CO Bar Wills Trusts and Estates 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under the Uniform Probate Code as adopted in Colorado, what is the minimum age required to execute a valid will?
- 16 years old
- 21 years old
- There is no minimum age if the testator is emancipated
- 18 years old (Correct answer)
Correct answer: 18 years old
Colorado follows the UPC rule that a testator must be 18 or older and of sound mind to make a will.
Question 2: A testator's will is entirely in her own handwriting and signed by her, but there are no witnesses. Under Colorado law, the will is:
- Valid only for personal property
- Valid only if notarized
- Valid as a holographic will if the material portions are in her handwriting (Correct answer)
- Invalid because two witnesses are always required
Correct answer: Valid as a holographic will if the material portions are in her handwriting
Colorado recognizes holographic wills where the signature and material portions are in the testator's handwriting, with no witnesses required.
Question 3: A will fails to meet formal execution requirements in Colorado. Under the harmless error doctrine, the will may still be probated if the proponent establishes the testator's intent by:
- A preponderance of the evidence
- Substantial evidence
- Beyond a reasonable doubt
- Clear and convincing evidence (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Clear and convincing evidence
Colorado's harmless error statute allows a defectively executed document to be treated as a will if intent is shown by clear and convincing evidence.
Question 4: A decedent dies intestate in Colorado survived by a spouse and two adult children who are also children of the surviving spouse. The spouse takes:
- One-half of the estate
- The first $150,000 plus one-half of the balance
- The entire intestate estate (Correct answer)
- One-third of the estate
Correct answer: The entire intestate estate
Under Colorado's UPC-based intestacy scheme, the spouse takes everything when all of the decedent's descendants are also descendants of the surviving spouse and the spouse has no other descendants.
Question 5: In Colorado, a beneficiary who witnesses the will she benefits under:
- Forfeits her entire gift
- Forfeits any amount exceeding her intestate share
- Invalidates the entire will
- Does not forfeit her gift, because an interested witness does not invalidate a will or the gift (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Does not forfeit her gift, because an interested witness does not invalidate a will or the gift
Colorado follows the UPC rule that the signing of a will by an interested witness does not invalidate the will or any provision of it.
Question 6: A testator executes a will, later divorces, and dies without changing the will that leaves everything to his ex-wife. Under Colorado law, the gift to the ex-wife:
- Remains valid because the will was never formally revoked
- Is reduced to her elective-share amount
- Passes to the ex-wife's children instead
- Is revoked by operation of law, and she is treated as having disclaimed (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Is revoked by operation of law, and she is treated as having disclaimed
Colorado's revocation-on-divorce statute revokes revocable dispositions to a former spouse, treating the former spouse as if she disclaimed.
Question 7: A testator physically tears up his will intending to revoke it, but a photocopy survives. In a Colorado probate proceeding, the will is:
- Revoked only if two witnesses saw the tearing
- Still valid because a copy exists
- Revoked, because a revocatory act performed on the will with intent to revoke is effective (Correct answer)
- Valid unless the testator also executed a written revocation
Correct answer: Revoked, because a revocatory act performed on the will with intent to revoke is effective
A will is revoked by a physical act such as tearing performed on the will with the intent to revoke, regardless of surviving copies.
CO Bar Wills Trusts and Estates 2
Under the Uniform Probate Code as adopted in Colorado, what is the minimum age required to execute a valid will?