Wills Trusts and Estates Flashcards

A Utah decedent dies intestate survived by a spouse and one child from a prior marriage. What is the surviving spouse's intestate share?

Answer: The first $75,000 plus one-half of the remaining balance

Under Utah Code § 75-2-102, when the decedent leaves descendants who are not descendants of the surviving spouse, the spouse takes the first $75,000 plus one-half of the balance.

A document intended as a will fails to meet Utah's execution formalities because only one witness signed. Can it still be admitted to probate?

Answer: Yes, if the proponent shows by clear and convincing evidence that the decedent intended it as a will

Utah adopted the UPC harmless-error rule (§ 75-2-503), allowing a defectively executed document to be treated as a will upon clear and convincing evidence of testamentary intent.

A testator's will leaves a gift to 'my brother Sam,' but Sam predeceases the testator, leaving a daughter. The will has no alternative gift. Under Utah's anti-lapse statute, who takes the gift?

Answer: Sam's daughter, as a descendant of a deceased devisee covered by the statute

Utah's anti-lapse statute (§ 75-2-603) substitutes the descendants of a deceased devisee who was a grandparent or descendant of a grandparent of the testator, so Sam's daughter takes.

A trustee of a Utah trust invests the entire corpus in a single speculative stock, which loses most of its value. Which fiduciary duty has the trustee most clearly breached?

Answer: The duty to diversify under the prudent investor rule

The Utah Uniform Prudent Investor Act requires trustees to diversify investments unless special circumstances justify not doing so, and concentrating the corpus in one speculative stock breaches that duty.

A surviving spouse in Utah is unhappy with the small gift left in the deceased spouse's will. What statutory protection allows the spouse to claim a share of the augmented estate instead?

Answer: The elective share, generally one-third of the augmented estate

Under Utah Code § 75-2-202, a surviving spouse may elect to take one-third of the augmented estate rather than accept the will's provisions.

A settlor creates a spendthrift trust in Utah for his adult son. Which creditor can still reach the son's interest despite the spendthrift clause?

Answer: A claimant holding a valid child support order against the son

Even with a spendthrift provision, Utah's Uniform Trust Code allows exception creditors such as a child with a support judgment to reach the beneficiary's interest.

A charitable trust in Utah was created to fund a specific polio hospital that has since closed because polio was eradicated locally. The settlor had a general charitable intent. What should the court do?

Answer: Apply cy pres and direct the funds to a similar charitable medical purpose

Under the cy pres doctrine, codified in Utah's Uniform Trust Code, a court may modify a charitable trust whose purpose has become impracticable to serve a similar charitable purpose consistent with the settlor's intent.