W. Va. Code § 48-1-102
In recodifying the domestic relations law of this state during the regular session of the Legislature in the year 2001 through the passage of House Bill 2199 it is intended by the Legislature that each specific reenactment of a substantively similar prior statutory provision will be construed as continuing the intended meaning of the corresponding prior statutory provision and any existing judicial interpretation of the prior statutory provision. It is not the intent of the Legislature, by recodifying the domestic relations law of this state during the regular session of the Legislature in the year 2001 through the passage of House Bill 2199 to alter the substantive law of this state as it relates to domestic relations.
W. Va. Code § 48-1-102