Senate Bill No. 646
(By Senator Rowe, Redd and Caldwell)
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[Introduced February 18, 2002; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section one, article eight, chapter
thirty-eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to increasing the
values of certain personal property which is exempt from levy,
forced sale, attachment or execution.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section one, article eight, chapter thirty-eight of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 8. EXEMPTIONS FROM LEVY.
§38-8-1. Exemptions of personal property.
Any husband, wife, parent or other head of a household
residing in this state, or the infant children of deceased parents,
may set apart and hold personal property not exceeding one five
thousand dollars on the primary household use vehicle of the debtor or a dependent of the debtor and ten thousand dollars in value on
household goods, furniture, toys and clothing of the debtor or a
dependent of the debtor, in value to be exempt from execution or
other process, except as hereinafter provided. Any mechanic,
artisan or laborer residing in this state, whether he or she be a
husband, wife, parent or other head of a household, or not, may
hold the working tools of his or her trade or occupation to the
value of fifty three thousand dollars exempt from forced sale or
execution: Provided, That in no case shall the exemption allowed
any one person exceed one fifteen thousand dollars: Provided,
however, That funds on deposit in an individual retirement account
(IRA) including a simplified employee pension (SEP) in the name of
the defendant are exempt from attachment: Provided further, That
such amount shall be exempt only to the extent it is not or has not
been subject to an excise or other tax on excess contributions
under section 4973 and/or section 4979 of the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986, or any successor provisions, regardless of whether such
tax is or has been paid.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to
increase the values of
certain personal property exempt from levy, forced sale, execution
or attachment.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.