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Wills > MEE > Flashcards

MEE Flashcards

1
Q

Any property that does not pass by will upon the decedent’s death will be distributed according to the state’s applicable ____.

A

intestacy statutes

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2
Q

In intestate succession, if the decedent is survived by only a spouse (no descendants), the surviving spouse will ____.

A

inherit the entire estate

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3
Q

In intestate succession, if the decedent is survived by a spouse and descendants, the surviving spouse will ____ with the surviving descendants ____.

A

inherit one-half or one-third of the decedents estate; inheriting the rest

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4
Q

In intestate succession, if the decedent is not survived by a spouse, the decedent’s surviving descendants will ____.

A

inherit the entire estate equally

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5
Q

In intestate succession, if the decedent is not survived by a spouse or descendants, the decedents surviving parents will ____.

A

inherit the entire estate equally

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6
Q

In intestate succession, if there are no surviving parents, the descendants of the decedents parents will ____.

A

inherit the estate

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7
Q

Adopted children are entitled to ____ under intestacy laws, as ____.

A

receive the same share; biological children

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8
Q

Adoption in fact or by estoppel terminates the child’s right to ____.

A

inherit from here biological parents

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9
Q

Non-martial children may inherit from ____ so long as the facts establish a ____.

A

either parents; legal parent-child relationship (non-marital children inheriting from a father must first establish paternity)

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10
Q

Half-blood children (two people who share one parents, but not the other) are treated ____.

A

equally as whole-blood children

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11
Q

Gifts to heirs during a testator’s lifetime are not considered advancements on the heir’s intestate share of the estate unless:

A

(1) decedent declared his intent to make the gift an advancement in a contemporaneous writing

(2) heir acknowledged the gift to be an advancement in writing

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12
Q

What are the elements of a valid will?

A

(1) in writing
(2) signed by the testator
(3) signed by at least two disinterested witnesses

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13
Q

The interested witness ____ his inheritance unless ____ serves as valid witnesses to the will.

A

forfeits; two additional disinterested witnesses

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14
Q

A holographic will is a ____.

A

handwritten will that is not witnessed

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15
Q

In states that do recognize holographic wills, the holographic will is only valid if ____.

A

the testator signs it personally

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16
Q

No ____ are required to make a holographic will valid.

A

precise words

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17
Q

It must contain ____ to validly devise the property in a holographic will.

A

operative words legally sufficient

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18
Q

Integration of documents usually arises when ____.

A

pages or portions of will become separated

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19
Q

A document will be integrated into the will if:

A

(1) the testator intended the document to be part of the will

(2) the document was physically present at the time of the will’s execution

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20
Q

Incorporation by reference deals with the ____ into the will (rather than pages or portions of the original will).

A

incorporation of extrinsic documents

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21
Q

A document or writing may be incorporated into a will by reference if:

A

(1) testator intended to incorporate the document into the will

(2) document was in existence at the time the will was executed

(3) document is sufficiently described in the will

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22
Q

A will can be revoked by:

A

(1) subsequent written instrument that is executed for the sole purpose of revoking the prior will

(2) subsequent will containing a revocation clause or provisions that are inconsistent with those of the prior will

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23
Q

A will can be revoked if the testator (or another person in his presence and at his direction) ____, ____, ____, or ____ the will with the intent to revoke the will.

A

burns; tears; obliterates; destroys

24
Q

Under the common law, words of cancellation are valid only if they ____.

A

come in physical contact with the words of the will

(words written over the original terms of the will)

25
Q

Under the UPC, words of cancellation ____, but they must be somewhere on the will to validly revoke.

A

need not touch any of the words of the will

26
Q

When marks of cancellation (putting a line through terms in the will) are found on a will known to last have been in the testator’s possession, a presumption arises that such marks were made by the testator with the intent to ____. The burden to overcome this presumption is on the ____.

A

revoke; party claiming that the devise has not been revoked

27
Q

Under dependent relative revocation, the valid revocation of a will may be ignore if the will was revoked under the testator’s mistaken belief of law or fact that the testator could ____.

A

revive an earlier will or modify his disposition of property by a new will

28
Q

If a beneficiary named in a will predates the testator, absent an alternate disposition of the devised specified by the testator, the devise ____ into the estate’s residue unless the jurisdiction’s anti-lapse statue ____.

