Wills MEE Rule Statements

Question 1

Only directly interested parties who stand to benefit financially may

Answer 1

contest a will.

Question 2

Intestacy statutes generally favor the

Answer 2

decedent’s surviving spouse and issue.

Question 3

under intestacy laws, an intestate’s children take to the

Answer 3

exclusion of their own descendants.

Question 4

In order to validly execute a will, a testator must have

Answer 4

mental capacity.

Question 5

A testator has mental capacity if she knows

Answer 5

1. the nature of the act
2. the nature and extent of her property
3. those persons who are the natural objects of her bounty and
4. the plan of the disposition

Question 6

All persons are afforded the presumption that they

Answer 6

have mental capacity.

Question 7

The burden of proving that the testator lacks mental capacity rests on the

Answer 7

contestant of the will.

Question 8

At common law, strict compliance with the formal requirements of wills

Answer 8

is required.

Question 9

A holographic will is in a testator’s

Answer 9

handwriting, signed by the testator, and need not be witnessed.

Question 10

The beneficiary of a life insurance policy takes

Answer 10

by virtue of the insurance contract.

Question 11

Proceeds of a life insurance policy are not part of the decedent’s estate, unless

Answer 11

they are payable to the estate as beneficiary.

Question 12

Life insurance policies typically provide that proceeds will only be paid to

Answer 12

a beneficiary named on an appropriate form filed with the insurance company; other possible methods of changing a beneficiary are thus viewed as being excluded by the insurance contract.

Question 13

Some courts have upheld a beneficiary change on an insurance policy by will if the

Answer 13

insurance company does not object.

Question 14

A will may incorporate by reference another writing not executed with testamentary formailities, provided the other writing meets three requirements:

Answer 14

1) it existed at the time the will was executed
2) the testator intended the writing to be incorporated and
3) the writing is described in the will with sufficient certainty so as to permit its identification

Question 15

Under common law, if a beneficiary died before the testator or before a point in time by which he was required to survive under the will, the

Answer 15

gift failed and went to the residue unless the will provided for an alternate disposition.

Question 16

Almost all states have anti-lapse statutes that provide for the

Answer 16

alternate disposition of lapsed gifts.

Question 17

Under the majority of anti-lapse statutes, if the gift was made to a relation of the testator within

Answer 17

a specific statutory defree and the relation predeceased the testator but left issue, then the issue succeeds to the gift, unless the will expressly states the contrary.

Question 18

Gifts are abated (reduced) when the

Answer 18

assets of the estate are insufficient to pay all debts and legacies.

Question 19

If not otherwise specified in the will, gifts are abated in the following order:

Answer 19

1) intestate property
2) residuary bequests
3) general bequests
4) specific bequests