Ritchie County Clerk of the County Commission Guide

Note: West Virginia imposes NO state or local probate tax and no state estate, inheritance, or gift tax. There is no single statewide probate filing fee: the cost to qualify a personal representative is built from the clerk of the county commission flat statutory recording fees of about $10 per instrument (W. Va. Code 59-1-10, plus $1 per page over five pages), charged across the will, oath and bond, appointment, list of heirs, and appraisement, so the bundled opening cost varies by county and by will length (documented West Virginia county practice runs roughly $25 to $125 plus per-instrument recording fees). The clerk also collects a $20 fee to publish the notice of administration (W. Va. Code 44-1-14a), and the newspaper sets its own Class II legal-advertisement charge. The personal representative commission is a separate statutory value-bracket scale (5% of the first $100,000, 4% of the next $300,000, 3% of the next $400,000, 2% over $800,000, plus 1% add-ons on unsold real estate and on nonprobate property includable for the federal estate tax) under W. Va. Code 44-4-12a, paid from the estate rather than as a filing fee. For estates that must be formally settled (generally those appraised above $200,000), a fiduciary commissioner fee applies, capped at $300 plus expenses by default under W. Va. Code 44-2-1. Verify the current opening and recording fees with the clerk of the county commission before filing.