West Virginia Code 40-1A-4 – Transfers fraudulent as to present and future creditors
(a) A transfer made or obligation incurred by a debtor is fraudulent as to a creditor, whether the creditor’s claim arose before or after the transfer was made or the obligation was incurred, if the debtor made the transfer or incurred the obligation:
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 40-1A-4
- Asset: means property of a debtor, but the term does not include:
(1) Property to the extent it is encumbered by a valid lien. See West Virginia Code 40-1A-1
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- claim for relief: means a right to payment, whether or not the right is reduced to judgment, liquidated, unliquidated, fixed, contingent, matured, unmatured, disputed, undisputed, legal, equitable, secured or unsecured. See West Virginia Code 40-1A-1
- Creditor: means a person who has a claim. See West Virginia Code 40-1A-1
- Debt: means liability on a claim. See West Virginia Code 40-1A-1
- Debtor: means a person who is liable on a claim. See West Virginia Code 40-1A-1
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Insider: includes :
(1) If the debtor is an individual:
(i) A relative of the debtor or of a general partner of the debtor. See West Virginia Code 40-1A-1
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Property: means anything that may be the subject of ownership. See West Virginia Code 40-1A-1
- Transfer: means every mode, direct or indirect, absolute or conditional, voluntary or involuntary, of disposing of or parting with an asset or an interest in an asset, and includes payment of money, release, lease, license, and creation of a lien or other encumbrance. See West Virginia Code 40-1A-1
(1) With actual intent to hinder, delay or defraud any creditor of the debtor; or
(2) Without receiving a reasonably equivalent value in exchange for the transfer or obligation and the debtor:
(i) Was engaged or was about to engage in a business or a transaction for which the remaining assets of the debtor were unreasonably small in relation to the business or transaction; or
(ii) Intended to incur, or believed or reasonably should have believed that he or she would incur, debts beyond his or her ability to pay as they became due.
(b) In determining actual intent under subdivision (1), subsection (a) of this section, consideration may be given, among other factors, to whether:
(1) The transfer or obligation was to an insider;
(2) The debtor retained possession or control of the property transferred after the transfer;
(3) The transfer or obligation was disclosed or concealed;
(4) Before the transfer was made or obligation was incurred, the debtor had been sued or threatened with suit;
(5) The transfer was of substantially all the debtor’s assets;
(6) The debtor absconded;
(7) The debtor removed or concealed assets;
(8) The value of the consideration received by the debtor was reasonably equivalent to the value of the asset transferred or the amount of the obligation incurred;
(9) The debtor was insolvent or became insolvent shortly after the transfer was made or the obligation was incurred;
(10) The transfer occurred shortly before or shortly after a substantial debt was incurred; and
(11) The debtor transferred the essential assets of the business to a lienor who transferred the assets to an insider of the debtor.
(c) A creditor making a claim for relief under subsection (a) of this section has the burden of proving the elements of the claim for relief by a preponderance of the evidence.