Small Estates in West Virginia: Estate settled without a fiduciary commissioner

West Virginia small estate rules at a glance

Can you use it?

You can generally use the West Virginia shortcut when all of these are true:

• The probate estate is $200,000 or less (appraised probate assets, not counting real estate left by specific gift and nonprobate assets; any size with one competent beneficiary).
• Timing: creditors have 60 days from the first published notice.
• No one has been appointed, or applied to be appointed, executor or administrator.
• Real estate: yes. The estate can include real estate.

Other West Virginia rules

• The published notice gives creditors and objectors 60 days from first publication.

How the West Virginia procedure works

1. Add up the probate estate. List what the person owned in their name alone, with no beneficiary or surviving joint owner, at its value on the date of death.
2. Check the timing. Creditors have 60 days from the first published notice.
3. Get the paperwork. Ask the probate court clerk in the county where the person lived for the current form.
4. Sign it under oath, usually before a notary, listing each person entitled to the property and their share.
5. File it. Through the county clerk and county commission. Once the court accepts it, banks and other holders release the property.
6. Pay debts and distribute. Pay the funeral and valid debts, then distribute under the will or West Virginia's intestacy law. If you take more than your share, the other heirs and creditors can come after you for it.

The person's final income tax return is still due by April 15 of the year after the death. See the final tax returns guide, and Form 1310 to claim a refund without an executor.

A car title moves through the state's motor vehicle office, which has its own forms: see how to transfer a car title after death.

If the estate is over the limit

Then the estate goes through probate: the court appoints an executor, who gets letters testamentary (or letters of administration when there is no will) and settles the estate. West Virginia's court and forms are in the probate forms by state table. In West Virginia, creditors have this long to claim: 60 days after the first publication of the notice of administration. See how long probate takes in West Virginia.

Use the probate cost calculator to estimate the court, attorney and executor fees.

West Virginia taxes on a small estate

West Virginia has no estate or inheritance tax, so a small estate owes no state death tax. See West Virginia estate tax for the rules heirs still meet, such as income tax on an inherited IRA.

Small estate affidavits in other states

Alabama · Alaska · Arizona · Arkansas · California · Colorado · Connecticut · Delaware · District of Columbia · Florida · Georgia · Hawaii · Idaho · Illinois · Indiana · Iowa · Kansas · Kentucky · Louisiana · Maine · Maryland · Massachusetts · Michigan · Minnesota · Mississippi · Missouri · Montana · Nebraska · Nevada · New Hampshire · New Jersey · New Mexico · New York · North Carolina · North Dakota · Ohio · Oklahoma · Oregon · Pennsylvania · Rhode Island · South Carolina · South Dakota · Tennessee · Texas · Utah · Vermont · Virginia · Washington · Wisconsin · Wyoming

Or compare them all in the 50-state table.

Related guides

• Letters testamentary: how executors get them, by state
• What is probate? How it works, step by step
• How long does probate take? Timeline by state
• Probate cost calculator: fees by state
• Probate court forms by state
• Transfer a car title after death, by state
• Executor checklist: what to do when someone dies
• Form 1310: claiming a deceased person's tax refund