(a) Except as provided in subsections (b), (c) and (d) of this section, the fair market value of total gross assets at the time of the merger or consolidation increases annually at a rate equal to the sum of:

Terms Used In West Virginia Code 55-7I-6

  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
  • Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
  • Successor: means a corporation that assumes or incurs, or has assumed or incurred, successor asbestos-related liabilities. See West Virginia Code 55-7I-2
  • Transferor: means a corporation from which successor asbestos-related liabilities are or were assumed or incurred. See West Virginia Code 55-7I-2

(1) The prime rate as listed in the first edition of the Wall Street Journal published for each calendar year since the merger or consolidation; and

(2) One percent.

(b) The rate found in subsection (a) of this section is not compounded.

(c) The adjustment of the fair market value of total gross assets continues as provided in subsection (a) of this section until the date the adjusted value is exceeded by the cumulative amounts of successor asbestos-related liabilities paid or committed to be paid by or on behalf of the corporation or a predecessor, or by or on behalf of a transferor, after the time of the merger or consolidation for which the fair market value of total gross assets is determined.

(d) No adjustment of the fair market value of total gross assets shall be applied to any liability insurance otherwise included in the definition of total gross assets by subsection (c), section five of this article.