Senate Bill No. 424
(By Senators Unger and Yoder)
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[Introduced March 2, 2005; referred to the Committee
on Natural Resources.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §44-1-29, relating to
the authority of personal representatives with regard to
conservation or preservation easements; and providing that a
personal representative may sell, donate or amend conservation
or preservation easements under certain conditions.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §44-1-29, to read as
follow:
ARTICLE 1. PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVES.
§44-1-29. Authority of personal representative concerning
conservation and preservation easements.
A personal representative, trustee or executor is hereby granted the authority to:
(a) Sell a conservation or preservation easement;
(b) Donate a conservation or preservation easement; or,
(c) Amend a conservation or preservation easement recorded on
real property of their decedents and settlers in order to obtain
the benefit of the estate tax exclusion allowed under §2031(c)of
the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
The personal representative shall ensure that the sale,
donation or amendment complies with the following:
(a) The sale or donation satisfies the requirements set forth
in the provisions of article twelve, chapter eight-a of this code;
(b) A proposed donation is to a qualified conservation
organization or holder and the organization or holder agrees to
accept the conservation or preservation easement;
(c) The sale or donation meets one of the following
conditions:
(1) All heirs, beneficiaries and devisees with interests in
the real estate affected provide written consent; or
(2) The will or other testamentary instrument directs the
personal representative to sell or donate the conservation or
preservation easement; or
(3) The decedent has a current application for a sale or
donation of a conservation or preservation easement and such
conservation or preservation easement is in process of settlement.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to
provide that a personal
representative may sell, donate or amend conservation or
preservation easements under certain conditions.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.