Multistate Essay Examination (MEE) Trusts, Estates, Family Law, and Conflict of Laws Syllabus

Trusts, Estates, Family Law, and Conflict of Laws syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Trusts, Estates, Family Law, and Conflict of Laws in Multistate Essay Examination (MEE), not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Wills and Decedents' Estates

   4 topics

   • Execution and Revocation of Wills
     • Formalities and attestation
     • Revocation by act and by writing
     • Dependent relative revocation and revival
   • Will Contests
     • Testamentary capacity
     • Undue influence, fraud, and duress
   • Construction Problems
     • Ademption and abatement
     • Lapse and anti-lapse statutes
   • Intestacy and Spousal Protection
     • Intestate shares and per stirpes/per capita
     • Elective share and pretermitted heirs
     • Slayer statutes and disclaimer
2. 2

   Trusts and Fiduciary Administration

   5 topics

   • Creation and Validity of Trusts
     • Intent, res, and ascertainable beneficiaries
     • Inter vivos and pour-over trusts
   • Types of Trusts
     • Revocable and irrevocable
     • Charitable trusts and cy pres
     • Resulting and constructive trusts
   • Beneficiary Interests and Spendthrift Provisions
   • Trustee Duties and Powers of Appointment
     • Duty of loyalty and prudent investor rule
     • General vs. special powers of appointment
   • Modification and Termination of Trusts
3. 3

   Family Law

   4 topics

   • Marriage and Premarital Agreements
     • Valid, void, and voidable marriages
     • Common law and putative marriage
   • Divorce, Property Division, and Support
     • Grounds and no-fault divorce
     • Equitable distribution vs. community property
     • Spousal support
   • Child Custody and Support
     • Best interests standard and the UCCJEA
     • Support guidelines and UIFSA
   • Parentage, Adoption, and Termination of Rights
4. 4

   Conflict of Laws

   4 topics

   • Domicile
   • Choice of Law Approaches
     • First Restatement vested rights
     • Most significant relationship
     • Governmental interest analysis
   • Choice of Law by Subject Area
     • Torts, contracts, and property
     • Substance vs. procedure and public policy
   • Recognition of Judgments and Full Faith and Credit
5. 5

   Secured Transactions

   5 topics

   • Scope and Classification of Collateral
   • Attachment
     • Value, rights in collateral, and security agreement
     • After-acquired property and proceeds
   • Perfection
     • Filing, possession, and control
     • Automatic perfection of PMSIs
   • Priority Disputes
     • Conflicting secured creditors
     • PMSI superpriority and buyers of collateral
     • Lien creditors and the bankruptcy trustee
   • Default and Enforcement
     • Repossession and breach of peace
     • Disposition and commercial reasonableness
     • Deficiency and redemption

Trusts, Estates, Family Law, and Conflict of Laws flashcards for Multistate Essay Examination (MEE)

25 of 52 cards from the Trusts, Estates, Family Law, and Conflict of Laws deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. What are the formal execution requirements for a valid attested will under the Uniform Probate Code (UPC)?

   (1) A writing; (2) signed by the testator (or by another in the testator's presence at the testator's direction); and (3) signed by at least two witnesses, each of whom witnessed either the testator's signing or the testator's acknowledgment of the signature/will, within a reasonable time after witnessing. The UPC does not require witnesses to sign in the testator's presence.

2. What is a holographic will and what does it require to be valid?

   A holographic will is an unwitnessed will whose material portions (the dispositive provisions) are in the testator's own handwriting and that is signed by the testator. Under the UPC, testamentary intent may be established by extrinsic evidence. Holographic wills are valid in roughly half the states.

3. Under the UPC harmless error (substantial compliance) doctrine, when can a defectively executed document be admitted to probate?

   If the proponent establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the decedent intended the document to be his will (or a revocation, addition, or alteration). This excuses execution defects but generally cannot cure a complete lack of the testator's signature.

4. What are the two methods of revoking a will, and what does revocation by physical act require?

   (1) Revocation by a subsequent writing (a later will or codicil that revokes expressly or by inconsistency); and (2) revocation by physical act—burning, tearing, canceling, obliterating, or destroying the will with the simultaneous intent to revoke. The act may be performed by another at the testator's direction and in the testator's presence.

5. What is the doctrine of dependent relative revocation (DRR)?

   An equitable doctrine that disregards (cancels) a revocation when it was based on a mistaken belief of law or fact—typically the mistaken belief that another disposition was valid. If the testator would not have revoked the old will had he known the new disposition would fail, the court ignores the revocation and probates the old will, because that is closer to intent than intestacy.

6. What is the presumption when a will last known to be in the testator's possession cannot be found after death, or is found mutilated?

   It is presumed the testator revoked the will by physical act. The proponent must rebut this presumption with evidence. If the will was last in someone else's possession, no such presumption arises.

7. How does the revival doctrine treat a previously revoked will when the revoking will is itself revoked (UPC approach)?

   Will 1 is revoked by Will 2; later Will 2 is revoked. Under the UPC, if Will 2 wholly revoked Will 1, Will 1 is NOT revived unless evidence shows the testator intended revival. If Will 2 only partly revoked Will 1, the revoked parts ARE revived unless contrary intent is shown.

8. What is required to prove undue influence sufficient to invalidate a will or gift?

   The contestant must show (1) the testator was susceptible to influence, (2) the influencer had the opportunity to exert influence, (3) the influencer had a disposition/motive to influence, and (4) the result reflects the influence (an unnatural disposition favoring the influencer). The influence must overpower the testator's free will.

