West Virginia Code 20-12-4 – Creation, transfer and duration
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this article, a conservation or preservation easement may be created, conveyed, recorded, assigned, released, modified, terminated or otherwise altered or affected in the same manner as other easements.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 20-12-4
- Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
- Holder: means :
(1) A governmental body empowered to hold an interest in real property under the laws of this state or the United States. See West Virginia Code 20-12-3
- Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
- Person: except as otherwise defined elsewhere in this chapter, means the plural "persons" and shall include individuals, partnerships, corporations or other legal entities. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
- Preservation easement: means a nonpossessory interest in an historical building. See West Virginia Code 20-12-3
- Third-party right of enforcement: means a right provided in a conservation or preservation easement, in order to enforce any of its terms, granted to a governmental body, charitable corporation, charitable association or charitable trust, which, although eligible to be a holder, is not a holder. See West Virginia Code 20-12-3
(b) No right or duty of a holder, successive holder named in the easement deed or person having a third-party right of enforcement arises under a conservation or preservation easement before the easement's acceptance by the holder, successive holder or third party with right of enforcement and a recordation of the acceptance.
(c) Except as provided in subsection (b), section five of this article, a conservation or preservation easement created after the effective date of this article may be perpetual in duration, but in no event shall be for a duration of less than twenty-five years.
(d) An interest in real property in existence at the time a conservation or preservation easement is created, including an unrecorded lease for the production of minerals or removal of timber, shall not be impaired unless the owner of such interest is a party to the easement or expressly consents to comply with the restriction of such easement.