Succession Problems Common to Intestacy and Wills

Question 1

How long must a person survive an intestate decedent to take as an heir?

Answer 1

At least 120 hours.

Question 2

What happens when a beneficiary or heir disclaims an interest (including a lifetime gift) that otherwise would pass to him from the decedent’s estate?

Answer 2

The interest passes as through the disclaiming party dies immediately before the decedent died / made the transfer

Question 3

What are the requirements for a valid disclaimer?

Is there a time-limit?

Answer 3

The disclaimer must:

1) Be in writing or other record;
2) declare the disclaimer;
3) describe the interest being disclaimed;
4) be signed;
5) be delivered (to the personal representative of the estate / to the trustee)

Hell naw!

Question 4

Can disclaimers be used to defeat creditors’ claims? What about federal tax liens?

Answer 4

Yes

No.

Question 5

When is the right to disclaim barred?

Answer 5

When the beneficiary / heir accepts the property or any of its benefits, enters in a contract to sell the property, or assigns/mortgages the interest.

Question 6

What is the slayer statute?

What about persons (assignees, transferees, etc.) claiming through the slayer?

What about bona-fide purchasers from the slayer?

Answer 6

A person convicted of (or determined by preponderance of the evidence to have committed) murder or voluntary manslaughter forfeits all interests in the victim’s estate, which is distributed as if the slayer pre-deceased the decedent

Similarly barred

Protected, provided he buys before the interests of the slayer have been adjudicated

Question 7

What is an advancement and why does it matter?

Answer 7

A lifetime gift to a child or other descendant is presumed to be an advancement. That presumption may be rebutted by affirmative proof (e.g. grantor’s statements) that the gift was not intended to be an advancement

Advancements are taken into account in making an intestate distribution - the heir’s share is reduced by the amount of the advancement.

Question 8

When will a lifetime gift to a will beneficiary satisfy a legacy?

Answer 8

If:

(1) the testator declared in a contemporaneous writing that the gift was intended to satisfy a legacy;
(2) the beneficiary acknowledges in writing that the gift is in satisfaction;
(3) the will expressly states that legacies are to be reduced by such lifetimes gifts