IN Bar Wills Trusts and Estates 2

Question 1

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

Accepted Answer

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

Answer

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:

Accepted Answer

Invalid, because Indiana requires two attesting witnesses

Answer

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:

Accepted Answer

One-half of the net estate

Answer

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?

Accepted Answer

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

Answer

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:

Accepted Answer

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

Answer

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.

(IN Bar) Indiana Bar Exam Practice Test

(IN Bar) Indiana Bar Exam Practice Test

IN Bar Wills Trusts and Estates 2