Wills

Question 1

Survival Rule does not apply to. . . (TN)

Answer 1

life insurance proceeds and joint tenancy situations

Question 2

TN intestate Succession

Answer 2

Spouse only = 100%
Spouse + 1 kid = 1/2 and 1/2
Spouse + 2+ kids = spouse gets 1/3 and remaining 2/3 split between kids.

Question 3

English (strict) per stirpes

Answer 3

vertical equality; divide at the first level regardless of survivors

Question 4

Modern Per Stirpes (TN)

Answer 4

Divide at the first level where there is a survivor

Question 5

Per Capita at each generation

Answer 5

horizontal equality; divide at first level where there is a survivor and aggregate and re-divide at each subsequent level

Question 6

Intestacy: Surviving Parent - TN

Answer 6

if no spouse or children, parents take equally

Question 7

Intestacy: Surviving Siblings - TN

Answer 7

(b) The part of the intestate estate not passing to the surviving spouse under subsection (a) or the entire intestate estate if there is no surviving spouse, passes as follows:
(3) If there is no surviving issue or parent, to the brothers and sisters and the issue of each deceased brother and sister by representation; if there is no surviving brother or sister, the issue of brothers and sisters take by representation; or

Question 8

Intestacy: Adopted Children: Step-Children - TN

Answer 8

Tenn. Code § 31-2-105. Parent and child relationship.
(1) An adopted person is the child of an adopting parent and not of the natural parents except that adoption of a child by the spouse of a natural parent has no effect on the relationship between the child and that natural parent.

Question 9

Intestacy: Adopted Children - General Rules

Answer 9

1. Adopted children inherit from and through their adopted parents and adopted parents inherit from and through their adopted children.
2. Adopted children do not inherit from or through their natural parents and natural parents do not inherit from or through their adopted children.

Question 10

Does TN recognize Equitable (Virtual) Adoption?

Answer 10

No

Question 11

Advancement - TN

Answer 11

Gift given prior to death counts as advancement if it is in writing

Question 12

Advancement: Advancee Predeceases Intestate - TN

Answer 12

If the recipient of the property fails to survive the decedent, the property is not taken into account in computing the division and distribution of the decedent’s intestate estate, unless the decedent’s contemporaneous writing provides otherwise.

Question 13

Who does advancement apply to in TN?

Answer 13

only children of the decedent

Question 14

Negative Disinheritance - Majority and TN

Answer 14

A testator may disinherit an heir only by giving his property to others, and mere words excluding the heir, without an affirmative disposition to another, do not disinherit.

Question 15

Mental Capacity 4 part test

Answer 15

Test: To be competent to make a will, the testator must be capable of knowing and understanding in a general way
(1) the nature and extent of his or her property;
(2) the natural objects of his or her bounty;
(3) the disposition that he or she is making of that property; and
(4) must be capable of relating these elements to one another and forming an orderly desire regarding the disposition of his or her property.
Burden: The burden of proving incapacity rests on the person challenging the validity of the will.

Question 16

How old to execute a will?

Answer 16

18

Question 17

When do you have a right to a jury in probate proceedings?

Answer 17

When a testator dies, the executor of the estate has a duty to institute legal proceedings to probate the will. Thereafter, any person who claims an interest in the testator’s estate has a right to contest the validity of the will and to demand a jury trial on disputed questions of fact.

Question 18

Insane Delusion

Answer 18

a person who has sufficient mental capacity generally but is suffering from an insane delusion that has infected all or part of the will

Question 19

Lucid Interval

Answer 19

a person who has lacks sufficient mental capacity generally but at the time of execution has a lucid interval thus rendering him or her competent

Question 20

Insane Delusion: Definition; Test (Minority (TN)

Answer 20

Definition: A false conception of reality

Minority (TN): if there is any evidence to support the testator’s delusion, it is not insane

Question 21

Who has standing to contest a will?

Answer 21

someone who take under the laws of intestate if the will is invalidated or who would take under a prior will if the challenged will is invalidated.

Question 22

What is ademption?

Answer 22

where there is a specific bequest, but the specific bequest is no longer part of the decedent’s estate and the beneficiary receives nothing.

Question 23

What kinds of gifts does ademption apply/no apply to?

Answer 23

applies to: specific bequests

does not apply to: general or demonstrative legacies

Question 24

What is satisfaction?

Answer 24

where a gift devised to a beneficiary in a will is given to the beneficiary during the decedent’s lifetime.

Question 25

When does satisfaction occur?

Answer 25

only where there is DIRECT EVIDENCE that this was the testator’s intent that the gift satisfy the testamentary bequest.

Question 26

Who has burden of proving satisfaction occurred? What must they prove?

Answer 26

the party asserting it must prove the testator’s intent was that the lifetime gift satisfied the bequest

Question 27

TN Abatement

Answer 27

if the funds in an estate are insufficient to pay off debts and give all testamentary bequests, abatement requires the following order when using the estate to pay debts:

1. Residuary estate
2. general bequests
3. specific bequests

(also personal property should abate before real property)

Question 28

Exoneration

Answer 28

a beneficiary receiving a piece of property with an encumbrance on it is entitled to have the estate pay off the encumbrance.