tenes Howard Univeraity Law Library in 400392 Control Number WILLS, TRUSTS AND ESTATES EXAMINATION SPRING 1998 This examination consists of questions. Write on every other line, but on every page Write with care so that I may read with ease Before you begin writing, read and analyze the examination question thoroughly. If a question raises more than one issue, and the resolution of one issue depends on how the other is resolved, your answer should demonstrate that you understand this interrelationship. Also, if one issue might tenably be answered in different ways, and if answer #1 could end your analysis, but answer #2 would require a consideration of additional issues, then even if you believe answer #1 to be correct (and you should so state), you should consider the additional issues It is not enough just to raise and state an iscuc You mist follow through with a complete discussion Resolve the issue as it applies to the facts of the exam question. Your written response should demonstrate your ability to express yourself in a clear and concise manner Turn in this examination with your blue book. IF YOU DO NOT TURN IN THIS EXAMINATION WITH YOUR BLUE BOOK, YOUR WRITTEN EXAMINATION WILL NOT BE GRADED.Question 1 (40 minutes) David Street filed a petition in the probate court to probate James Street’s will. David was named the personal representative in the will. The will contained the signatures of Jane Doe, Mildred Roe, and Pau! Woe, who signed as witnesses to the will. Attorney Pro Bono will testify that she drafted James’ will at his direction, She will further testify that she called him on March 6, 1998, told him that she had drafted the will, and requested that he come into her office so that he could review the will and set a date for its execution. James asked her to mail him the will so that he could review it and that he would call her to set a date for its execution if he were satisfied with the will. She mailed the will to him on that same day. The three witnesses worked in the office that managed the apartment complex where James lived, They will testify that on March 8, 1998, James came to the office, asked them to be witnesses to his will, and they all went into the small conference room. James sat at one end of the table; Paul sat at the opposite end of the table; Mildred sat to James’ right, and Jane to his left. After they were all seated, another employee came into the office and told Paul that there was an emergency in the next building. James said, “Paul, go ahead and sign.” Paul got up and went to James, sd the will on one of the lines designated for witnesses’ signatures, and left the conference room. Then, James wrote his initials in the bottom left hand-corner on each of the pages of the will. Then he signed the will on the line, designated for his signature. Mildred and Jane then signed the will, None of the witnesses read the will. On March 10, Attorney Pro Bono called James to inquire if he had received the will. He said he had and he did not need her services any longer because he was satisfied with it and had already signed it before witnesses. He hung up the phone and died a week later. David was the primary beneficiary of his father’s will, his siblings received $1,000 each, and Jane Doe was also left $1,000. She was unaware that she was a beneficiary. Section 102 of the state’s Probate Code reads as follows: All wills, not wholly in the handwriting of the testator, must be in writing, signed by the testator, and whose signature must either be witnessed or acknowledged by two competent witnesses, Does it make any difference on the issue of admitting the will to probate whether the state follows Section 102 or UPC 2-503 or the Doctrine of Substantial Compliance? Discuss fully, including the policy implications.Question 2 (120 minutes)( 2 hrs) T’s holographic will has been duly probated. The will is dated May 1, 1980. The following are the pertinent provisions of the will. Clause 2: T give to my sister, Mary, the ring that belonged to our Dear Mother, the one with the pink pears. Clause 3: I give to my brother Tom and his children, $500 each, Clause 4: 1 give $100,000 to the Trustee of “ s Living Trust”. Clause 5: I hereby exercise the power of appointment given to me under my father’s will, which was admitted to probate on June 12, 1962, in State X, and appoint the property in equal shares to my nieces and nephews, who survive me. Clause 6: My dear husband, John, and my only child, John, Jr., are now dead. In their memory, I give and devise the residue of my estate to such purposes and institutions as my trustee, Bank, shall select, including colleges, philanthropic. cances, and the like She is survived by her brother, Tom, his children, Sara and Tom, Jr., her niece, Joan, the daughter of her deceased brother, Michael, and her niece, Ann, the