WEST VIRGINIA CODE
WVC 48-
CHAPTER 48. DOMESTIC RELATIONS.
WVC 48 - 29 -
ARTICLE 29. PROPERTY, RIGHTS AND LIABILITIES OF MARRIED WOMEN;
HUSBAND AND WIFE.
WVC 48 - 29 - 101
PART 1. EMANCIPATION FROM ALL
DISABILITIES AND INCAPACITIES.
§48-29-101. Emancipation from all disabilities under common law.
All married women, including married women who are not
residents of this state to the extent that they are affected by the
laws of this state, are fully emancipated from all the disabilities
and relieved from all the incapacities to which they were formerly
subject under common law.
WVC 48 - 29 - 102
§48-29-102. Emancipation from all disabilities to contract.
All married women, including married women who are not
residents of this state to the extent that they are affected by the
laws of this state, may make contracts of any kind and assume or
stipulate for obligations of any kind, in any form or manner
permitted under this code. In no case may any act, contract or
obligation of a married woman require, for its validity or
effectiveness, the authority of her husband or of a judge.
WVC 48 - 29 - 103
§48-29-103. Emancipation from all disabilities as to personal or
real property.
All married women, including married women who are not
residents of this state to the extent that they are affected by the
laws of this state, may own in their own right, real and personal
property, acquired by descent, gift or purchase and may manage,
sell, convey or dispose of any real or personal property to the
same extent and in the same manner a married man can property
belonging to him.
WVC 48 - 29 - 104
§48-29-104. Liability for married woman's torts.
All married women, including married women who are not
residents of this state to the extent that they are affected by the
laws of this state, are liable for torts that they have committed.
WVC 48 - 29 - 105
§48-29-105. Emancipation from liability for torts or contracts of
spouse.
No married person, including married persons who are not
residents of this state to the extent that they are affected by the
laws of this state, is liable for the contracts or torts of his or
her spouse.
WVC 48 - 29 - 201
PART 2. CONVEYANCES BETWEEN MARRIED PERSONS.
§48-29-201. Burden of proof.
The burden of proof in any proceeding questioning the validity
or lawfulness of any conveyance or transfer of property or any
interest in property from one spouse to the other spouse
by the
spouse making the conveyance or transfer, or his or her heir,
devisee or creditor is on the spouse in whose favor the conveyance
or transfer was made.
WVC 48 - 29 - 202
§48-29-202. Presumption of gift in certain transactions between
husband and wife.
Where one spouse purchases real or personal property and pays
for the real or personal property, but takes title in the name of
the other spouse, the transaction, in the absence of evidence of a
contrary intention, is presumed to be a gift by the spouse so
purchasing to the spouse in whose name the title is taken:
Provided, That in the case of an action under the provisions of
article seven of this chapter wherein the court is required to
determine what property of the parties constitutes marital property
and equitably divide the same, the presumption created by this
section does not apply, and a gift between spouses must be
affirmatively proved.
WVC 48 - 29 - 301
PART 3. HUSBAND AND WIFE.
§48-29-301. Requirement of a writing for contract between husband
and wife.
A contract between a husband and wife shall not be enforceable
by way of action or defense, unless there is some writing
sufficient to indicate that a contract has been made between them
and signed by the spouse against whom enforcement is sought or by
his or her authorized agent or broker.
WVC 48 - 29 - 302
§48-29-302. Loss of consortium.
A married woman may sue and recover for loss of consortium to
the same extent and in all cases as a married man.
WVC 48 - 29 - 303
§48-29-303. Liability of husband and wife for purchases and
services.
(a) A husband and wife are both liable for the reasonable and
necessary services of a physician rendered to the husband or wife
while residing together as husband and wife, or for reasonable and
necessary services of a physician rendered to their minor child
while residing in the family of its parents, and for the rental of
any tenement or premises actually occupied by the husband and wife
as a residence and reasonably necessary to them for such purpose.
(b) A husband and wife are liable when any article purchased
by either goes to:
(1) The support of the family;
(2) The joint benefit of both;
(3) The reasonable apparel of either and their minor child
residing in the family;
(4) The reasonable support of a spouse and child while
abandoned by the other spouse;
(c) A husband and wife are liable for the reasonable services
of any domestic, laborer or other person from which the family or
both husband and wife benefit.
Note: WV Code updated with legislation passed through the 2012 1st Special Session