Your state's pack. New issues arrive periodically on Mondays. Bookmark it. I built this for the West Virginia T&E solo who knows the probate chapters cold but still loses an afternoon a week tracking the moving BMS / WV Medicaid pieces.
For licensed attorneys. This pack is general legal information and professional commentary for practicing attorneys — it is not legal advice, does not apply to any specific matter, and creates no attorney-client relationship. Verify every authority against the cited primary source before relying on it with a client. Published by Mike Moss, a Utah-admitted attorney, as an AI-enablement information product; it is not an offer of legal services and is not a representation that the author is admitted to practice in your jurisdiction.
Three developments I think actually matter to a West Virginia T&E solo. Each has a read that lands on your practice specifically — and each comes with a reachable citation so you can verify it yourself before you use it with a client.
The Bureau for Medical Services (BMS) recovers correctly-paid long-term-care assistance from the probate estate of recipients age 55 or older; the look-back for transfers is 60 months (BMS Provider Manual Ch. 900; State Plan § 4.17).
Because BMS recovers against the probate estate, a properly executed nonprobate transfer can keep an asset out of reach — but firm guidance is split on whether a TOD-deeded home is fully shielded, so document the analysis and verify with BMS before relying on it.
West Virginia adopted the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act, W. Va. Code §§ 36-12-1 through 36-12-17 (a deed is revocable, nontestamentary, and effective at the transferor's death — §§ 36-12-6, 36-12-7, 36-12-13).
The TOD deed is the cleanest probate-avoidance tool for a modest WV estate, but pair it with the estate-recovery analysis above — avoiding probate is only protective if BMS recovery is in fact limited to the probate estate.
Maximum CSRA is $162,660 (minimum $32,532); West Virginia applies the $752,000 home-equity floor; MMNA range $2,643.75–$4,066.50.
Two places this lands: community-spouse protection math and high-value-home clients. Flag the 2028 OBBBA flat $1,000,000 home-equity cap now.
42 U.S.C. § 1396p · CMS 2026 Standards (medicaid.gov)
Decisions that bind a West Virginia practitioner — the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia and the Intermediate Court of Appeals, the U.S. District Courts in West Virginia, and the Fourth Circuit — read for what actually changes how you draft, advise, and plan. Trusts and estates broadly, not Medicaid alone: wills and capacity, undue influence, fiduciary duty, trust construction, and estate recovery. One read, the holding, and the official cite.
A son challenged his father’s 2021 will for lack of capacity and undue influence by his siblings; the circuit court granted the estate summary judgment, then later found the contest was brought in bad faith and awarded the prevailing parties about $103,000 in fees. The Intermediate Court of Appeals reversed the fee award. Equating a failure to survive summary judgment with bad faith was an abuse of discretion: “an inability to prevail does not necessarily equate to bad faith,” and under Sally-Mike Properties v. Yokum, “[b]ringing or defending an action to promote or protect one’s economic or property interests does not per se constitute bad faith.” The contestant had real evidence — a cognitive assessment showing impairment, corroborating lay testimony, out-of-state drafting of the new will, and texts suggesting sibling collusion — so he “brought and maintained his action with proof” he thought sufficient to reach a jury, and the court had found no fraud, concealment, or vexatious litigation conduct.
A disappointed heir with a colorable evidentiary basis can pursue a capacity or undue-influence contest in West Virginia without exposure to bad-faith fee-shifting merely because the claim fails at summary judgment — protection for both the contestant and the lawyer who takes the case. The flip side: an estate seeking fees against a contestant must point to genuine bad-faith conduct (fraud, concealment, vexatious or improper-purpose litigation), not just the weakness of the contestant’s proof, so build that record before you move.
Stiles v. Oswald, No. 25-ICA-149 (W. Va. Ct. App. Dec. 22, 2025) (mem. decision) · official opinion — courtswv.gov
This week in West Virginia for the T&E solo with WV Medicaid clients: what the WV State Bar, the elder-law bar, and BMS bulletins put in front of you.
The WV State Bar CLE calendar, the elder-law practitioners' feeds, and the BMS Provider Manual updates all publish on different schedules. This is that sift, already done, with the link on each item.