Lesson 4

Question 1

Integration Rule

Answer 1

In order for multiple pages to all be admitted into probate as the testator’s will, each page must have been present when the will was executed and the testator must have intended for each page to constitute his or her will.

Question 2

Doctrine of Incorporation by Reference

Answer 2

A duly executed will may, by appropriate reference, incorporate into itself any extrinsic document or writing, even though the other document was not properly executed and is not otherwise of testamentary character.

Question 3

Pour-over Trusts

Answer 3

A ‘pour-over’ disposition is an attempted testamentary gift to a preexisting trust—an attempt to have some or all assets of a decedent’s estate added to the corpus of a trust which she (or another) created during her lifetime.

Question 4

Pretermitted Child Rule

Answer 4

Where a child has been accidentally omitted from his or her parent’s will, he or she may take an intestate share of that parent’s estate

Question 5

Lapse Rule

Answer 5

Where an intended beneficiary under a will predeceases the testator, the gift to that intended beneficiary will fail unless the will or an anti-lapse statute otherwise provides

Question 6

Ademption Doctrine

Answer 6

When property that was specifically devised in the testator’s will is no longer a part of the testator’s estate at the time of death, that specific devise or bequest may be adeemed.

Question 7

Doctrine of Acts of Independent Significance

Answer 7

Where an act or event has significance apart from its significance in the testator’s will, the court may use this act or event to interpret the testamentary intent of the testator