Title 14, Trusts, Estates and Protective Proceedings

If no one is qualified to claim the estate under this article, the intestate estate passes to the state.

A. If under section 14-2103, paragraph 1 all or part of a decedent's intestate estate passes by representation to the decedent's descendants, that estate is divided into as many equal shares as there are surviving descendants in the generation nearest to the decedent that contain…

Relatives of the half blood inherit the same share they would inherit if they were of the whole blood.

A child in gestation at a particular time is treated as living at that time if the child lives at least one hundred twenty hours after its birth.

A. If a person dies intestate as to all or a portion of that person's estate, property the decedent gave during the decedent's lifetime to a person who, at the decedent's death, is an heir is treated as an advancement against the heir's intestate share only if the decedent declar…

A debt owed to a decedent is not charged against the intestate share of any person except the debtor. If the debtor fails to survive the decedent, the debt is not taken into account in computing the intestate share of the debtor's descendants.

No person is disqualified to take as an heir because that person or a person through whom that person claims is or has been an alien.

A person who is related to the decedent through two lines of relationship is entitled to only a single share based on the relationship that would entitle the person to the larger share.

A. Except as provided in subsections B and C of this section, for the purposes of intestate succession, a person is the child of that person's natural parents, regardless of their marital status. If this issue is in dispute the court shall establish that relationship under title …

A. A surviving spouse may waive the person's homestead allowance, exempt property and family allowance rights in whole or in part either before or after marriage by a written contract, agreement or waiver that is signed by the surviving spouse. B. A surviving spouse's waiver is n…

A. If a testator's surviving spouse married the testator after the testator executed a will, the surviving spouse is entitled to receive as an intestate share that is not less than the value of the share of the estate the spouse would have received if the testator had died intest…

A. Except as provided in subsection D of this section, if a testator fails to provide by will for a child who is born or adopted after the testator executes the will, the omitted child receives a share in the estate as follows: 1. If the testator had no child living when the test…

This article applies to the estate of a decedent who dies domiciled in this state. Rights to homestead allowance, exempt property and family allowance for a decedent who is not domiciled in this state at the time of death are governed by the law of the decedent's domicile at deat…

A. A decedent's surviving spouse is entitled to a homestead allowance of $18,000. If there is no surviving spouse each minor child and each dependent child of the decedent are entitled to a homestead allowance of $18,000 divided by the number of minor and dependent children of th…

A. In addition to the homestead allowance, the decedent's surviving spouse is entitled from the estate to a value that is not more than seven thousand dollars in excess of any security interests in that estate in the following: 1. Household furniture. 2. Automobiles. 3. Furnishin…

A. The decedent's surviving spouse and minor children whom the decedent was obligated to support and children who were in fact being supported by the decedent are entitled to a reasonable allowance in money out of the estate for their maintenance during the period of administrati…

A. If the estate is otherwise sufficient, property specifically devised may not be used to satisfy rights to homestead allowance or exempt property. Subject to this restriction, the surviving spouse, guardians of minor children or children who are adults may select property of th…

A person who is eighteen years of age or older and who is of sound mind may make a will.

A. Except as provided in sections 14-2503, 14-2506 and 14-2513, a paper will shall be: 1. In writing. 2. Signed by the testator or in the testator's name by some other individual in the testator's conscious presence and by the testator's direction. 3. Signed by at least two peopl…

A will that does not comply with section 14-2502 is valid as a holographic will, whether or not witnessed, if the signature and the material provisions are in the handwriting of the testator.

A. A will may be simultaneously executed, attested and made self-proved by its acknowledgment by the testator and by affidavits of the witnesses if the acknowledgment and affidavits are made before an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of the state in which exe…

A. A person who is generally competent to be a witness may act as a witness to a will. B. For any will executed on or after October 1, 2019, unless the will is made self-proved as prescribed in section 14-2504 or 14-2519, a person may not act as a witness to a will if that person…

A. A paper will is valid if it is executed in compliance with section 14-2502. An electronic will is valid if it is executed in compliance with section 14-2518. B. Notwithstanding subsection A of this section, a paper will or an electronic will is valid if its execution complies …

A. A testator may revoke a will in whole or in part: 1. By executing a subsequent will that revokes the previous will or part expressly or by inconsistency. 2. By performing a revocatory act on the will if the testator performs the act with this intent or if another person perfor…

Except as provided in sections 14-2803 and 14-2804, a change of circumstances does not revoke a will or any part of it.

