims within a class, those claims within that class shall
be paid on a pro-rata basis. No preference shall be given in the payment of any claim over any other claim of the same class, and a
claim due and payable shall not be entitled to a preference over
claims not due.
(c) 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,
neither the decedent's estate nor the decedent's surviving spouse
shall have any obligation for the payment of such funeral expenses.
ARTICLE 3A. OPTIONAL PROCEDURE FOR PROOF AND ALLOWANCE OF CLAIMS
AGAINST ESTATES OF DECEDENTS; COUNTY OPTION.
§44-3A-26. Order in which debts of decedent are to be paid.
(a) If the applicable assets of the estate are insufficient to
pay all claims against the estate in full, the personal
representative shall make payment in the following order:
(1) Costs and expenses of administration;
(2) Reasonable funeral expenses;
(3) Debts and taxes with preference under federal law;
(4) Unpaid child support which is due and owing at the time of
the decedent's death;
(5) Debts and taxes with preference under other laws of the
state of West Virginia;
(6) Reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last illness of the decedent, including compensation for
persons attending the decedent during his or her last illness; and
(7) All other claims.
(b) If the applicable assets of the estate are insufficient to
pay all claims within a class, those claims within that class shall
be paid on a pro-rata basis. No preference shall be given in the
payment of any claim over any other claim of the same class, and a
claim due and payable shall not be entitled to a preference over
claims not due.
(c) 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,
neither the decedent's estate nor the decedent's surviving spouse
shall have any obligation for the payment of such funeral expenses.