A

lapses; preserves the devise for the beneficiary’s descendants

29
Q

Under an anti-lapse statue, devises will vest in the descendants of the predeceased beneficiary if the predeceased beneficiary:

A

(1) a blood relative of the testator
(2) has descendent(s) who survive the testator

30
Q

Under the doctrine of ____, if the subject matter of a specific devise is not in the estate at the time of the testator’s death, the devise to the beneficiary deems or fails.

A

ademption

31
Q

In most jurisdiction today, a specific devise will deem only if the testator ____.

A

intended the devise to fail

32
Q

If the testator did not intend for a specific devise to fail, the beneficiary is entitled to:

A

(1) any property in the testator’s estate (testator acquired as a replacement)

(2) monetary devise equal to the value of the specific devise

33
Q

A person who feloniously and intentionally kills the decedent is barred from ____.

A

claiming a share of the decedent’s estate as either an heir or a beneficiary under the decedent’s will
(slayer statutes)

34
Q

The decedent’s estate is distributed as if the killer had ____.

A

predeceased of decedent

35
Q

A beneficiary under a will can ____ his interest under a testator’s will causing the disclaimed property to ____.

A

disclaim or renounce; pass as if the disclaiming party predated the testator

36
Q

A valid disclaimer must be:

A

(1) in writing and signed by the person making the disclaimer
(2) describe the interest being disclaimed sufficiently
(3) delivered or filed

37
Q

Beneficiaries under wills are entitled only to the ____ of estate assets.

A

net value

38
Q

The net value represents what remains of the decedent’s assets at death after the payments of ____.

A

debts, expenses, and taxes

39
Q

If there are more claims against an estate from creditors than there are assets to cover all of the devises made under the will, the devises ____.

A

abate

40
Q

Under the common law, a stock dividend constitutes a property interest that is separate from ____.

A

shares of stock received through a specific devise

41
Q

Under the common law, the beneficiary of the underlying shares of stock does not ____, that were obtained through stock dividends.

A

receive the additional shares

42
Q

Under the majority view, beneficiaries are entitled to ____ owned by the testator that were acquired as a result of stock splits or dividends.

A

additional shares

43
Q

A class gift may ____ until the testator’s death.

A

increase or decrease in number

44
Q

If a member of the class predeceases the testator, her share is ____.

A

split evenly among the remaining members the class

45
Q

A child that is intentionally omitted from a will is ____.

A

not entitled to a share of the decedent’s estate

46
Q

A pretermitted child is a child who is ____.

A

unintentionally omitted from a will

47
Q

Pretermitted children are entitled to the share that they would have receivedhad the testator ____ so long as the testator ____.

A

received had the testator died intestate; did not intend to omit the child from his will

48
Q

A will is invalid if the testator ____ when the will was executed.

A

lacked mental capacity

49
Q

To prevail in a will contest for lack of capacity, the contestant must prove that the testator did not know or understand:

A

(1) nature and extend of his property

(2) persons who are the natural objects of his bounty

(3) disposition he was making of his property

50
Q

A will is invalid if the testator executed the will while under ____.

A

undue influence

51
Q

Undue influence occurs when a person ____.

A

exerts control and influence over the mind of the tester as to overcome the testator’s free will

52
Q

To prevail in a will contest for undue influence, the contestant must prove that:

A

(1) testator was susceptible to undue influence
(2) wrongdoer had the opportunity to exert undue influence over the testator
(3) wrongdoer actively participated in drafting the will
(4) will evidences a result that appears to be the effect of undue influence

53
Q

(Capacity)

Where the wrongdoer performs or threatens to perform a wrongful act that causes testator to make a transfer that the testator otherwise would not have made is ____.

A

duress

54
Q

(Capacity)

Intentional misrepresentation, made knowingly and purposely to influence testator’s testamentary scheme causing testator to transfer his property in a way he otherwise would not have is ____.

A

fraud

55
Q

What are the two types of fraud?

A

(a) inducement - factual misrepresentation to induce execution

(b) execution - misrepresentation of document being signed

Wills (2 decks)

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