Title 29A — UNIFORM PROBATE CODE

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. Source: SL 1995, ch 167 , § 2-602.

(a) If an individual named as a devisee in a will dies before the will was executed, or dies after the will was executed and before the testator, the devise fails unless (i) the devisee is a grandparent, a descendant of a grandparent, a stepchild, or a descendant of the stepchild…

(a) A devise, other than a residuary devise, that fails for any reason becomes a part of the residue. (b) A residuary devise that fails for any reason passes to the testator's heirs unless the residue is devised to two or more persons, in which event the failed devise passes to t…

(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 a…

(a) A specific devisee has a right to the specifically devised property in the testator's estate at death and: (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 property; (2) Any a…

A specific devise passes subject to any mortgage interest existing at the date of death, without right of exoneration, regardless of a general directive in the will to pay debts. Source: SL 1995, ch 167 , § 2-607.

In the absence of a requirement that a power of appointment be exercised by a reference, or by an express or specific reference, to the power, a general residuary clause in a will, or a will making general disposition of all of the testator's property, expresses an intention to e…

(a) Property a testator gave during lifetime to a person is treated as a satisfaction of a devise in whole or in part, only if (i) the will provides for deduction of the gift, (ii) the testator declared in a writing that the gift is in satisfaction of the devise or that its value…

In the absence of a finding of a contrary intention, the rules of construction in this part control the construction of a governing instrument. The rules of construction in this part apply to a governing instrument of any type, except as the application of a particular section is…

The meaning and legal effect of a governing instrument is determined by the local law of the state selected by the transferor in the governing instrument, unless the application of that law is contrary to the provisions relating to the elective share described in Part 2, the prov…

If a governing instrument creating a power of appointment expressly requires that the power be exercised by a reference, an express reference, or a specific reference, to the power or its source, it is presumed that the donor's intention, in requiring that the donee exercise the …

Adopted individuals and individuals born out of wedlock, and their respective descendants if appropriate to the class, are included in class gifts and other terms of relationship in accordance with the rules for intestate succession. Terms of relationship that do not differentiat…

(a) A future interest created under the terms of a trust is contingent on the beneficiary surviving the distribution date. (b) If an individual named as a beneficiary of a future interest created under the terms of a trust does not survive the distribution date, the future intere…

If a class gift in favor of "descendants," "issue," or "heirs of the body" does not specify the manner in which the property is to be distributed among the class members, the property is distributed among the class members who are living when the interest is to take effect in pos…

(a) If a governing instrument calls for property to be distributed "by representation" or "per stirpes," the property is divided into as many equal shares as there are (i) children of the designated ancestor who survived the distribution date, if any, and (ii) children of the des…

The doctrine of worthier title does not exist in this state either as a rule of law or as a rule of construction. Language in a governing instrument describing the beneficiaries of a disposition as the transferor's "heirs," "heirs at law," "next of kin," "distributees," "relative…

(3) "Divorced individual" includes an individual whose marriage has been annulled. (4) "Governing instrument" means a will, trust, or other governing instrument executed by the divorced individual before the divorce or annulment of the individual's marriage to the former spouse. …

(a) In this section: (1) "Disposition or appointment of property" includes a transfer of an item of property or any other benefit to a beneficiary designated in a will, trust, or other governing instrument. (2) "Governing instrument" means a will, trust, or other governing instru…

(a) In this section: (1) "Disposition or appointment of property" includes a transfer of an item of property or any other benefit to a beneficiary designated in a governing instrument. (2) "Divorce or annulment" means any divorce or annulment, or any dissolution or declaration of…