daughter of her deceased sister, Mary. A letter was found in T’s safety deposit box from Tiffany’s Jewelry Store, detailing that the pink pearls had been removed as dirceted and had been resct in a ring that now contained both pink and black pearls. The black pearls are worth threc times the value of the pink pearls. No ring with pink pearls has been found, but a ring with both black and pink pearls has been found. Tou has « letter fiom T, dated two weeks after the will was executed, stating that she had left him, Sara and Tom, Jr., each $5000 in her will. Each claims $5,000, T had created a living trust in 1978, which was titled, “T’s Living Trust,” where Bank was named the trustee, and T was the beneficiary for life of this trust. At her death, the remainder of the trust ‘corpus was to be paid to the children of her sisters and brothers. No property had been transferred to the trustee, except the trustee was named the primary beneficiary of a life insurance policy with Aetna Life Insurance Company. The face value of the policy is $1,000,000.00. T paid all the insurance premiums. In T’s safety deposit box, a stock certificate, representing 1,000 shares of AT&T stock was found in an envelop. The envelop contained the following message: “This is for my niece Sara. She is to receive the certificate at my death”. The envelop was also signed by T. There were two other similar stock certificates for 1,000 shares of AT&T stock each. They were in another envelop with the following message: “My certificates.”T’s father’s will contained the following provision “Clause 25: I give all the rest and residue of my estate to my Trustee, Columbia Bank, to pay the income for life to my dear daughter, T, and at her death, as she shall appoint among her heirs. If she fails to appoint by will or by deed, then to my heirs, who are living at her death.” T’s father’s will was probated in 1962 in State X.. The corpus of the trust is now valued at $20,000,000 ‘The estate is worth $2,000,000,00, excluding the Aetna insurance policy. How should T’s property be distributed? Discuss fully,Question 3 (40 minutes) The following questions are based upon the fact pattern in Question 2. Write the word “Agree” if you agree with the statement or write the word “Disagree” if you disagree with the statement, Then, specifically state why you Agree or Disagree with the statement. If you write agree or disagree and omit your reason, you will not receive partial credit. If you write agree or disagree and your reason does not support your choice of agree or disagree, you will not receive partial credit. 1. IfT had been suffering from an insane delusion at the time she executed the will, the will would not have been admitted to probate. 2. IfT had omitted a child from the will, the child may or may not be a pretermitted heir 3. IFT had a “negative will’ provision in the will, such a provision would have no legal consequences in most states 4. If the will had contained the following provision as the residuary clause, the provision would have been invalid. leave the residue of my estate to the Republican Party. 5. Ifthe will had contained ao contest clause and if her brother, Tom, had challenged the validity of the will and lost, he would still reveive his share in the will only in such states where such clauses are invalid. ©. Tom, Jr., has standing to contest the will 7. It T had been survived by a spouse and the surviving spouse had not signed a prenuptial agreement, in most non-community property states, he would have been protected from disinheritance by the forced share statute. 8. Ifa surviving spouse dies before she makes her election against her predeceased husband’s will, in many states her estate will only take what was left to her in her husband’s will.Question 4 (40 minutes) State A’s “State Correctional Facilities Reimbursement Act” (SCFRA) was first enacted in 1933 Ithas been amended several times since that date. The Act provides that where an inmate of the State’s prison system can pay part or all of the expenses for his or her room and board while incarcerated, the inmate must reimburse the State for the portion that he or she can afford. Recovery is limited to the actual costs of the inmate’s incarceration. In determining which assets are available to be used for reimbursement, the following properties are exempt: a $50,000 homestead, any funds earned by the inmate as prison wages or bonuses, and ten (10) percent of the inmate’s total assets. Tom is an inmate in State A’s prison system. Tom’s grandfather’s will created a trust for Tom. The will was probated ten years ago. The trust provides that the trustee has absolute discretion to determine the times and places to distribute income and principal to Tom. Tom claims that the trust is not part of his assets under SCFRA. Discuss filly.