Chapter 30, DECEDENTS' ESTATES; PROTECTION OF PERSONS AND PROPERTY

The degrees of kindred shall be computed according to the rule of civil law. Relatives of the half blood inherit the same share they would inherit if they were of the whole blood.

Relatives of the decedent conceived before his death but born thereafter inherit as if they had been born in the lifetime of the decedent.

If, for purposes of intestate succession, a relationship of parent and child must be established to determine succession by, through, or from a person, (1) an adopted person is the child of an adopting parent and not of the natural parents except that adoption of a child by the s…

If a person dies intestate as to all his estate, property which he gave in his lifetime to an heir is treated as an advancement against the latter's share of the estate only if declared in a contemporaneous writing by the decedent or acknowledged in writing by the heir to be an a…

A debt owed to the 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 issue.

No person is disqualified to take as an heir because he or she or a person through whom he or she claims is or has been an alien except as provided in section 4-107 and under the Foreign-owned Real Estate National Security Act.

An individual 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 individual to the larger share.

(a) A parent is barred from inheriting from or through a child of the parent if the parent's parental rights were terminated and the parent-child relationship was not judicially reestablished. (b) For the purpose of intestate succession from or through the deceased child, a paren…

(a) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, if a married person domiciled in this state dies, the surviving spouse has a right of election to take an elective share in any fraction not in excess of one-half of the augmented estate under the limitations and condition…

(a) The augmented estate is the estate, first, reduced by the aggregate amount of funeral and administration expenses, homestead allowance, family allowances and exemptions, and enforceable claims and, second, increased by the aggregate amount of the following items: (1) The valu…

The right of election of the surviving spouse may be exercised only during his or her lifetime by him or her. In the case of a protected person, the right of election may be exercised only by order of the court in which protective proceedings as to his or her property are pending…

(a) The right of election of a surviving spouse and the rights of the surviving spouse to homestead allowance, exempt property, and family allowance, or any of them, may be waived, wholly or partially, before or after marriage, by a written contract, agreement, or waiver signed b…

(a) The surviving spouse may elect to take his or her elective share in the augmented estate by filing in the court and mailing or delivering to the personal representative, if any, a petition for the elective share in any designated fraction not in excess of one-half or, in the …

(a) The surviving spouse's election of his elective share does not affect the share of the surviving spouse under the provisions of the decedent's will or intestate succession unless the surviving spouse also expressly renounces in the petition for an elective share the benefit o…

(a) In the proceeding for an elective share, property which is part of the augmented estate which passes or has passed to the surviving spouse by testate or intestate succession or other means and which has not been renounced, including that described in section 30-2314, is appli…

(a) If a testator fails to provide by will for his surviving spouse who married the testator after the execution of the will, the omitted spouse shall receive the same share of the estate he would have received if the decedent left no will unless waived pursuant to section 30-231…

(a) If a testator fails to provide in his will for any of his children born or adopted after the execution of his will, the omitted child receives a share in the estate equal in value to that which he would have received if the testator had died intestate unless: (1) it appears f…

A surviving spouse of a decedent who was domiciled in this state is entitled to a homestead allowance of seven thousand five hundred dollars for a decedent who dies before January 1, 2011, twenty thousand dollars for a decedent who dies on or after January 1, 2011, and before Jan…

(1) In addition to the homestead allowance, the surviving spouse of a decedent who was domiciled in this state is entitled from the estate to value not exceeding five thousand dollars for a decedent who dies before January 1, 2011, twelve thousand five hundred dollars for a deced…

In addition to the right to homestead allowance and exempt property, if the decedent was domiciled in this state, the surviving spouse and minor children whom the decedent was obligated to support and children who were in fact being supported by him are entitled to a reasonable a…

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

Any individual who is eighteen or more years of age or is not a minor and who is of sound mind may make a will and thereby dispose of personal and real property at and after death and prescribe, to the extent not otherwise controlled or limited by this code, the manner of adminis…

Except as provided for holographic wills, writings within section 30-2338, and wills within section 30-2331, every will is required to be in writing signed by the testator or in the testator's name by some other individual in the testator's presence and by his direction, and is r…

An instrument which purports to be testamentary in nature but does not comply with section 30-2327 is valid as a holographic will, whether or not witnessed, if the signature, the material provisions, and an indication of the date of signing are in the handwriting of the testator …

(1) Any will may be simultaneously executed, attested, and made self-proved by the acknowledgment thereof by the testator and the affidavits of the witnesses, each made before an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of this state or under the laws of the state wh…

