Exam 51: Decedents Estates and Trusts

State intestacy statutes commonly provide for distribution in the following order: __________.

Every trust must have a beneficiary.

A will cannot be modified by merely crossing out a clause and writing in something new.

A written will must be signed by the testator at the bottom or end of the will.

In certain instances statutes provide that a change of circumstances, such as the marriage of a testator, has the effect of a revocation.

When a testator provides for a bequest of his gold watch to his nephew, but the gold watch is not owned by the testator at the time of death: __________.

A failure by the settlor to name a trustee renders a trust invalid.

A trustee can delegate the performance of personal duties.

When specifically bequeathed property is sold or given away by the testator prior to death, the bequest is considered redeemed.

A trustee is not permitted to profit personally from the position of trustee, other than to receive the compensation allowed by contract or law.

A trust may be terminated by its own terms.

A living will, now legal in most states, provides that if the testator becomes unable to express his or her wishes and is in an irreversible, incurable medical condition, he or she does not want life-sustaining medical treatments.

Eccentric behavior means that the testator cannot have testamentary capacity.