Deck 26: Revocation, Lapses, and Ademption

Question 1

What is an example of a will's destruction?

A) Tom burned his will
B) Lori tore her will
C) Horace hid his will in book and forgot about it
D) All of the above

Answer 1

All of the above

Question 2

How a will can be revoked by operation of law?

A) By execution of a new will
B) By divorce
C) By destruction of a will
D) All of the above

Answer 2

By divorce

Question 3

What law covers changes of circumstances resulting in a will's revocation?

A) Uniform Probate Code
B) State constitutions
C) Ordinances
D) Administrative regulations

Answer 3

Uniform Probate Code

Question 4

How can a particular part of the will be revoked?

A) By lines drawn through a line of text
B) By lines drawn through a paragraph
C) By lines drawn through a portion of a will
D) All of the above

Question 5

If a will has been destroyed by fire, what could be used in court as evidence of the unrevoked will?

A) Codicil
B) New will
C) Copy of the signed will
D) Testator's statement that he or she had no intention to destroy the will

Question 6

What term describes an addition to an existing will?

A) Codicil
B) Habendum
C) Addendum
D) Locus sigilli

Question 7

What is a characteristic of a valid codicil?

A) Signed and attested by the testator
B) Subscribed in the testator's presence by two or more competent witnesses
C) Refer specifically to the existing will so as to identify it
D) All of the above

Question 8

Under the Uniform Probate Code, what can a surviving spouse, who was not married to the testator at the time of the will's execution, receive?

A) Whatever portion would go to the surviving spouse as his or her intestate share
B) All of the estate
C) Half of the estate
D) Nothing

Question 9

After divorce, what nomination of the former spouse in a will is revoked?

A) As executor
B) As trustee
C) As conservator
D) All of the above

Question 10

What term describes a will's bequest to a legatee who died before the testator?

A) Lost legacy
B) Lapsed legacy
C) Forfeited legacy
D) Abandoned legacy

Question 11

What clause in a will disposes of property not successfully disposed of by other parts of the will?

A) Exordium
B) Habendum
C) Residuary
D) Attestation

Question 12

What term describes a decedent's parents?

A) Lineal ascendants
B) Lineal descendants
C) Collateral descendants
D) None of the above

Question 13

What statutes are used to minimize the effect of lapse?

A) Intestate succession
B) Antilapse statutes
C) Common law
D) All of the above

Question 14

What term describes all people descended from a common ancestor?

A) Relatives by affinity
B) Next of kin
C) Issue
D) Heirs

Question 15

What is a way for an ademption to occur?

A) Extinction
B) Revocation
C) Execution
D) Cancellation

Question 16

What term describes a gift of money out of the general assets of the estate?

A) Universal pecuniary legacy
B) General pecuniary legacy
C) All-purpose pecuniary legacy
D) Broad-spectrum pecuniary legacy

Question 17

What law governs situations when the disposition of the decedents' property depends on who died first and that fact cannot be determined?

A) Universal Simultaneous Death Act
B) Unvarying Simultaneous Death Act
C) Uniform Simultaneous Death Act
D) Death with Dignity

Question 18

What rule allows the property of each decedent to be distributed as if he or she had survived?

A) Default rule
B) Justice rule
C) Simultaneous deaths rule
D) Equitable rule

Question 19

What law prohibits murderers to inherit from their victims?

A) Killer statutes
B) Slayer statutes
C) Homicide victims statutes
D) Victims statutes

Question 20

Who may be included in statutes prohibiting murderers to inherit from their victims?

A) People convicted of murder
B) People convicted of voluntary manslaughter
C) People who participate in procuring the death of the decedent
D) All of the above

Question 21

Destruction of a will never revokes that will.

Question 22

Revocation of a will by a subsequent marriage is generally considered revocation by operation of law.

Question 23

A will destroyed in a house fire would not be revoked automatically because it burned along with all the contents of the house.

Question 24

To destroy a will usually means more than crossing out its text.

Question 25

A codicil must be executed without formalities used to execute a will.

Question 26

A will and codicil are read separately as two different instruments.

Question 27

In most states, a divorce or annulment revokes the entire will.

Question 28

In states where a later marriage revokes a will, if it appears within the will's body that it was made in contemplation of marriage, the will is not revoked.

Question 29

A gift made in a will may fail when the devisee or legatee dies before the testator.

Question 30

All states have enacted antilapse statutes designed to minimize the effect of lapse.

Question 31

In some jurisdictions, if the person receiving the gift is the testator's child, there is a presumption of ademption by extinction.

Question 32

Ademption by satisfaction occurs when the testator during his or her life disposes of a specific legacy.

Question 33

All states have adopted a version of the USDA.

Question 34

The USDA comes into effect when the disposition of the decedents' property depends on who died first and that fact cannot be determined.

Question 35

State laws consider a murderer as having died before the victim.

Question 36

Slayer statutes are limited to those who are convicted of murder.

Question 37

A will can be revoked by a(n) ________ of a new will.

Question 38

The act of a will's destruction must be done with the ________ to revoke the will.

Question 39

Reestablishing a will that has been formerly revoked is called ________ a will.

Question 40

A will may be changed by making a(n) ________ which is an addition to the existing will.

Question 41

Generally, a divorce or ________ revokes a gift in an unchanged will made to the former spouse.

Question 42

The residuary fund of the estate is established by the will's ________ clause.

Question 43

All testator's descendants can be collectively referred to as his or her ________.

