In any action, suit or other judicial proceeding involving the title to land embraced in the exterior boundaries of any patent, deed, or other writing, which reserves or accepts one or more parcels of land from the operation of such patent, deed or other writing, if there be no claim made by a party to the proceedings that the land in controversy, or any part thereof, lies within such reservation or exception, such patent, deed, or other writing, shall be construed, and shall have the same effect, as if it contained no such reservation or exception; and if any party to such proceeding claims that the land in controversy, or any part thereof, lies within such reservation or exception, the burden shall be upon him to prove the fact, and all land not shown by a preponderance of the evidence to lie within such reservation or exception shall be deemed to lie without the same.This section shall apply in cases involving the right to the proceeds of any such land when condemned or sold, as well as in cases where the title to land is directly involved, and shall apply in any case in which the title to any part of the land, or its proceeds, but for this section, would or might be in the well as in cases where the title to land is directly involved, and shall apply in any case in which the title to any part of the land, or its proceeds, but for this section, would or might be in the state.
West Virginia Legal Code