Insolvent Probate Estate Claim-Payment Priority in West Virginia
At a glance
| Statutory payment order | Seven ordered classes in both commissioner and county-supervisor procedures (§§ 44-2-21–22, 44-3A-26–27). |
|---|---|
| Administration costs | Class 1 costs and expenses of administration (§§ 44-2-21(a)(1), 44-3A-26(a)(1)). |
| Funeral and last illness | Reasonable funeral class 2; necessary last-illness care class 6; irrevocable preneed contract exception (§ 44-2-21(a),(c)). |
| Family and homestead allowances | No separate family-allowance payment class in the seven-class estate-debt order (§§ 44-2-21(a), 44-3A-26(a)). |
| Taxes and public claims | Federal-preference debts/taxes class 3; West Virginia law preferences class 5 (§ 44-2-21(a)(3),(5)). |
| Secured claims | Heir may present an unasserted lien claim; certain lifetime real-property liens survive estate-claim bar (§§ 44-2-11, 44-2-28). |
| Support and special debts | Unpaid child support due at death is class 4 (§ 44-2-21(a)(4)). |
| General claims | All other claims are class 7 (§ 44-2-21(a)(7)). |
| Underfunded class | Pay underfunded class pro rata; no due-claim preference (§§ 44-2-21(b), 44-2-22). |
Requirements one by one
Claim order in both procedures
Under § 44-2-21, the ordinary commissioner procedure uses seven classes. Under § 44-3A-26, the county-supervisor procedure repeats that order. Under § 44-2-22 and § 44-3A-27, a later class waits until every earlier class has been paid.
Funeral and last-illness costs
Section 44-2-21(a) ranks reasonable funeral expenses second and necessary last-illness expenses sixth. Its subsection (c) removes estate and surviving-spouse responsibility for funeral expenses fully provided for by an irrevocable preneed funeral contract or trust.
Secured claims and property liens
Under § 44-2-11, an heir, devisee, or legatee may present a lien claim that a lienholder did not present when the beneficiary is entitled to have that lien discharged from other estate property. Under § 44-2-28, specified real-property liens created during life for future installment or future-date obligations survive its estate-claim bar.
What trips people up
The class order is the same in the two procedures, but the representative's protection after paying a debt differs: § 44-2-22 refers to six months after qualification, while § 44-3A-27 refers to twelve months. Both provisions make notice of an equal- or superior-rank claim relevant to that protection.
Common questions
Where does child support rank? Under § 44-2-21(a)(4), unpaid support due at death is fourth, before West Virginia-law preferences and last-illness care.
What happens if one class cannot be paid in full? Section 44-2-21(b) calls for pro rata payment without preference for a claim already due.
Statutes and sources
- W. Va. Code §§ 44-2-11, 44-2-21–22, 44-2-28, and 44-3A-26–27. Verbatim official text, section URLs, and access dates appear in the source fields above.
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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