NYLE Trusts, Wills & Estates 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under New York EPTL § 5-1.1-A, a surviving spouse's elective share is calculated as what fraction of the decedent's net estate?
- One-quarter
- One-third
- One-half (Correct answer)
- The entire estate
Correct answer: One-half
New York EPTL § 5-1.1-A entitles a surviving spouse to elect against the will and receive one-third of the net estate.
Question 2: A testator executes a holographic will in New York, signing and dating it entirely in her own handwriting but with no witnesses. Under New York law, this will is:
- Valid if it clearly expresses testamentary intent
- Valid only if notarized
- Invalid because New York does not recognize holographic wills (Correct answer)
- Valid as long as it is filed with the Surrogate's Court within 30 days
Correct answer: Invalid because New York does not recognize holographic wills
New York EPTL § 3-2.2 does not generally recognize holographic wills except for those made by members of the armed forces during armed conflict or mariners at sea.
Question 3: Under the New York Estates, Powers and Trusts Law, which doctrine allows a court to modify a charitable trust whose original purpose has become impossible or impractical?
- Resulting trust
- Cy-pres doctrine (Correct answer)
- Equitable deviation
- Pour-over doctrine
Correct answer: Cy-pres doctrine
The cy-pres doctrine permits a court to redirect a charitable trust to a purpose as close as possible to the settlor's original intent when that intent becomes impossible or impractical.
Question 4: Testator's will includes a specific bequest of 'my 2020 Tesla Model S' to her nephew. The car is sold before the testator's death and replaced with a 2024 Tesla Model Y. Under New York law, the nephew:
- Receives the 2024 Model Y under the doctrine of specific intent
- Receives the proceeds from the sale of the 2020 Model S
- Receives nothing because the bequest adeemed by extinction (Correct answer)
- Receives the cash equivalent of the 2020 Model S's value at time of death
Correct answer: Receives nothing because the bequest adeemed by extinction
Under ademption by extinction (EPTL § 3-4.4), a specific bequest fails when the specifically bequeathed property is no longer in the estate at the time of death.
Question 5: Under New York EPTL § 2-1.11, a class gift to 'children' presumptively closes when:
- The testator executes the will
- The testator dies (Correct answer)
- The youngest living child turns 21
- The estate is distributed by the executor
Correct answer: The testator dies
Under the rule of convenience, a class gift to 'children' closes at the testator's death so that afterborn children are generally excluded unless the will provides otherwise.
Question 6: A New York inter vivos trust is created without a written instrument but is fully funded. Under New York law, this trust is:
- Valid, because oral trusts of personal property are enforceable (Correct answer)
- Invalid, because all trusts must be in writing
- Valid only if the trustee acknowledges the trust before a notary
- Invalid unless the trust is recorded in the county clerk's office
Correct answer: Valid, because oral trusts of personal property are enforceable
In New York, oral inter vivos trusts of personal property can be valid; the writing requirement under EPTL § 7-1.17 applies to trusts of real property.
Question 7: Under New York EPTL § 3-3.4, a will provision that attempts to prevent a beneficiary from contesting the will is known as a(n):
- Spendthrift clause
- In terrorem clause
- No-contest clause
- Both B and C (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Both B and C
A no-contest clause (also called an in terrorem clause) forfeits a bequest if the beneficiary contests the will, and both terms are used interchangeably in New York law.
NYLE Trusts, Wills & Estates 2
Under New York EPTL § 5-1.1-A, a surviving spouse's elective share is calculated as what fraction of the decedent's net estate?