---
type: "Bill"
title: "To remove Mortmain restrictions on religious organizations"
description: "To remove Mortmain restrictions on religious organizations"
jurisdiction: "us/states/wv"
legislature: "West Virginia Legislature"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 4452"
citation: "West Virginia HB 4452 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Estates and Trusts"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Hillenbrand"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 44
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2026-01-16"
last_action: "2026-04-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/092deaea-6607-488e-b520-eb52d7d920c4"
source_url: "https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/Bills_history.cfm?input=4452&year=2026&sessiontype=RS&btype=bill"
source_hash: "5c092d653d7be591fea98c7968cb3cf82110ef3de0cf3332300df2b2c1bc16ff"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-wv"]
---

# West Virginia HB 4452 (2026) — To remove Mortmain restrictions on religious organizations

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Engrossed Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb4452%20eng.htm&yr=2026&sesstype=RS&i=4452)
2. **Enrolled Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb4452%20enr.htm&yr=2026&sesstype=RS&i=4452)
3. **Introduced Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb4452%20intr.htm&yr=2026&sesstype=RS&i=4452)
4. **hb4452 h fin amt adopted adopted.htm** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/legisdocs/chamber/2026/RS/com_amends/hb4452%20h%20fin%20amt%20adopted%20adopted.htm)
5. **hb4452 h fin amt adopted.htm** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/legisdocs/chamber/2026/RS/com_amends/hb4452%20h%20fin%20amt%20adopted.htm)
6. **hb4452 h finance am _1 adopted.htm** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/legisdocs/chamber/2026/RS/com_amends/hb4452%20h%20finance%20am%20_1%20adopted.htm)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **93–2** (pass) · lower
- Passage — **33–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Hillenbrand — primary (person)
- Chiarelli — cosponsor (person)
- Coop-Gonzalez — cosponsor (person)
- Martin — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2026-01-16** Filed for introduction `filing`
- **2026-01-16** To Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-16** Introduced in House `introduction`
- **2026-01-16** To House Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-06** To House Legal Services `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-06** Markup Discussion
- **2026-02-09** To House Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-10** Markup Discussion
- **2026-02-12** Do pass
- **2026-02-13** On 1st reading, Special Calendar
- **2026-02-13** Read 1st time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-16** On 2nd reading, Special Calendar
- **2026-02-16** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-16** Committed to Finance on 2nd reading
- **2026-02-16** To House Finance `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-26** With amendment, do pass `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-27** On 2nd reading, Special Calendar
- **2026-02-27** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-27** Amendment reported by the Clerk
- **2026-02-27** Committee amendment adopted (Voice vote)
- **2026-03-02** On 3rd reading, Special Calendar
- **2026-03-02** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2026-03-02** Passed House (Roll No. 237) `passage`
- **2026-03-02** Title amendment adopted (Voice vote)
- **2026-03-02** Communicated to Senate
- **2026-03-04** Introduced in Senate `introduction`
- **2026-03-04** To Government Organization `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-04** To Government Organization `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-10** Reported do pass `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-10** Immediate consideration
- **2026-03-10** Read 1st time `reading-1`
- **2026-03-11** On 2nd reading
- **2026-03-11** Laid over on 2nd reading 3/11/2026
- **2026-03-12** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2026-03-13** On 3rd reading with right to amend
- **2026-03-13** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2026-03-13** Passed Senate (Roll No. 537) `passage`
- **2026-03-13** Communicated to House
- **2026-03-13** Completed legislative action
- **2026-03-30** To Governor 3/30/2026 `executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-14** To Governor 3/30/2026 - Senate Journal `executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-14** Approved by Governor 4/1/2026 - Senate Journal `executive-signature`
- **2026-03-14** Approved by Governor 4/1/2026 - House Journal `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-01** Approved by Governor 4/1/2026 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/092deaea-6607-488e-b520-eb52d7d920c4`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official West Virginia legislature records).