Themis Essay 4121

Question 1

At common law, a party with a financial interest in the outcome could not testify in

Answer 1

a civil case about a communication with a person whose estate is a party to the case.

Question 2

Virginia’s Dead Man statute allows the testimony of an interested witness only if

Answer 2

the witness’s testimony is corroborated.

Question 3

If a decedent had possession of her original will before her death, but the will is not found among her personal affects after death, then there is a

Answer 3

rebuttable presumption that the decedent destroyed the will with the intent to revoke it.

Question 4

The burden is on the proponent to prove

Answer 4

the will’s existence by clear and convincing evidence.

Question 5

Under Virginia’s intestacy statute, the decedent’s spouse and descendants are

Answer 5

the preferred recipients of the decedent’s estate.

Question 6

If a decedent dies without leaving a surviving spouse or descendants,

Answer 6

then the decedent’s parents take the estate.

Question 7

If a decedent has no surviving children or parents, then the property passes to

Answer 7

a decedent’s siblings (and their descendants by representation).