Letter to a bank or other holder in West Virginia

A letter that presents the small estate affidavit you have already signed. It says what you enclose and asks the holder to release the property.

Required when you mail the letter.

It goes into the letter only. It is never saved or sent to us.

Papers you are enclosing

Check what you will include. Only checked items go in the letter.

It goes into the letter as you type it. You can add a ready-made sentence:

Other formats

Do not send original documents unless the holder asks; keep copies. Sign the letter and keep a copy.

Official forms (linked, not reproduced here)

This site does not write the affidavit. Use the official form or the holder's own form:

Before you send it

Some banks have their own form or ask for a notary. Call the bank's estates department first and ask what it needs. Keep a copy of everything you send.

Administration of a small estate upon affidavit and without appointment (Affidavit for Small Estate)

A successor signs a sworn affidavit listing the person's small assets, heirs or will beneficiaries, and files it with the county clerk. The clerk issues a certificate that lets that successor (the 'authorized successor') collect the assets, pay funeral costs and creditors, and pass the rest to the people entitled to it.

Limit

Up to $50,000 Counted at full value, without subtracting debts.

The person's entire personal probate estate must consist only of small assets with a total fair market value of $50,000 or less on the date of death, and the person must not have owned probate real estate in West Virginia.

What counts

The fair market value on the date of death of all of the person's personal probate property, wherever located. Nonprobate assets (joint, payable-on-death, beneficiary and trust property) are not counted. The person must not have owned any probate real estate or interest in probate real estate in West Virginia.

Waiting period

At least 60 days must have passed since the death. If you are the executor or personal representative named in the will, the wait is 30 days. In both cases no application to appoint a personal representative can be pending or granted anywhere.

Who can use it

Any successor: a person (not a creditor) named as executor or personal representative in the will, or entitled to part of the assets under the will or West Virginia inheritance law. An executor named in the will can file after 30 days; other successors after 60 days and only if the named executor has not already filed. One successor signs; the others are listed and the clerk mails each of them a copy.

Court or where to file

Clerk of the county commission (or its fiduciary supervisor) in the county that would handle the person's probate, usually the county where the person lived. Recorded, not a court case.

Notary

The affidavit is sworn under oath and penalty of perjury; the statutory form has a notary public's jurat.

Papers to attach
  • Certified copy of the death certificate
  • The original will, if there is one (it is recorded with the affidavit)
  • Names, addresses and relationships of the named executor and all will beneficiaries, or of all heirs if there is no will
  • List of each small asset with an estimated fair market value
Steps
  1. Wait 60 days after the death (30 days if you are the executor named in the will).
  2. Confirm the person owned no probate real estate in West Virginia and that the personal probate assets total $50,000 or less.
  3. Fill in the Affidavit for Small Estate and sign it before a notary.
  4. File it, with the death certificate and any original will, with the clerk of the county commission and pay the recording fees.
  5. The clerk records it, mails a copy to the people listed, and issues the certificate and authorization of small estate.
  6. Present the certificate to each bank or holder, pay funeral costs and known creditors, then pay or deliver the rest to the people entitled. The certificate is good for six months (an extension of up to six more months can be requested).
Fee

The clerk charges the same recording fees as for recording wills and affidavits of heirs in a regular probate; ask the county clerk. No bond is required.

Debts and responsibility

The authorized successor has a fiduciary duty to safeguard the assets and promptly pay or deliver them to the people entitled. For three years after the certificate is issued, the authorized successor is liable to the successors (and any personal representative appointed later) for any breach of that duty. Creditors keep their claims against the estate and have the same rights against distributees and legatees as in a regular estate. Any interested person may object within 30 days after the clerk mails the affidavit, and the certificate can be revoked.

What the bank or holder must do

Anyone holding a small asset must pay or deliver it to the authorized successor on presentation of the clerk's certificate and authorization. A holder that pays is released as if it dealt with a personal representative and need not check the truth of the affidavit; transfer agents must re-register securities. If a holder refuses, the asset can be recovered with damages in magistrate court or circuit court.

Law: W. Va. Code secs. 44-1A-1 to 44-1A-5

Source: Official page

Bank accounts after a death in West Virginia

Joint accounts with a surviving owner and payable-on-death accounts are nonprobate and go to the survivor or beneficiary. For an account in the person's name alone, the authorized successor presents the county clerk's certificate and authorization of small estate; the bank must pay and is released from liability. Otherwise a personal representative is appointed through regular probate.

Law: W. Va. Code secs. 44-1A-1(b)(4), 44-1A-3, 44-1A-4

Source: Official page

Death certificates in West Virginia

Request certified copies from the Vital Registration Office. The fee information line is (304) 558-2931.

Where to get it
West Virginia Department of Health, Health Statistics Center, Vital Registration Office, 350 Capitol Street, Room 165, Charleston, WV 25301
Official page
Official page

Surviving spouse in West Virginia

West Virginia has no separate small estate procedure or higher limit for a surviving spouse. The small estate law does not limit a surviving spouse's right to take an elective share. Vehicles titled jointly with 'OR' pass to the surviving owner by signing the title.

Law: W. Va. Code 44-1A-5(c)

Who inherits with no will in West Virginia

If there is no will: the surviving spouse gets everything if the person left no descendants, or if all the person's descendants are also the spouse's and the spouse has no other descendants. The spouse gets three-fifths if the spouse has descendants who are not the person's, and one-half if the person has descendants who are not the spouse's. Anything else goes to descendants, then parents, then the parents' descendants (brothers, sisters and their families), then grandparents and their descendants.

Law: W. Va. Code secs. 42-1-3, 42-1-3a

Source: Official page

Good to know in West Virginia

  • The affidavit is filed with the county clerk, not a court, and the clerk's certificate is valid for six months, extendable by up to six more months for good cause.
  • An executor named in the will may file after 30 days; everyone else must wait 60 days.
  • A holder's payment in good faith is not undone if the estate later turns out to be over $50,000.

Related pages

Free help in West Virginia

A court self-help center or a legal aid office can check whether the estate qualifies, free of charge or at low cost.