How Do I File for Probate in West Virginia?
West Virginia does not use a court petition to open an estate: you qualify before the county commission, and the county clerk / fiduciary supervisor supplies the application, heirs affidavit, and oath you sign at the counter. An attorney is not required, but there is no statewide form for us to prepare, so we point you to your county clerk instead of generating a document.
Opening an estate in West Virginia
West Virginia probate is non-judicial and administered by the 55 county commissions / fiduciary supervisors, not a court, and there is NO statewide petition, application, or Letters form — the WV Judiciary's statewide court-forms library publishes no probate/estate form of any kind (re-checked 2026-07-14). To be appointed, the nominee qualifies at the county clerk / fiduciary supervisor office on THAT COUNTY'S application, affidavit, and oath (W. Va. Code §44-1-3 testate / §44-1-6 intestate), posts bond unless waived (§44-1-8), and the clerk makes out the Letters "in due form" (§44-1-12). Self-representation is expressly fine — Jefferson County Clerk: "While an attorney is not required, some estates have complicated issues that may require you to seek legal counsel." — but the county clerk supplies and controls the binding paperwork, so there is no form for a product to fill and a self-drafted petition is not the instrument West Virginia uses. West Virginia therefore off-ramps to the county clerk rather than generating a document. Small estates avoid appointment entirely via the §44-1A statutory affidavit ($50,000 aggregate small-asset cap, §44-1A-2(b)(5)).
A simpler path may apply
West Virginia offers a small-estate or summary procedure that can transfer property without a full grant of Letters when the estate qualifies. This is often the honest self-service path where full administration is not.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. West Virginia permits a self-represented person to open an estate and apply for Letters. What we do not do is produce the document for you here: west Virginia does not use a court petition to open an estate: you qualify before the county commission, and the county clerk / fiduciary supervisor supplies the application, heirs affidavit, and oath you sign at the counter. An attorney is not required, but there is no statewide form for us to prepare, so we point you to your county clerk instead of generating a document.
West Virginia offers a small-estate or summary procedure that can transfer property without a full grant of Letters when the estate qualifies. Statutory references to the "county court" mean the county commission (renamed by the 1974 Judicial Reorganization Amendment); it sits as the probate authority. Intestate administration priority (W. Va. Code §44-1-4(a), verbatim): "Administration shall be granted to the distributees who apply therefor, preferring first the husband or wife, and then such of the others entitled to distribution as the county commission or clerk shall see fit. If no distributee apply for administration within 30 days from the death of the intestate, the county commission or clerk may grant administration to one or more of the creditors of the decedent, or to any other person who shall be fit." Small Estate Act thresholds (W. Va. Code §44-1A-1(b)): a "small asset" is probate personal property with a date-of-death FMV of "not more than $50,000" and "does not include real estate or an interest in real property"; a "small estate" additionally caps WV real estate at "$100,000" (real-estate FMV "presumed to be 167 percent of the current assessed value"), and §44-1A-2(a) makes the affidavit path available to a decedent "without owning any probate real property." Waiting period before the affidavit: 30 days if the successor is nominated as executor under the will, otherwise 60 days (§44-1A-2(b)(6)). The post-appointment path (appraisement, fiduciary commissioner referral, notice to creditors, final settlement) is handled in estate-settlement, not here. ET 6.01/6.02 are State Tax Department forms; a direct tax.wv.gov PDF URL still could not be confirmed on the live state host (2026-07-14) — the form is mirrored on county-clerk sites (e.g. kanawha.us) and is referenced, not asserted with a state source link.
County Commission handles decedents' estates in West Virginia. Clerk of the county commission (fiduciary supervisor), after the applicant qualifies and takes the oath issues the Letters after the court grants the petition.
Letters Testamentary are issued when there is a will (to the executor); Letters of Administration are issued when there is no will (to an administrator). They give the personal representative authority to act for the estate.
