Wills Trusts and Estates Flashcards
7 cards from real IN BAR practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Wills Trusts and Estates flashcards as text
To create a valid express trust in Indiana, which element is NOT required?
Answer: Consideration paid by the beneficiary
A trust is a gratuitous transfer, so consideration is not required, while intent, res, and an ascertainable beneficiary or charitable purpose are.
Under the Indiana Trust Code, a trust of real property is enforceable only if:
Answer: Its terms are evidenced by a writing signed by the settlor or the settlor's authorized agent
Indiana requires trusts of real property to be evidenced by a signed writing, satisfying the Statute of Frauds.
A settlor creates an irrevocable spendthrift trust in Indiana for his daughter. Which creditor can nonetheless reach the daughter's interest?
Answer: A claimant holding a child support order against the daughter
Spendthrift protection in Indiana generally yields to claims for child support (and certain other exception creditors), but not to ordinary contract or tort creditors.
An Indiana trustee invests the entire trust corpus in a single speculative tech startup, which fails. Under the prudent investor rule, the trustee is most likely liable because:
Answer: The trustee failed to diversify the trust investments absent special circumstances
Indiana's prudent investor rule requires diversification unless the trustee reasonably determines the trust is better served without it, and investments are judged as part of the overall portfolio.
In Indiana, a revocable trust can be revoked by the settlor:
Answer: Only if the power to revoke is reserved in the trust instrument, since Indiana trusts are presumed irrevocable absent contrary terms
Unlike the UTC default, Indiana presumes a trust is irrevocable unless the settlor expressly reserves the power to revoke or modify.
A charitable trust in Indiana to fund a specific hospital fails because the hospital closes. A court may apply cy pres to:
Answer: Redirect the trust to a similar charitable purpose consistent with the settlor's general charitable intent
Cy pres lets a court reform a failed charitable purpose to a near-equivalent one when the settlor had general charitable intent.
Which duty does an Indiana trustee breach by purchasing trust assets for the trustee's personal account, even at fair market value?
Answer: The duty of loyalty, under the self-dealing (no further inquiry) rule
Self-dealing violates the duty of loyalty regardless of the fairness of the price, triggering the no-further-inquiry rule.