Wills Trusts and Estates Flashcards

Under Indiana law, what is the minimum age required to execute a valid will?

Answer: 18 years old (or younger if a member of the armed forces or merchant marine)

Indiana Code 29-1-5-1 allows any person 18 or older, or a younger person in the armed forces or merchant marine, to make a will.

A testator in Indiana signs her will in her hospital room, but only one nurse witnesses the signing. Under Indiana law, the will is:

Answer: Invalid, because Indiana requires two attesting witnesses

Indiana requires a will to be signed by the testator and attested by at least two witnesses in the testator's presence.

Under Indiana's intestate succession statute, if a decedent is survived by a spouse and one child of that marriage, the spouse receives:

Answer: One-half of the net estate

When a decedent leaves a spouse and at least one child, the surviving spouse takes one-half of the net intestate estate in Indiana.

In Indiana, a second or subsequent childless spouse of a decedent who has surviving children from a prior relationship receives what share of the decedent's real property under intestacy?

Answer: A life estate is not given; the spouse takes only one-fourth of the fair market value of the real property minus liens

Indiana Code 29-1-2-1 limits a childless second spouse to one-fourth of the fair market value of the decedent's real property (less liens), with the fee passing to the decedent's children.

An Indiana testator's will leaves 'my farm to my brother Ben.' Ben dies before the testator, leaving two daughters. Under Indiana's anti-lapse statute, the farm passes to:

Answer: Ben's two daughters, because the anti-lapse statute protects gifts to descendants of the testator's grandparents

Indiana's anti-lapse statute saves gifts to a predeceased devisee who is a descendant of the testator's grandparent, passing the gift to the devisee's surviving issue.

Which of the following is required for a valid holographic (entirely handwritten, unwitnessed) will in Indiana?

Answer: Nothing suffices; Indiana does not recognize unwitnessed holographic wills

Indiana does not recognize holographic wills; all wills (except nuncupative wills in limited cases) must be witnessed by two attesting witnesses.

In Indiana, a surviving spouse who is dissatisfied with the will may elect against it and take an elective share of:

Answer: One-half of the net estate, reduced to one-third of net personal property plus a life-estate-equivalent limit if there are surviving children of a prior marriage

Indiana's elective share is generally one-half of the net estate, but a subsequent childless spouse's share is reduced when the decedent left children by a previous spouse.