Bar Exam Bar Exam Wills, Trusts & Estates 1

Question 1

A testator executes a will with two witnesses, one of whom is also a named beneficiary. Under the majority purging statute rule in US states, what is the result?

Accepted Answer

The gift to the interested witness is void but the will remains valid

Answer

Most states apply a purging statute that voids only the gift to an interested witness while leaving the rest of the will valid.

Question 2

A testator handwrites an entire will in his own hand, dates and signs it, but does not have any witnesses. He dies in a state that recognizes holographic wills. The will is:

Accepted Answer

Valid as a holographic will without witnesses

Answer

A holographic will entirely in the testator's handwriting, signed and dated, is valid in states recognizing holographic wills without the need for attesting witnesses.

Question 3

Which of the following is NOT a valid method of revoking a will under the majority rule?

Accepted Answer

Orally declaring the will revoked before two witnesses

Answer

Wills cannot be revoked by oral declaration alone; revocation requires a written instrument or a physical act performed with revocatory intent.

Question 4

Under the doctrine of ademption by extinction, if a testator specifically bequeaths her car to her brother but sells the car before death, the brother:

Accepted Answer

Receives nothing because the specific bequest is adeemed

Answer

Under the identity theory, when specifically bequeathed property no longer exists in the estate at the testator's death, the bequest is extinguished and the beneficiary receives nothing.

Question 5

Under a typical anti-lapse statute, if a testator's will leaves property to a predeceased child, the gift typically:

Accepted Answer

Passes to the predeceased child's surviving descendants

Answer

Anti-lapse statutes prevent a gift from lapsing when the predeceased beneficiary is within a protected class by substituting the beneficiary's descendants to take the gift.

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Bar Exam Bar Exam Wills, Trusts & Estates 1