Deck 28: Disinheritance and Intestacy

Question 1

What term describes a statutory sum given to a surviving spouse disclaiming provisions made for him or her in a deceased spouse's will?

A) Elective share
B) Statutory share
C) Forced share
D) All of the above

Answer 1

All of the above

Question 2

What does the phrase "waive a spouse's will" mean?

A) Renounce it
B) Disclaim it
C) All of the above
D) None of the above

Answer 2

All of the above

Question 3

What is coverture?

A) Marriage
B) Engagement
C) Contract in consideration of marriage
D) Widow's right to a life estate

Answer 3

Marriage

Question 4

In what country were the rights of dower and curtesy developed?

A) Spain
B) England
C) France
D) Germany

Question 5

To what property are common law dower and curtesy applied?

A) Real property
B) Personal tangible property
C) Personal intangible property
D) Intellectual property

Question 6

Under what circumstances may a testator leave a child inadvertently out of a will?

A) Testator's child was born after the testator's will was created
B) Testator's child was adopted after the testator's will was created
C) All of the above
D) None of the above

Question 7

What term describes a child omitted by a testator from a will?

A) Pretermitted
B) Disowned
C) Divested
D) Dispossessed

Question 8

What state applies to children the statutory share for surviving spouses?

A) New Mexico
B) Washington
C) Louisiana
D) Maryland

Question 9

What exemptions allow families to keep their homes out of reach of creditors?

A) Residence
B) Homestead
C) Domicile
D) Dwelling

Question 10

What may happen if a home is valued beyond the exemption?

A) Creditors could force a sale
B) Surviving spouse would be entitled to the dollar amount from the sale equal to the exemption
C) All of the above
D) None of the above

Question 11

Who is included in the term "descendants"?

A) People having a common relative by blood
B) Adopted children
C) People related by affinity
D) Both A and B

Question 12

What term describes children born out of wedlock?

A) Illegitimate
B) Nonmarital
C) Illicit
D) Both A and B

Question 13

What term describes a court action to determine whether a person is the father of a child born out of wedlock?

A) Paternity proceeding
B) Affiliation proceeding
C) All of the above
D) None of the above

Question 14

From what relatives can children born out of wedlock inherit?

A) Mother
B) Maternal relatives
C) From and through their fathers who have acknowledged paternity
D) All of the above

Question 15

What term describes the circumstance of dying without having made a valid will?

A) Intestacy
B) Primogeniture
C) Rendition
D) Nudum pactum

Question 16

Who are people in a direct line of descent (downward) from the decedent?

A) Lineal ascendants
B) Collateral relatives
C) Lineal descendants
D) Coparceners

Question 17

Under early English law, when a person died without a will, who inherited the decedent's real property?

A) Decedent's eldest son
B) Decedent's eldest daughter
C) Decedent's parents
D) Decedent's uncles and aunts

Question 18

What law governs the estate's distribution of a person who died without a will?

A) Intestate order
B) Intestate sequence
C) Intestate succession
D) Intestate arrangement

Question 19

What term describes people most nearly related by blood?

A) Next by consanguinity
B) Next of kin
C) Next by affinity
D) All of the above

Question 20

What number is assigned to each relationship to determine the closest relatives?

A) Level of kindred
B) Grade of kindred
C) Extent of kindred
D) Degree of kindred

Question 21

The law protects surviving spouses against being disinherited by their late husbands and wives.

Question 22

All states use the same formula to determine the amount of a spouse's inheritance.

Question 23

The surviving spouse can renounce his or her spouse's will.

Question 24

Today, all states have abolished common law dower and curtesy.

Question 25

Generally, a person cannot accept dower and, at the same time, waive the will of a deceased spouse.

Question 26

In all states, the statutory share for surviving spouses to protect them against being disinherited applies to children.

Question 27

A testator can expressly and intentionally disinherit his or her children in a will.

Question 28

In many states, a homestead allowance up to a certain sum of money continues after the death of the head of household.

Question 29

If a house is worth less than the stated homestead exemption, creditors could force a sale of the house against a surviving spouse.

Question 30

In many states, half-blood relatives inherit the same share as whole-blood relatives.

Question 31

Children born out of wedlock inherit from their mother.

Question 32

Today, under most state laws, adopted children inherit from and through their natural parents.

Question 33

Many American statutes of intestate succession apply to both real and personal property.

Question 34

Under early English law, the decedent's personal property was distributed by government officials.

Question 35

In Delaware, if nobody can inherit the intestate estate, the state will take title to it.

Question 36

A surviving wife can disclaim the provisions in her deceased husband's will and instead take an elective ________.

Question 37

Many states today have amended common law dower and ________ to treat men and women equally.

Question 38

Dower was a right that a widow had to a ________ estate in one-third of all real property owned by her husband during marriage.

Question 39

In Louisiana, permanently incapacitated children have limited protection against disinheritance, qualifying them as ________ heirs.

Question 40

A child omitted from the will of his or her parent is protected by ________ heir statutes.

Question 41

In Minnesota, ________ exemption applies to up to 160 acres of property.

Question 42

An assumption, for purposes of justice, of a fact that does not exist is called a(n) ________ fiction.

Question 43

Relatives having only one parent in common are called ________ relatives.

Question 44

Under early English law, the laws of ________ and distribution distinguished real property from personal property.

Question 45

If there are no heirs who can inherit the intestate estate, the estate's property will ________ to the state.

