Bar Exam Wills, Trusts & Estates Flashcards

Which of the following is NOT a required element for a valid express trust?

Answer: A written instrument signed before a notary public

Express trusts do not require a notarized writing; the essential elements are a trustee, identifiable trust property, and a definite beneficiary or charitable purpose.

A spendthrift clause in a trust instrument is designed primarily to:

Answer: Prevent beneficiaries from alienating their interest and creditors from reaching it before distribution

A spendthrift clause restrains a beneficiary's power to assign their interest and prevents creditors from attaching the interest before it is distributed.

Under the Uniform Trust Code, the trustee's duty of loyalty requires the trustee to:

Answer: Administer the trust solely in the interest of the beneficiaries, avoiding conflicts of interest

The duty of loyalty requires the trustee to act exclusively for the benefit of the beneficiaries and to avoid transactions in which personal interests conflict with trust interests.

Under the cy pres doctrine, a court modifies a charitable trust when the charitable purpose becomes:

Answer: Impossible, impractical, or illegal to fulfill

Cy pres authorizes a court to modify a charitable trust to apply assets to a purpose as near as possible to the original when the original purpose becomes impossible, impractical, or illegal.

A resulting trust arises by operation of law when:

Answer: An express trust fails entirely or does not exhaust all trust property

A resulting trust arises when an express trust fails or trust property is not fully disposed of, returning the beneficial interest to the settlor or the settlor's estate.

A revocable living trust typically becomes irrevocable upon:

Answer: The settlor's death as specified in the trust instrument

A revocable living trust becomes irrevocable upon the settlor's death, at which point the trustee administers and distributes assets according to the trust terms.