Wills Trusts and Estates Flashcards

Under Utah's intestacy scheme, a decedent is survived by a spouse and two children who are all descendants of that spouse. The decedent left no will. What does the surviving spouse receive?

Answer: The entire intestate estate

Under Utah Code § 75-2-102, the spouse takes the entire intestate estate when all of the decedent's surviving descendants are also descendants of the surviving spouse.

A Utah testator writes a will entirely in her own handwriting, dates it, and signs it, but no witnesses are present. Is the will valid?

Answer: Yes, as a holographic will because the material portions and signature are in her handwriting

Utah Code § 75-2-502 recognizes holographic wills where the signature and material portions are in the testator's handwriting, with no witness requirement.

A beneficiary named in a Utah will also serves as one of the two attesting witnesses. What is the effect on the will and the gift?

Answer: The will and the gift are both valid; an interested witness does not invalidate either

Under Utah Code § 75-2-505, the signing of a will by an interested witness does not invalidate the will or any provision of it.

A testator's will leaves 'my 2019 Toyota Camry' to his nephew, but the testator sold the Camry before death and bought a truck. Under Utah law, what does the nephew most likely receive?

Answer: Nothing, because the specific gift adeemed by extinction

A specific devise of property no longer in the estate at death generally adeems by extinction, leaving the beneficiary with nothing absent evidence of contrary intent or a qualifying replacement under UPC rules.

Under Utah's 120-hour survival rule, a husband and wife die in a car crash; the wife survives the husband by two days. Neither has a will. For purposes of the husband's intestate estate, how is the wife treated?

Answer: As having predeceased him, because she did not survive by 120 hours

Utah Code § 75-2-104 requires an heir to survive the decedent by 120 hours; surviving only two days (48 hours) means the wife is deemed to have predeceased him.

A settlor creates a revocable inter vivos trust in Utah but the trust instrument is silent about the power to revoke. Can the settlor revoke the trust?

Answer: Yes, under the Utah Uniform Trust Code a trust is revocable unless the terms expressly state it is irrevocable

Under Utah's Uniform Trust Code (§ 75-7-605), a trust is revocable by the settlor unless the terms expressly provide that it is irrevocable.

A Utah testator physically tears his will in half with the intent to revoke it. His earlier will, which he never destroyed, is found after his death. What is the most likely result under Utah law?

Answer: The earlier will is revived only if the testator intended revival, shown by circumstances or statements

Under UPC-based Utah law (§ 75-2-509), revoking a later will by physical act revives the earlier will only if the testator's intent to revive is evident from the circumstances or contemporaneous declarations.