Deck 52: Wills, Trusts, and Elder Law

Question 1

A codicil must be executed with the same formalities as a will.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Dying intestate means dying without a will.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

A codicil is the common name for a document that changes the terms of a will.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

A nuncupative will and dying declarations both represent oral wills,usually made during the testator's final illness.

Question 5

A holographic will is a will in the handwriting of the testator and signed by the testator.

Question 6

A divorce operates as a revocation of any provisions in a will that give property to the former spouse.

Question 7

An attestation clause is an assertion by the person making the will that it is valid.

Question 8

The Uniform Simultaneous Death Act provides that each deceased person's property is distributed as though he or she died.

Question 9

An attestation clause refers to the court's approval of will into probate.

Question 10

The legal age for executing a will is set by state statute.

Question 11

The existence of a later will does not automatically revoke all earlier wills by operation of law.

Question 12

Mutual wills may be unilaterally revoked after one of the parties dies.

Question 13

In general,a will must be in writing to be effective.

Question 14

Once a valid will has been executed,permission of the court is required to revoke it.

Question 15

In most states more than one witness is required,and the witnesses are required to witness each other's signatures.

Question 16

A joint will refers to two or more testators executing the same instrument as their will.

Question 17

Wills transfer property upon a person's death.

Question 18

A signature can be made with an "x" or initials and still be effective.

Question 19

The party who makes a will is called the beneficiary.

Question 20

A nuncupative will is an oral will.

Question 21

The majority rule regarding in-laws is that they do not inherit under intestacy statutes.

Question 22

In a per stirpes distribution,a person in a higher generation receives twice the share of one in the next lower generation.

Question 23

A devise is any gift of property other than cash made in a will.

Question 24

Under the doctrine of abatement,residuary gifts are abated first.

Question 25

Undue influence is easy to prove by direct influence.

Question 26

Probate is the administration and settlement of an individual's estate.

Question 27

One factor in determining whether a testator was subject to undue influence is if the testator made an unnatural distribution of property.

Question 28

Testators are being allowed to videotape their wills to accompany their handwritten wills.

Question 29

An heir is someone who receives property under an intestacy statute.

Question 30

Abatement refers to the order in which bequests are paid based on the sufficiency of the estate to distribute the property.

Question 31

Ademption means that if a specific bequest is not owned by the testator at the testator's death,then the beneficiary receives nothing.

Question 32

A general gift is one that is a specifically identified piece of property.

Question 33

When a testator leaves her property to her descendants per capita,all living descendants receive an equal share regardless of the generation they are in.

Question 34

A bequest of $5,000 in a will is a general gift.

Question 35

People who do not want their lives prolonged indefinitely by artificially means should sign a living will.

Question 36

Intestate succession refers to the fact that the deceased person's property escheats to the state first and if the state does not want it,then it is distributed to the heirs of the deceased.

Question 37

A bequest is a gift of personal property in a will.

Question 38

A person renounces a gift made in a will when the person does not want to accept the gift.

Question 39

The settlor is the person who transfers property in order to form a trust.

Question 40

With a trust,all aspects of title to the trust property are transferred to the trustee.

Question 41

A living trust is irrevocable.

Question 42

It is not necessary to fund a living trust as it is self-supportive.

Question 43

An intervivos trust refers to a trust that is created after the settler dies.

Question 44

A resulting trust is not valid because it is not in writing.

Question 45

A remainder beneficiary is one that receives the trust's corpus upon inception of the trust.

Question 46

A trust corpus is the property that is held in trust.

Question 47

One of the benefits to having a living trust is that it helps to reduce estate taxes.

Question 48

The majority of trusts are revocable.

Question 49

All trusts are revocable.

Question 50

What is required to make a will under a statute of wills?

A) intent,property to will,and at least one witness
B) signature of testator,testamentary capacity,and intent
C) signature of testator,intent,and signature of two witnesses
D) signature of testator,testamentary capacity,a writing,and,in most states,two or three attesting witnesses
E) signature of testator,testamentary capacity,and either a writing or three witnesses for nonwritten wills

Question 51

In a spendthrift trust,the beneficiaries are limited in their access to trust corpus.

Question 52

Which of the following is not generally needed in a will?

A) a writing
B) signature of the testator
C) naming of the executor
D) signature of the witnesses

Question 53

One reason for having a living trust is to avoid probate.

Question 54

Which of the following is generally true about witnesses to wills?

A) In most states one witness is sufficient.
B) Witnesses must be residents of the same state as the testator.
C) Multiple witnesses must sign in the presence of one another.
D) Witnesses must know of the contents of the will.
E) Witnesses must be relatives who know the testator well.

Question 55

A trust can be created during a trustor's lifetime but become effective upon the trustor's death.

Question 56

A totten trust is created for the benefit of society.

Question 57

A constructive trust can be implied to prevent fraud or unjust enrichment.

Question 58

The party who executes a will is called the:

A) executor
B) administrator
C) settlor
D) declaror
E) testator

Question 59

Which of the following is true about witnesses who attest to a will?