9. When does a presumption of undue influence arise, shifting the burden to the proponent?

   When (1) a confidential relationship existed between the testator and the alleged influencer, and (2) suspicious circumstances are present—such as the influencer's involvement in procuring or drafting the will, or the testator's weakened condition. Some courts add that the beneficiary received a substantial/unnatural benefit.

10. What is the legal standard for testamentary capacity?

    At the time of execution the testator must understand (1) the nature and extent of his property, (2) the natural objects of his bounty (close family), (3) the nature of the act (that he is making a will), and (4) be able to formulate an orderly plan connecting these. The capacity threshold is low—lower than for contracts.

11. What is a no-contest (in terrorem) clause and how is it treated under the UPC?

    A clause that forfeits a beneficiary's gift if she contests the will. Under the UPC, a no-contest clause is unenforceable if the contestant had probable cause to bring the challenge. Many states follow this probable-cause exception.

12. What is the difference between integration and incorporation by reference in will construction?

    Integration combines all papers physically present at execution and intended to be part of the will into one document. Incorporation by reference allows a separate writing—NOT part of the will and not validly executed—to be given effect if (1) it existed when the will was executed, (2) the will manifests intent to incorporate it, and (3) it is described with sufficient certainty.

13. Distinguish ademption by extinction from ademption by satisfaction.

    Ademption by extinction: a specific devise fails because the specifically described property is not in the estate at death (the beneficiary takes nothing). Ademption by satisfaction: a gift is reduced or eliminated because the testator gave the beneficiary an inter vivos gift intended (per UPC, in a contemporaneous writing) to satisfy the bequest.

14. What is a lapsed gift and how does an anti-lapse statute operate?

    A gift lapses when the beneficiary predeceases the testator. An anti-lapse statute saves the gift by substituting the predeceasing beneficiary's descendants, but typically ONLY if the predeceased beneficiary was within a specified relationship to the testator (under the UPC, a grandparent, a descendant of a grandparent, or a stepchild).

15. Distinguish abatement from exoneration of liens in will construction.

    Abatement: the order in which gifts are reduced to pay debts—intestate property first, then residuary, then general, then specific bequests. Exoneration of liens: whether a specific devisee of encumbered property gets the lien paid off from the estate; under the UPC the devisee takes the property subject to the lien (no exoneration unless the will directs it).

16. Under the UPC per capita at each generation distribution scheme, how is property divided among descendants?

    The estate is divided into equal shares at the first generation with living takers; each living person at that level takes a share, and the shares of deceased persons at that level are combined and divided equally among the takers at the next generation. This ensures equally-related descendants receive equal shares.

17. Under the UPC, what does a surviving spouse inherit by intestacy?

    The spouse takes the entire estate if all the decedent's descendants are also descendants of the spouse and the spouse has no other descendants. The share is reduced (to the first $X plus a fraction) when the decedent or spouse has descendants from another relationship or when only parents survive.

18. What is the elective (forced) share, and what does the UPC's accrual schedule provide?

    A statutory protection letting a surviving spouse elect against the will to take a minimum share of the estate (preventing disinheritance). Under the revised UPC, the elective share equals 50% of the marital-property portion of the augmented estate, with the marital-property percentage increasing with length of marriage (a sliding scale up to 100% at 15 years).

19. What protections do an omitted (pretermitted) spouse and omitted child receive under the UPC?

    An omitted spouse (married after the will was executed) takes an intestate share unless the omission was intentional or provided for outside the will. An omitted child (born/adopted after the will) generally takes an intestate share, unless the omission was intentional, the testator provided for the child outside the will, or had other children and left substantially all to the omitted child's other parent.

20. What are the three elements required to create a valid express private trust?

    (1) A settlor with intent to create a trust and capacity; (2) trust property (a res); (3) one or more ascertainable beneficiaries; plus (4) a trustee (though a trust won't fail for lack of a trustee—the court appoints one) and (5) a valid trust purpose. A present manifestation of intent to impose enforceable duties is essential.

21. How does a charitable trust differ from a private trust regarding beneficiaries and duration?

    A charitable trust must have a charitable purpose (relief of poverty, advancement of education/religion, health, governmental, or other community benefit) and benefit the public or an indefinite class rather than ascertainable individual beneficiaries. It is exempt from the Rule Against Perpetuities and is enforced by the state attorney general.

22. What is the cy pres doctrine?

    When a charitable trust's specific purpose becomes illegal, impossible, or impracticable, a court may modify the trust to redirect the property to a charitable purpose as near as possible to the settlor's original intent—provided the settlor had a general (not narrowly specific) charitable intent. The UTC presumes general charitable intent.

23. Distinguish a resulting trust from a constructive trust.

    A resulting trust is an implied-in-law reversionary trust that returns property to the settlor (or estate) when an express trust fails or is incomplete (e.g., purpose accomplished, no beneficiary). A constructive trust is an equitable remedy (not a true trust) imposed to prevent unjust enrichment, typically arising from fraud, duress, or breach of a confidential relationship.

24. What distinguishes a discretionary trust from a support trust regarding beneficiary interests and creditor access?

    In a discretionary trust the trustee has discretion over distributions, so a beneficiary cannot compel distribution and creditors can reach distributions only when/if the trustee elects to pay. In a support trust the trustee must distribute as needed for the beneficiary's support; creditors providing necessaries may reach it, but other creditors generally cannot.

25. What is a spendthrift provision and what are its principal exceptions?

    A spendthrift clause bars the beneficiary from voluntarily transferring his interest and bars creditors from reaching it before distribution. Common exceptions (UTC): claims for child/spousal support, claims by those providing necessaries, government/tax claims, and a self-settled trust where a settlor is also a beneficiary (creditors reach the settlor's retained interest).

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