COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 4556
(By Delegates C. White, Manuel, Doyle and Rowe)
(Originating in the House Committee on the Judiciary)
[February 28, 2000]
A BILL to amend article one, 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 fifteen-a,
relating to requiring personal representatives to notify
immediate family members of sale of estate assets.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article one, 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
fifteen-a, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVES.
§44-1-15a. Duty of personal representative to notify family members
before sale of property.
A personal representative is required to provide written
notice by certified mail to the immediate family members of the
decedent to their last known address of any proposed sale of estate assets at least fourteen days prior to the sale. The written notice
shall: set forth the date, time and place of sale; describe the
real or personal property for sale; state the fair market value of
the property for sale; state that immediate family members have the
first right to purchase the property on the sale date: Provided,
That unless otherwise agreed by all immediate family members, the
property must be sold for a price that represents fair market
value. The notice shall be mailed at least fourteen days before
the date designated for the sale. For purposes of this section,
"immediate family member" means any sibling, parent, child or
spouse of a person.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.