Chapter 5 Flashcards
Abatement
Process of selling estate property to pay debts
Ademption
Loss of a testamentary gift because the testator no longer owns the property at his or her death
Advancement
Inter vivos gift to children in anticipation of their share of the parent’s estate
Anti-lapse statute
State law providing that gifts to deceased heirs go to those person’s heirs
Attestation
Clause signed by witnesses to a will.
Beneficiary
Recipient of personal property under a will
Bequest
Testamentary gift of personal property
Codicil
Formal document used to amend a will
Demonstrative legacy
Testamentary gift of money from a particular source
Dependent relative revocation
Court doctrine holding that if a later will is found invalid, an earlier valid will shall be probated
Devise
Testamentary gift of real property
Devisee
Recipient of testamentary gift of real property
Durable power of attorney:
Power of attorney that takes effect upon execution and lasts despite the incapacity of the principal
Execution of a will
Formal signing and witnessing of a will
Exordium
Introductory paragraph of a will
Fraud
Misrepresentation to induce a person to sign a will
General revocatory clause
Will provision revoking earlier wills and codicils
Will provision revoking earlier wills and codicils
Document appointing another to make health care decisions for the principal
Holographic Will
Will written in the testator’s own hand
In terrorem clause
Anti-contest clause
Incorporation by reference
Including terms of an independent document by making specific allusion to in another document
Joint will
One will used for two persons
Legacy
Testamentary gift of money
Legatee
Recipient of money under a will
Lapse
Provision in a will indicating that if a recipient of a gift under the will predeceases the testator, the gift forms a part of the testator’s residuum.
Living Will
Instrument indicating a person’s wishes with respect to life termination should he be unable to speak for himself
Marital deduction
Tax provision permitting property that goes to a surviving spouse to go tax free
Menace
Threats used to induce a person to sign a will
Mortmain Statute
Law limiting charitable gifts under a will
Mutual will
Identical wills executed by two persons
Nuncupative will
Oral will permitted in limited situations
Power of attorney
Authorization for one person to act on another’s behalf
Pretermission
Omitting mention of a child or issue in a will; the omitted child or issue is entitled to an intestate share of the estate
QTIP trust
Special trust that qualifies for a marital deduction
Residuum
The residuary estate
Self-proving will
Will with affidavit of attesting witnesses attached
Simultaneous death clause
Provision indicating how property is to be distributed if the testator and the heir die in a common disaster
Slayer Statute
Law prohibiting a murderer from inheriting from his or her victim.
Springing power of attorney
Power of attorney that takes effect at some point in the future
Statutory will
Form will appearing in the state statutes
Stored Communications Act
Federal statute authorizing service providers to release covered information to appointees
Testamentary capacity
Knowing the nature and extent of one’s property and the natural bounty of one’s affections
Testimonium
Last clause in a will
Undue influence
Ability of a person in a close relationship to the testator to use that position to cause the
testator to make a particular testamentary disposition
Will contest
Legal challenge to the validity of an instrument filed for probate
