IN Bar Wills Trusts and Estates 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under Indiana law, what is the minimum age required to execute a valid will?
- 18 years old (or younger if a member of the armed forces or merchant marine) (Correct answer)
- 21 years old with no exceptions
- 16 years old with parental consent
- 18 years old with no exceptions
Correct 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.
Question 2: A testator in Indiana signs her will in her hospital room, but only one nurse witnesses the signing. Under Indiana law, the will is:
- Invalid, because Indiana requires two attesting witnesses (Correct answer)
- Valid, because one witness suffices for deathbed wills
- Valid, if the nurse is disinterested
- Invalid, unless notarized within 30 days
Correct 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.
Question 3: Under Indiana's intestate succession statute, if a decedent is survived by a spouse and one child of that marriage, the spouse receives:
- One-half of the net estate (Correct answer)
- The entire estate
- One-third of the net estate
- One-quarter of the net estate plus the residence
Correct 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.
Question 4: 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?
- A life estate is not given; the spouse takes only one-fourth of the fair market value of the real property minus liens (Correct answer)
- One-half of the real property in fee simple
- The entire real property in fee simple
- A one-third life estate in all real property
Correct 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.
Question 5: 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:
- Ben's two daughters, because the anti-lapse statute protects gifts to descendants of the testator's grandparents (Correct answer)
- The residuary beneficiaries, because the gift lapsed
- The testator's heirs by intestacy
- Ben's estate, to be distributed under Ben's will
Correct 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.
Question 6: Which of the following is required for a valid holographic (entirely handwritten, unwitnessed) will in Indiana?
- Nothing suffices; Indiana does not recognize unwitnessed holographic wills (Correct answer)
- The testator's handwriting throughout and a dated signature
- Material provisions in the testator's handwriting
- Two disinterested people who can verify the handwriting after death
Correct 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.
Question 7: In Indiana, a surviving spouse who is dissatisfied with the will may elect against it and take an elective share of:
- 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 (Correct answer)
- One-third of the gross estate in all cases
- The intestate share in all cases
- The entire probate estate
Correct 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.
IN Bar Wills Trusts and Estates 2
Under Indiana law, what is the minimum age required to execute a valid will?