(a) Any individual generally competent to be a witness may act as a witness to a will. (b) A will or any provision thereof is not invalid because the will is signed by an interested witness. Unless there is at least one disinterested witness to a will, an interested witness to a …

A written will is valid if executed in compliance with section 30-2327 or 30-2328 or if its execution complies with the law at the time of execution of the place where the will is executed or of the place where at the time of execution or at the time of death the testator is domi…

A will or any part thereof is revoked (1) by a subsequent will which, as is evident either from its terms or from competent evidence of its terms, revokes the prior will or part expressly or by inconsistency; or (2) by being burned, torn, canceled, obliterated, or destroyed, with…

(a) For purposes of this section: (1) Beneficiary, as it relates to a trust beneficiary, includes a person who has any present or future interest, vested or contingent, and also includes the owner of an interest by assignment or other transfer; as it relates to a charitable trust…

(a) If a second will which, had it remained effective at death, would have revoked the first will in whole or in part, is thereafter revoked by acts under section 30-2332, the first will is revoked in whole or in part unless it is evident from the circumstances of the revocation …

Any writing in existence when a will is executed may be incorporated by reference if the language of the will manifests this intent and describes the writing sufficiently to permit its identification.

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 will may dispose of property by reference to acts and events which have significance apart from their effect upon the dispositions made by the will, whether they occur before or after the execution of the will or before or after the testator's death. The execution or revocation…

Whether or not the provisions relating to holographic wills apply, a will may refer to a written statement or list to dispose of items of tangible personal property not otherwise specifically disposed of by the will, other than money, evidences of indebtedness, documents of title…

A devisee who does not survive the testator by one hundred twenty hours is treated as if he predeceased the testator, unless the will of the testator contains some language dealing explicitly with simultaneous deaths or deaths in a common disaster, or requiring that the devisee s…

The meaning and legal effect of a disposition in a will shall be determined by the local law of a particular state selected by the testator in his instrument unless the application of that law is contrary to the provisions relating to the elective share described in part 2 of thi…

The intention of a testator as expressed in his will controls the legal effect of his dispositions. The rules of construction expressed in the succeeding sections of this part apply unless a contrary intention is indicated by the will.

Except as provided in section 30-2348, a general residuary clause in a will or a will making general disposition of all of the property of the testator is construed to pass all property which the testator owns at his death including property acquired after the execution of the wi…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (d) of this section, no gift, devise, or endowment for religious, educational, charitable, or benevolent purposes, which in other respects is valid under the laws of this state, shall be invalid or fail by reason of the indefinitenes…

(1) A will or trust of a decedent who dies after December 31, 2009, and before January 1, 2011, that contains a formula referring to the "unified credit", "estate tax exemption", "applicable exemption amount", "applicable credit amount", "applicable exclusion amount", "generation…

If a devisee related to the testator in any degree of kinship is dead at the time of execution of the will, fails to survive the testator, or is treated as if he predeceased the testator, the issue of the deceased devisee who survive the testator by one hundred twenty hours take …

(a) Except as provided in section 30-2343, if a devise other than a residuary devise fails for any reason, it becomes a part of the residue. (b) Except as provided in section 30-2343, if the residue is devised to two or more persons and the share of one of the residuary devisees …

(a) If the testator intended a specific devise of certain securities rather than the equivalent value thereof, the specific devisee is entitled only to: (1) as much of the devised securities as is a part of the estate at the time of the testator's death; (2) any additional or oth…

(a) If specifically devised property is sold by a conservator or guardian, or if a condemnation award or insurance proceeds are paid to a conservator or guardian as a result of condemnation, fire, or casualty, the specific devisee has the right to a general pecuniary devise equal…

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

A general residuary clause in a will, or a will making general disposition of all of the testator's property, does not exercise a power of appointment held by the testator unless specific reference is made to the power or there is some other indication of intention to include the…

Halfbloods, adopted individuals and individuals born out of wedlock are included in class gift terminology and terms of relationship in accordance with rules for determining relationships for purposes of intestate succession.

Property which a testator gave in his lifetime to a person is treated as a satisfaction of a devise to that person in whole or in part only if the will provides for deduction of the lifetime gift, or the testator declares in a writing contemporaneous with the gift that it is to b…

A contract to make a will or devise, or not to revoke a will or devise, or to die intestate, if executed after January 1, 1977, can be established only by (1) provisions of a will stating material provisions of the contract; (2) an express reference in a will to a contract and ex…

(a)(1) A person (or the representative of a deceased, incapacitated, or protected person) who is an heir, devisee, person succeeding to a renounced interest, donee, beneficiary under a testamentary or nontestamentary instrument, donee of a power of appointment, grantee, surviving…