Question 46

Match the terms with their descriptions:

-Homestead exemption

A) Ownership of property for the duration of a named person's life
B) Child left out of a parent's will
C) Child born out of wedlock
D) Under this doctrine, real property descended to the decedent's eldest son
E) To leave out of a will
F) Widow's right to a life estate in one-third of all real property owned by her husband during coverture
G) Reject a spouse's will
H) Parents who adopt a child
I) Exemption of one's residence up to a specific amount
J) One's relatives most nearly related by blood

Question 47

Match the terms with their descriptions:

-Adoptive parents

A) Ownership of property for the duration of a named person's life
B) Child left out of a parent's will
C) Child born out of wedlock
D) Under this doctrine, real property descended to the decedent's eldest son
E) To leave out of a will
F) Widow's right to a life estate in one-third of all real property owned by her husband during coverture
G) Reject a spouse's will
H) Parents who adopt a child
I) Exemption of one's residence up to a specific amount
J) One's relatives most nearly related by blood

Question 48

Match the terms with their descriptions:

-Waive a spouse's will

A) Ownership of property for the duration of a named person's life
B) Child left out of a parent's will
C) Child born out of wedlock
D) Under this doctrine, real property descended to the decedent's eldest son
E) To leave out of a will
F) Widow's right to a life estate in one-third of all real property owned by her husband during coverture
G) Reject a spouse's will
H) Parents who adopt a child
I) Exemption of one's residence up to a specific amount
J) One's relatives most nearly related by blood

Question 49

Match the terms with their descriptions:

-Illegitimate

A) Ownership of property for the duration of a named person's life
B) Child left out of a parent's will
C) Child born out of wedlock
D) Under this doctrine, real property descended to the decedent's eldest son
E) To leave out of a will
F) Widow's right to a life estate in one-third of all real property owned by her husband during coverture
G) Reject a spouse's will
H) Parents who adopt a child
I) Exemption of one's residence up to a specific amount
J) One's relatives most nearly related by blood

Question 50

Match the terms with their descriptions:

-Pretermitted child

A) Ownership of property for the duration of a named person's life
B) Child left out of a parent's will
C) Child born out of wedlock
D) Under this doctrine, real property descended to the decedent's eldest son
E) To leave out of a will
F) Widow's right to a life estate in one-third of all real property owned by her husband during coverture
G) Reject a spouse's will
H) Parents who adopt a child
I) Exemption of one's residence up to a specific amount
J) One's relatives most nearly related by blood

Question 51

Match the terms with their descriptions:

-Next of kin

A) Ownership of property for the duration of a named person's life
B) Child left out of a parent's will
C) Child born out of wedlock
D) Under this doctrine, real property descended to the decedent's eldest son
E) To leave out of a will
F) Widow's right to a life estate in one-third of all real property owned by her husband during coverture
G) Reject a spouse's will
H) Parents who adopt a child
I) Exemption of one's residence up to a specific amount
J) One's relatives most nearly related by blood

Question 52

Match the terms with their descriptions:

-Life estate

A) Ownership of property for the duration of a named person's life
B) Child left out of a parent's will
C) Child born out of wedlock
D) Under this doctrine, real property descended to the decedent's eldest son
E) To leave out of a will
F) Widow's right to a life estate in one-third of all real property owned by her husband during coverture
G) Reject a spouse's will
H) Parents who adopt a child
I) Exemption of one's residence up to a specific amount
J) One's relatives most nearly related by blood

Question 53

Match the terms with their descriptions:

-Disinherit

A) Ownership of property for the duration of a named person's life
B) Child left out of a parent's will
C) Child born out of wedlock
D) Under this doctrine, real property descended to the decedent's eldest son
E) To leave out of a will
F) Widow's right to a life estate in one-third of all real property owned by her husband during coverture
G) Reject a spouse's will
H) Parents who adopt a child
I) Exemption of one's residence up to a specific amount
J) One's relatives most nearly related by blood

Question 54

Match the terms with their descriptions:

-Primogeniture

A) Ownership of property for the duration of a named person's life
B) Child left out of a parent's will
C) Child born out of wedlock
D) Under this doctrine, real property descended to the decedent's eldest son
E) To leave out of a will
F) Widow's right to a life estate in one-third of all real property owned by her husband during coverture
G) Reject a spouse's will
H) Parents who adopt a child
I) Exemption of one's residence up to a specific amount
J) One's relatives most nearly related by blood

Question 55

Match the terms with their descriptions:

-Dower

A) Ownership of property for the duration of a named person's life
B) Child left out of a parent's will
C) Child born out of wedlock
D) Under this doctrine, real property descended to the decedent's eldest son
E) To leave out of a will
F) Widow's right to a life estate in one-third of all real property owned by her husband during coverture
G) Reject a spouse's will
H) Parents who adopt a child
I) Exemption of one's residence up to a specific amount
J) One's relatives most nearly related by blood

Question 56

Define a forced share. Discuss how the law protects spouses against disinheritance.

Question 57

Define a pretermitted child. Discuss what protection against disinheritance is available for them.

Question 58

Define a homestead exemption. Discuss the purpose of a homestead exemption and identify how it works.

Question 59

Kelly is an illegitimate child of Helen and Gerard, but Gerard did not acknowledge Kelly. Discuss from what relatives Kelly will be entitle to inherit.

Question 60

Gwen and Rob, a married couple, own a large estate. Discuss who will inherit this estate if Rob dies intestate.