Question 44

If a testator were to give away during his or her life a gift that is listed in the will as going to that person by way of a bequest, ademption by ________ occurs.

Question 45

Deaths of two or more people in such a way that it is impossible to determine who died before whom is called ________ deaths.

Question 46

Under the law, murderers are not allowed to ________ from their victims.

Question 47

Match the terms with their descriptions:

-Uniform Simultaneous Death Act

A) One common way to revoke a will
B) State statutes governing the distribution of property of people who die intestate
C) Taken away
D) Law comes into effect when the disposition of the decedents' property depends on who died first
E) Addition to an existing will
F) Capable of being revoked
G) Laws stating that murderers cannot inherit from their victims
H) Gift of money
I) To complete or to perform
J) Died before

Question 48

Match the terms with their descriptions:

-Subsequent marriage

A) One common way to revoke a will
B) State statutes governing the distribution of property of people who die intestate
C) Taken away
D) Law comes into effect when the disposition of the decedents' property depends on who died first
E) Addition to an existing will
F) Capable of being revoked
G) Laws stating that murderers cannot inherit from their victims
H) Gift of money
I) To complete or to perform
J) Died before

Question 49

Match the terms with their descriptions:

-Execute

A) One common way to revoke a will
B) State statutes governing the distribution of property of people who die intestate
C) Taken away
D) Law comes into effect when the disposition of the decedents' property depends on who died first
E) Addition to an existing will
F) Capable of being revoked
G) Laws stating that murderers cannot inherit from their victims
H) Gift of money
I) To complete or to perform
J) Died before

Question 50

Match the terms with their descriptions:

-Laws of intestate succession

A) One common way to revoke a will
B) State statutes governing the distribution of property of people who die intestate
C) Taken away
D) Law comes into effect when the disposition of the decedents' property depends on who died first
E) Addition to an existing will
F) Capable of being revoked
G) Laws stating that murderers cannot inherit from their victims
H) Gift of money
I) To complete or to perform
J) Died before

Question 51

Match the terms with their descriptions:

-Adeemed

A) One common way to revoke a will
B) State statutes governing the distribution of property of people who die intestate
C) Taken away
D) Law comes into effect when the disposition of the decedents' property depends on who died first
E) Addition to an existing will
F) Capable of being revoked
G) Laws stating that murderers cannot inherit from their victims
H) Gift of money
I) To complete or to perform
J) Died before

Question 52

Match the terms with their descriptions:

-Predeceased

A) One common way to revoke a will
B) State statutes governing the distribution of property of people who die intestate
C) Taken away
D) Law comes into effect when the disposition of the decedents' property depends on who died first
E) Addition to an existing will
F) Capable of being revoked
G) Laws stating that murderers cannot inherit from their victims
H) Gift of money
I) To complete or to perform
J) Died before

Question 53

Match the terms with their descriptions:

-Pecuniary gift

A) One common way to revoke a will
B) State statutes governing the distribution of property of people who die intestate
C) Taken away
D) Law comes into effect when the disposition of the decedents' property depends on who died first
E) Addition to an existing will
F) Capable of being revoked
G) Laws stating that murderers cannot inherit from their victims
H) Gift of money
I) To complete or to perform
J) Died before

Question 54

Match the terms with their descriptions:

-Codicil

A) One common way to revoke a will
B) State statutes governing the distribution of property of people who die intestate
C) Taken away
D) Law comes into effect when the disposition of the decedents' property depends on who died first
E) Addition to an existing will
F) Capable of being revoked
G) Laws stating that murderers cannot inherit from their victims
H) Gift of money
I) To complete or to perform
J) Died before

Question 55

Match the terms with their descriptions:

-Revocable

A) One common way to revoke a will
B) State statutes governing the distribution of property of people who die intestate
C) Taken away
D) Law comes into effect when the disposition of the decedents' property depends on who died first
E) Addition to an existing will
F) Capable of being revoked
G) Laws stating that murderers cannot inherit from their victims
H) Gift of money
I) To complete or to perform
J) Died before

Question 56

Match the terms with their descriptions:

-Slayer statutes

A) One common way to revoke a will
B) State statutes governing the distribution of property of people who die intestate
C) Taken away
D) Law comes into effect when the disposition of the decedents' property depends on who died first
E) Addition to an existing will
F) Capable of being revoked
G) Laws stating that murderers cannot inherit from their victims
H) Gift of money
I) To complete or to perform
J) Died before

Question 57

Define a codicil. Explain its purpose and ways of execution.

Question 58

Define a legacy and a devise. Explain what happened to a will if a lapsed legacy or lapsed devise occurs. Identify antilapse statutes.

Question 59

Identify ademption, an ademption by satisfaction, and an ademption by extinction.

Question 60

In her will, Nora, an Indiana resident, wants to achieve two goals: 1) leave her beach house to Amanda (but not to Amanda's children), and 2) make sure that her distant relatives will not receive this property under any circumstances. Discuss what should Nora do to achieve her will's goals.

Question 61

In her will, Ida left to Emily - $50,000, to Mark - a boat, and to Kate - $20,000 which must be paid from the proceeds after the sale of Ida's General Motors stock. Ida gave Emily $20,000 with the intent that such payment is in lieu of the legacy. Ida's boat has been destroyed in a storm, and Ida sold her General Motors stock. Discuss what legacy Ida left to Emily, Mark, and Kate, and what they received after Ida's death.