West Virginia Code 36-12-15 – Prior transfer on death liberally construed
(a) Any transfer on death deed properly recorded in an office of the clerk of a county commission before the effective date of this article containing language that shows a clear intent to designate a transfer on death beneficiary shall be liberally construed to do so.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 36-12-15
- Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
- Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
- Right of survivorship: The ownership rights that result in the acquisition of title to property by reason of having survived other co-owners.
(b) Any survivorship clause in a deed properly recorded before the effective date of this article in an office of the clerk of a county commission that attempts to create a right of survivorship tenancy, which survivorship tenancy otherwise fails, but otherwise is an effective deed, and shows a clear intent to designate a beneficiary to receive the property upon death of one or more cotenants by survivorship shall be liberally construed to be an effective transfer on death deed governed by this article.