Wills, Trusts, & Estates Flashcards
Question
Answer
What is the source of estate law?
States.
What is the minority view on wills?
A will that fails in formality may still be valid. Followed by CA.
What are nonprobate property?
(1) Inter Vivos gifts, (2) inter Vivos trusts, (3) future interests, (4) joint ownership interests with survivorship rights, (5) pay-on-death, (6) contracts,
What jurisdictional law applies for intestacy?
Personal: domicile at death.
Real: states where property is situated.
How is the share of the surviging spouse determined for intestacy?
CP: 1/2 of the CP held by the decedent; SP: 1/3rd if there are two or more, otherwise 1/2 of the deceased spouse’s property.
When does a survivng spouse inherit all separate property.
No issue, parents, or descendant’s of parents.
How is the share determined in CA for descendant’s?
Per capita share.
What is a per capita share?
Higher-level descendants receive more proportionally than lower-level descendants. E.g. Children more than grandchildren.
What are the three types of estate distribution?
Per stripes, per capita at each generation, and per capita shares.
What is the effect of no immediate issue?
(1) Parents, if not (2) siblings, if not (3) nephews & nieces, if not (5) grandparents, if not (6) aunts and uncles, if not (7) cousins, if not (8) descendants of a pre-deceased spouse [step children], if not (10) great-grandparents, if not (11) descendant’s of great-grandparents, if not (12) the state.
What does the witness need to know to sign?
Only that it is will, not the contents.
What is required for witnesses to wills?
There must be two witnesses that (1) witness the signature of the testator, (2) witness the signature of the other during the life of the testator, and (3) are not interested.
What are the formalities for an atested will?
(1) In writing, (2) signed by the testator, (3) witnessed by two competent witnesses contemporaneously with each other, (4) containing all relevant dispositions of people and property.
What is the formality for holographic wills?
In the testor’s handwriting, in CA then only the relevant provisions and their signature.