WEST VIRGINIA ESTATE APPRAISEMENT AND …

1 west VIRGINIAESTATE APPRAISEMENTAND nonprobate INVENTORYFORMS AND INSTRUCTIONSThis booklet is furnished by the Internal Auditing Division of the west VIRGINIA State Tax Departmentfor use in filing the APPRAISEMENT and nonprobate inventory Forms for estates of decedentsdying on or after July 13, IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR ESTATE REPRESENTATIVES:When a person dies an ESTATE is created. An ESTATE includes property which the decedent owned. The law requires thatsomeone must administer the ESTATE by filing the APPRAISEMENT and nonprobate inventory Forms within 90 days ofqualification and completing final settlement in the decedent's county of domicile.

2 Administration is the process ofpaying the decedent's outstanding debts and distributing the remaining property. The person in charge of theadministration is called an administrator (if there is no will) or an executor (if there is a will). Also, because theadministrator or executor holds a position of trust, a person with either title is often called a fiduciary. If there is no will,the decedent is said to have died intestate, and his property passes by statutes called the laws of intestacy.

3 Thus youwill also see the phrase "transfers by will or intestacy".THIS BOOKLET IS INTENDED TO HELP YOU WITH THREE DUTIESREQUIRED BY west VIRGINIA LAW:The administration of the ESTATE (also called the process of probating the ESTATE ).The filing of an inventory of ALL real ESTATE and probate property with the State Tax Commissioner usingForm ET (recorded with the County Clerk's Office).The filing of an inventory of nonprobate personal property with the State Tax Commissioner usingForm ET (NOT recorded with the County Clerk's Office).

4 Beginning the legal process to settle the business and personal affairs of a decedent involves a series of steps, outlined belowand explained in detail in this booklet:STEP 1 READ THESE INSTRUCTIONSSTEP 2 COMPLETE APPRAISEMENT FORM ET 3 COMPLETE nonprobate inventory FORM ET (IF REQUIRED)STEP 4 MAIL OR DELIVER THE FORMS TO THE PROPER AUTHORITIESA MORE DETAILED LOOK AT THESE FOUR STEPS BEGINS ON THE NEXT 2 STEP 1:READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FOR FILINGFORM ET AND FORM ET should read these introductory instructions completelybefore beginning any work on the forms.

5 You will notice refer-ences to other specific instructions that also must be understoodbefore completing related parts of the qualify as fiduciary, a person must visit the office of the Clerkin the courthouse of the county where the decedent lived. Anyperson who has an interest may administer an ESTATE . However,the husband or wife of the decedent is given preference and thenother distributees (others who are entitled to a share of theestate) are considered. If no distributee applies within thirtydays after the date of death, one or more creditors or any otherperson may be appointed.

6 If there is a will that names anexecutor, then the named person has the right to serve. In anyevent, the Clerk is the first person to visit, and he or she willdetermine who can qualify as booklet is designed to help the fiduciary administer the estateand file the APPRAISEMENT and nonprobate inventory Forms. Thefiduciary is required under oath to list and appraise on the enclosedAppraisement Form (ET ) all nonprobate and probate realestate and all other probate assets owned by the decedent at its fairmarket value on the date of the decedent's death.

7 The fiduciary isrequired to complete the APPRAISEMENT and return the original andtwo (2) copies thereof (with all attachments) to the Clerk within 90days of qualification. The original APPRAISEMENT , and its attach-ments, must be recorded by the Clerk, and a certified copy of thesame mailed to the State Tax Commissioner, along with theNonprobate inventory Form (ET ), if every decedent who owned or had an interest in any nonprobatepersonal property, the fiduciary shall, under oath, list and appraiseon the enclosed nonprobate inventory Form (ET )

8 , all tangibleand intangible nonprobate personal property owned by the dece-dent or in which the decedent had an interest, at its fair marketvalue on the date of the decedent's 2:COMPLETE FORM ET 1: General Information Questionnaire. This information isQuestion Instructions for Form ET to establish that an ESTATE actually does exist, and toprovide the information necessary for the Clerk and the StateTax Department to process the APPRAISEMENT , determine if theestate is subject to ESTATE Tax, and approve the final distributionand closing of the 2: Questionnaire of nonprobate Real ESTATE .

9 Nonprobatereal ESTATE includes any real ESTATE that does not pass by the willor the laws of intestacy. This includes real ESTATE jointly held withright of survivorship, real ESTATE held under a trust agreement orcontract, life estates, or powers of appointment. This real estatepasses directly to the specified persons at the date of deathaccording to these specific terms and thus is not subject toadministration, but is included in the gross ESTATE for ESTATE taxpurposes. If there is any nonprobate real ESTATE , additionalinformation is required to be furnished as part of the ap-praisement to fully describe the transfer, including the type oftransfer, recipient and relationship to the decedent, and thedescription and value (as of the date of death) of the transferredproperty.

10 The inventory of nonprobate Real ESTATE is includedwith this booklet for your convenience. The APPRAISEMENT isincomplete if the fiduciary fails to include this information. Also,you must provide the description of ALL out of state realestate, including the appraised : Oil, gas, coal and other natural resource holdings areconsidered as real ESTATE for the purpose of this holdings should be listed either on Part 2 as nonprobatereal ESTATE , or on Schedule A of Part 4 as probate real 3: Summary of Probate Assets. All probate assets (assetsin decedent's name only) must be on record at the Clerk's officeprior to being transferred to the heir or beneficiary.