NALA Estate Planning and Probate 2

Question 1

A testator executes a holographic will entirely in their own handwriting but later types and signs a codicil. In most states, the codicil:

Accepted Answer

Can be valid as a formal attested codicil if properly witnessed

Answer

Invalidates the holographic will entirely

Answer

Must also be holographic to be valid

Answer

Automatically revokes all prior testamentary instruments

Question 2

Under the Uniform Probate Code, an interested person who receives proper notice of a probate proceeding but fails to object within the statutory period is said to be:

Accepted Answer

Bound by the formal adjudication under the in rem principle

Answer

Estopped from any future claims

Answer

Subject to a default judgment

Answer

Required to file a separate action in equity

Question 3

A 'pour-over will' is best described as a will that:

Accepted Answer

Transfers probate assets into an existing revocable living trust at death

Answer

Distributes assets directly to named charities

Answer

Creates a testamentary trust within the will itself

Answer

Allows the executor to pour estate funds into a business partnership

Question 4

Which of the following best describes the duty of 'impartiality' owed by a trustee?

Accepted Answer

Balancing the competing interests of current income beneficiaries and remainder beneficiaries

Answer

Treating all trust assets equally regardless of type

Answer

Distributing income to all beneficiaries in equal shares

Answer

Avoiding conflicts of interest with third-party vendors

Question 5

An estate's personal representative discovers that the decedent's only asset is a joint tenancy bank account with a right of survivorship. The representative should:

Accepted Answer

Recognize the account passes outside of probate to the surviving joint tenant

Answer

Include the account in the probate inventory

Answer

Petition the court to sever the joint tenancy retroactively

Answer

Liquidate the account and distribute proceeds per the will

Question 6

A specific bequest in a will states 'my 2020 Ford Mustang to my nephew.' Before the testator's death, the car is totaled and the insurance company pays $25,000. Under the doctrine of ademption by extinction, the nephew:

Accepted Answer

Receives the $25,000 insurance proceeds under most modern statutes

Answer

Receives nothing because the specific property no longer exists

Answer

Receives a comparable vehicle purchased from the estate

Answer

Receives the $25,000 only if the will was executed after the accident

Question 7

When a legal assistant prepares an inventory for a probate estate, which valuation date is typically used for estate assets?

Accepted Answer

Date of the decedent's death

Answer

Date the will was executed

Answer

Date the letters testamentary were issued

Answer

Date the inventory is filed with the court