A. If a testator revokes a subsequent will that wholly revoked a previous will under section 14-2507, subsection A, paragraph 2, the previous will remains revoked unless it is revived. The previous will is revived if it is evident from the circumstances of the revocation of the s…

A testator may incorporate a written document into the testator's will by reference if the following requirements are met: 1. The document exists at the time the testator executes the will. 2. The will's language manifests the testator's intent to incorporate this document. 3. Th…

A. A will may validly devise property to the trustee of a trust established or to be established: 1. During the testator's lifetime by the testator alone, by the testator and some other person or by some other person, including a funded or unfunded life insurance trust, even if t…

A will may dispose of property by reference to acts, such as the execution or revocation of another person's will, that have significance apart from their effect on the dispositions made by the will whether they occur before or after the execution of the will or before or after t…

A. Notwithstanding section 14-2503 relating to holographic wills, a will may refer to a written statement or list to dispose of items of tangible personal property other than money and not otherwise specifically disposed of by the will. B. To be admissible under this section as e…

A. After December 31, 1994, a person may enter into a contract to make a will or devise or not to revoke a will or devise or to die intestate only by: 1. Provisions of a will that state the material provisions of the contract. 2. An express reference in a will to a contract and e…

A. After the death of a testator and on request of an interested person, a person having custody of a will of the testator shall deliver it with reasonable promptness to a person able to secure its probate or, if none is known, to an appropriate court. B. A person who wilfully fa…

A provision in a will purporting to penalize an interested person for contesting the will or instituting other proceedings or actions relating to the estate is unenforceable if probable cause exists for the contest, proceedings or actions.

A. An electronic will must meet all of the following requirements: 1. Be created and maintained in an electronic record that is readable as text at the time of signing. 2. Contain the electronic signature of the testator or the testator's electronic signature made by some other i…

A. In addition to the requirements of section 14-2504, to be self-proved, an electronic will must meet all of the following requirements: 1. Contain the electronic signature and electronic seal of a notary public placed on the will in accordance with applicable law. 2. Designate …

A qualified custodian of an electronic will: 1. May not be related to the testator by blood, marriage or adoption. 2. May not be a devisee under the electronic will or related by blood, marriage or adoption to a devisee under the electronic will. 3. Shall consistently employ and …

A. A person shall execute a written statement affirmatively agreeing to serve as the qualified custodian of an electronic will before the person may serve as a qualified custodian. The written statement may be executed by an electronic signature and maintained as an electronic re…

A. A qualified custodian shall provide access to or information concerning the electronic will in the electronic record or the certified paper original of the electronic will only to: 1. The testator or another person as directed by the written instructions of the testator. 2. Af…

A. On the creation of a certified paper original of an electronic will, if the electronic will has always been in the custody of a qualified custodian, the qualified custodian shall state in an affidavit all of the following: 1. That the qualified custodian is eligible to act as …

In the absence of a finding of a contrary intention, the rules of construction in this article control the construction of a will.

A will may provide for the passage of all property the testator owns at death and all property acquired by the estate after the testator's death.

A. If a devisee fails to survive the testator and is a grandparent, a descendant of a grandparent or a stepchild of either the testator or the donor of a power of appointment exercised by the testator's will, the following apply: 1. Except as provided in paragraph 3 of this subse…

A. Except as provided in section 14-2603, a devise, other than a residuary devise, that fails for any reason becomes a part of the residue. B. Except as provided in section 14-2603, if the residue is devised to two or more persons, the share of a residuary devisee that fails for …

A. If a testator executes a will that devises securities and the testator then owned securities that meet the description in the will, the devise includes additional securities owned by the testator at death to the extent the additional securities were acquired by the testator af…

A. A specific devisee has a right to the specifically devised property in the testator's estate at death and to the following: 1. Any balance of the purchase price, together with any security agreement, owing from a purchaser to the testator at death by reason of sale of the prop…

Subject to any mortgage interest existing at the date of death, a specific devise passes without right of exoneration, regardless of a general directive in the will to pay debts.