Themis Essay 916

Question 1

A will is construed as if

Answer 1

executed immediately before the death of the testator.

Question 2

If a will is found to be ambiguous, then evidence

Answer 2

of the facts and circumstances is admissible to assist the court.

Question 3

Patent and latent ambiguities

Answer 3

are not distinguished by Virginia as they are in other jurisdictions.

Question 4

A patent ambiguity is one apparent from the face of a will;

Answer 4

a latent ambiguity is one that is not.

Question 5

Extrinsic evidence of facts and circumstances, such as the state of a testator’s property, his relations to persons, his opinions, and his habits of thought and of language are

Answer 5

always admissible to help explain ambiguities or the meaning of the words used by a testator.

Question 6

Conditions that unreasonably limit the ability of beneficiaries to marry are

Answer 6

generally struck down as against public policy.

Question 7

Virginia applies the cy pres doctrine to wills, which

Answer 7

allows the court to reform a charitable gift in a manner necessary to carry out the general intent of the testator.

Question 8

If a will makes a gift to a charitable organization that is no longer in existence (or if the specific purpose of the gift cannot be achieved),

Answer 8

it is possible that a court would invoke the doctrine of cy pres to reform the gift.

Question 9

To create a testamentary trust, a testator must

Answer 9

evidence an intent to create a trust, name one or more beneficiaries of the trust, indicate the duties that the trustee must perform, and fund the trust.

Question 10

Virginia recognizes a trust may be created for the care of an

Answer 10

animal who is alive when the settlor dies, provided the amount placed in the trust is not excessive.

Question 11

When a person who is named as a trustee cannot or will not serve and the trust makes no provision for another trustee,

Answer 11

the trust is not terminated but instead the court can appoint a replacement trustee.

Question 12

Virginia law requires a person to survive a decedent by

Answer 12

120 hours in order to inherit as an heir through intestacy or a beneficiary under a will.

Question 13

A gift under a will to a deceased beneficiary

Answer 13

lapses (fails).

Question 14

If a deceased beneficiary is a grandparent or descendant of a grandparent of the testator,

Answer 14

the Virginia anti-lapse statute presumes a gift in favor of the deceased beneficiary’s surviving descendants in order to save the gift.

Question 15

Under Virginia’s intestacy statute, if the decedent leaves no surviving spouse,

Answer 15

the surviving descendants take.