House 4850

WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE

2026 REGULAR SESSION

Introduced

House Bill 4850

By Delegates Funkhouser, Anders, Hott, Mallow, Rohrbach, and Ridenour

[Introduced January 27, 2026; referred to the Committee on the Judiciary]

A BILL to amend and reenact §44-1-1 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend the code by adding a new section, designated §44-1-1a, relating to providing the option to all executors and administrators of estates to complete the viewing of an instructional education video, requiring that the Supreme Court of Appeals create this instructional video, what information must be in the video training, and including a start date.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

ARTICLE 1. PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVES.

§44-1-1. Executor has no powers before qualifying.

A person appointed to be the executor of a will shall not have the powers of executor until he or she qualifies by taking an oath and giving bond, unless not required to post bond by §44-1-8 of this code, which shall then be admitted to the records of the clerk of the county in which the will, or an authenticated copy thereof, is admitted to record, except that he or she may provide for the burial of the testator, pay reasonable funeral expenses, and preserve the estate from waste. After January 1, 2027, person appointed to be the executor of a will may complete an online instructional training provided by the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals on how to execute the will.

§44-1-1a. Online educational training for Executors.

(a) The Supreme Court of Appeals shall provide for the education and instruction of administrators of estates and executors of estates by commissioning or making a video and online video with instructional educational training focusing mainly on the fiduciary requirements and the requirements of an executor or administrator of an estate. There shall be no charge for any executor or administrator to view this training.

(b) This video must be available beginning January 1, 2027 online and must be made available for the sight-impaired. For those who wish to complete this training but cannot access the internet, this training video must also be available at every county commission and county sheriff's office.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide educational training regarding the fiduciary and other duties of executors and administrators of estates and requiring the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals to provide this online training.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.