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When a will contains a boilerplate clause directing the personal representative to pay all of the "just debts" of the estate, and the estate includes a specific devise of real property that is subject to a lien, the issue of "exoneration" arises. Under the common law formulation of this doctrine, the personal representative would be required to discharge the debt secured by the lien such that the specific devisee would take the property free and clear of the lien. Application of this doctrine typically results in the residuary devisee or the devisee of personal property taking less than he or she would have otherwise taken had the court not applied the exoneration doctrine.
West Virginia. In a case of first impression in the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, Estate of Fussell v. Fortney, 2012 WL 2226450 (W.Va., 2012), court applied the common law doctrine of exoneration in a case involving two specific devises of land that were subject to mortgages totaling $120,000. The decedent's will contained a directive to the executor that "all my just debts be paid as soon as conveniently possible after the date of my death." The West Virginia appellate court...