A) These witnesses must be close family members.
B) They need not be family members,but must have known the testator a reasonable length of time.
C) If they are beneficiaries under the will,most states either ignore the dispositions to them or invalidate the entire will.
D) The witnesses must witness the writing of the will and the testator's signing of the will.
E) The witnesses cannot be witnesses for wills of more than one person within the same family.

Question 60

A grantor's trust is the same thing as a living trust.

Question 61

Which of the following best describes the doctrine of ademption?

A) When there are not enough assets to satisfy all the gifts in the will,the residual gifts will be the last to be paid.
B) When assets are distributed to lineal descendants,equal shares are given to all descendants regardless of which generation they are in.
C) If a decedent dies without owning the property that was the subject of a specific gift in the will,the beneficiary will receive nothing for it.
D) When there are not enough assets in the estate to satisfy all general gifts,they are all satisfied on a pro-rata basis.

Question 62

A document executed with the formalities of a will in order to modify an existing will is called a(n):

A) rider
B) ademption
C) nuncupative addendum
D) endorsement
E) codicil

Question 63

Which of the following is not one of the factors that courts will commonly look at in determining whether a will was executed under undue influence?

A) There was an opportunity to exert undue influence.
B) The testator had a large number of living relatives.
C) The will contains an unnatural disposition of the testator's property.
D) The bequests constitute a change from an earlier will.
E) The testator was highly susceptible to undue influence.

Question 64

When a residuary gift is given to all of the testator's descendants such that each is to receive an equal share regardless of what generation they are in,what type of distribution is this?

A) per stirpes
B) contingent
C) per capita
D) intestate
E) per abatement

Question 65

A gift of a particular piece of artwork from an estate is what kind of gift?

A) specific
B) per stirpes
C) general
D) deliberate
E) ademptive

Question 66

Which laws address the passage of property to heirs when someone dies without a will?

A) ademption
B) collateral
C) probate
D) intestacy
E) estray

Question 67

Which of the following does not revoke a will,either in whole or in part?

A) a properly executed subsequent will
B) divorce or annulment
C) a child born after the will is executed
D) action by the testator destroying the will

Question 68

Which of the following best describes a codicil?

A) It is an instrument that revokes a will.
B) It is a modification to a will that does not need all the formalities of a will so long as the required formalities were followed in the original will.
C) It is the instrument that names the testator.
D) It is a modification to a will that must follow all the formalities of a will.
E) It is an order of a probate court to distribute property of the testator.

Question 69

A gift of real property made in a will is known as a:

A) devise
B) legacy
C) corpus
D) bequest
E) Both A and D

Question 70

A gift of a fixed amount of money from an estate that does not specify from where the money is to come is what kind of gift?

A) lapsed
B) per stirpes
C) general
D) ambiguous
E) specific

Question 71

Under the Uniform Simultaneous Death Act,when two persons who would inherit property from each other die together in such a way that it is impossible to determine who died first,the property of each is distributed:

A) as if he or she had died first
B) as if he or she had died after the other person
C) as if the older person had died first
D) as if the other person had not been left anything in the will
E) as if each had half the combined assets of both parties

Question 72

What is the legal effect of a testator executing a second will when the testator already has an earlier existing valid will?

A) The second will is invalid unless the first will has been expressly revoked.
B) The second will automatically revokes the first will.
C) The presence of two wills invalidates both of them until one is revoked.
D) The probate court will determine which of the two wills more accurately represents the desires of the decedent.
E) The two wills are read together to the extent possible,but where inconsistent,the later will controls.

Question 73

A will that is made orally in front of witnesses during the testator's final illness is what kind of will?

A) nuncupative
B) invalid
C) holographic
D) reciprocal
E) self-proving

Question 74

What happens when someone dies with two valid wills,neither of which has been revoked?

A) The earlier will is always followed.
B) The later will is always followed.
C) The survivor decides which will more accurately reflects the testator's wishes and that will is followed.
D) Both wills are followed,but where inconsistent,the later one controls.
E) Neither will is followed because the testator lacked capacity by having two wills outstanding.

Question 75

Receiving one-fourth of what is left in the estate after specific items are given to named individuals in a will is a(n):

A) specific gift
B) intestate gift
C) residuary gift
D) quarter gift
E) lapsed gift

Question 76

A gift of personal property made in a will is known as a:

A) devise
B) legacy
C) corpus
D) bequest
E) Both B and D

Question 77

When assets are left to a beneficiary who has died before the testator,and that beneficiary's share is given to the descendants of that deceased beneficiary,what type of distribution is this?

A) per stirpes
B) contingent
C) per capita
D) intestate
E) per abatement

Question 78

When someone has been left a specific item that is no longer owned by the testator at the testator's death,the beneficiary receives nothing under the doctrine of:

A) ademption
B) abatement
C) intestacy
D) per stirpes distribution

Question 79

Which of the following is not a characteristic of reciprocal wills?

A) They are separate wills where the testators leave property to each other.
B) The leaving of property to each other is conditioned on the beneficiary disposing further of the property only in accordance with the terms of the reciprocal wills.
C) They can be executed only by husband and wife.
D) They cannot be revoked after one of the parties dies.

Question 80

A will that is made entirely in the testator's own handwriting is what kind of will?

A) nuncupative
B) invalid
C) holographic
D) reciprocal
E) self-proving