§ 11-11-7 — Nonprobate inventory of estates; penalties

(a) The personal representative of every resident decedent who owned or had an interest in any nonprobate personal property, and the personal representative of every nonresident decedent who owned or had an interest in any nonprobate personal property which is a part of the taxable estate located in West Virginia, shall, under oath, list and appraise on a nonprobate inventory form prescribed by the Tax Commissioner all tangible and intangible nonprobate personal property owned by the decedent or in which the decedent had an interest, at its fair market value on the date of the decedent's death. The nonprobate personal property to be included on the nonprobate inventory form includes, but is not limited to, the following:

(1) Personal property held as joint tenants with right of survivorship with one or more third parties;

(2) Personal property payable on the death of the decedent to one or more third parties;

(3) Personal property held by the decedent as a life tenant;

(4) Insurance on the decedent's life payable to beneficiaries other than the executor or administrator of the decedent's estate;

(5) Powers of appointment;

(6) Annuities;

(7) Transfers during the decedent's life in which any beneficial interest passes by trust or otherwise to another person by reason of the death of the decedent;

(8) Revocable transfers in trust or otherwise;

(9) Taxable gifts under Section 2503 of the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and

(10) All other nonprobate personal property included in the federal gross estate of the decedent.

(b) For purposes of this section, "nonprobate personal property" means all personal property which does not pass by operation of the decedent's will or by the laws of intestate descent and distribution or is otherwise not subject to administration in a decedent's estate at common law.

(c) The personal representative shall prepare the nonprobate inventory form and file it, together with the appraisement form required by section fourteen, article one, chapter forty-four of this code, for estates of decedents dying on or after July 13, 2001, with the clerk of the county commission or the fiduciary supervisor within ninety days of the date of qualification of the personal representative in this state: Provided, That for estates of decedents dying on or after July 13, 2001, but before the date the amendments to this section become effective, the requirement to file the nonprobate inventory form with the clerk or supervisor applies only if that form has not already been filed with Tax Commissioner.

(d) The nonprobate inventory form shall be maintained and preserved by the clerk of the county commission or the fiduciary supervisor, but shall not be recorded in the records of the clerk of the county commission. The nonprobate inventory form is confidential tax return information subject to the provisions of section five-d, article ten, chapter eleven of this code and may not be disclosed by the clerk of the county commission and his or her officers and employees or former officers and employees. Nothing in this section may be construed to hinder, abrogate or prevent disclosure of information as authorized in section thirty-five, article eleven, chapter eleven of this code.

(e) Any personal representative who fails to comply with the provisions of this section, without reasonable cause, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $25 nor more than $500.

Legislative History

2014 Reg. Sess., SB414; 2002 Reg. Sess., SB661; 2001 Reg. Sess., HB2768; 1996 Reg. Sess., HB2354; 1987 Reg. Sess., HB2767; 1985 Reg. Sess., SB73