Wills Flashcards
Decedent
The dead person
Will
A writing or declaration by which one directs the disposition of one’s property after death
Testator
The person who writes the will
Codicil
A supplement to a will
Testate
A person who died with a will
Intestate
A person who died without a will
Partial intestate
A person died with a will, but did not delegate all property/items
Residuary clause
Partial intestacy can be avoided with one
Devise
To dispose property through a will and/or a testamentary disposition of real property, aka bequest or legacy
Devisee
A person designated under the will to get the items/property
Heir
A person who is entitled to another person’s property under intestate succession
To be an heir
One must survive the decedent by 120 hours
UPC2-101
A provision expressly dis-inheriting
Probate
The process of proving a will or having it declared valid and effective
Personal representative
Executor, administrator
Estate
Property of the decedent
Net estate
The gross estate minus the deduction
Non-probate estate
Joint ownership
JTWROS
Joint tenant with right of survivorship
Assets not included
Inter vivos gifts, irrevocable living trust
Requirements for a final will
a) must be in writing
b) signed by the testator or in the testator’s name by some other individual in the testator’s conscious presence and direct AND
c) signed by two individuals, each of whom signed within a reasonable time after the individual witnessed whether the signing of the will as described OR
d) acknowledged by the testator before a notary public or other individual authorized by law
Witness
a) an individual generally competent to be a witness may act as one
b) the signing of a will by an interested witness does not invalidate the will
Holographic will
A will that does not comply with (a) is a valid holographic will if the signature and material portions of the document are in the testator’s handwriting - not accepted by every state
Testamentary obsolescence
When there are intervening occurrences which render the will less well adapted to the testator’s circumstances after a lapse of time occurs between the execution of the will and the testator’s death
Advancement
The testator has given a lifetime gift to someone before death
Ademption doctrine
Surrounds gifts of property no longer in an estate
Satisfaction
The abrogation of a bequest by an inter vivos gift by the testator to the legatee
a) a statement in a will
b) writing contemporaneous to a gift
c) a written statement by a donee/devisee acknowledging satisfaction of the devise
Ademption by extinction
A gift fails if the testator does not own the specifically devised property at death
Guardianship exception
The beneficiary gets a general pecuniary gift equal to
a) the net sale price of property sold by the testator’s guardian
b) a condemnation award paid to the testator’s guardian for the property’s taking
c) insurance proceeds received by the testator’s guardian for damages to the property
