Class Gifts/Simultaneous Deaths Flashcards
When are the members of a class determined for the purposes of a class gift?
What if the language designates specific names, and notes that those names consist of a class?
Upon the testator’s death for a class gift.
2) Example: To John, Beatrice, and Carl, my children.
^Here, because the beneficiaries are named, each of them receives the gift (look for anti-lapse) , even if they predeceased the testator.
What is the rule of convenience?
Rule: The class closes at the time a distribution to the class must be made. Later-born class members are excluded from taking as members of the class. (duh)
Definition, Later Born Class Members are members born after the testator dies.
Exception: Later-born class members will take if they were in gestation when class was determined (280 days).
What law governs simulttaneous deaths?
What is the rule regarding simultaneous deaths?
Revised Uniform Simultaneous Death Act RUSDA:
Rule in Plain Language: If two people die within 120 hours (5 days) of each other, if there ie no proof that one survived more than 120 hours of the other, presume the party whose property you are distributing died second.
Do we apply the simultaneous deaths statute to a clause like “if he survives me?”
Yes, pretend person died first for all purposes.
How does RUSDA apply to jointly held property (property with the right of survivorship)?
If the joint owners die within 120 hours of each other (and no proof otherwise), we treat the property as if it had been a tenancy in common, and then apply the same death rules.
I.e. We act as if the testator died second, and his half (because a tenancy in common) drops to his children.
