Chapter 26 – Estates and Trusts
V. ANSWERS TO PROBLEMS AND PROBLEM CASES
1. No. A will can be revoked in a number of ways, such as marking out, burning, destroying,
or making a subsequent will. None of these appeared to apply to John’s situation, because
2. No. The court indicated that the case required construction of three documents: the will,
the IRA designation, and the handwritten note that Shervena asserts that she found in
Grubbs’ Bible. Assuming the note was authentic, it was not adequate to change the IRA
3. The issue is whether the trust should be construed to give the trust corpus to the
grandchildren as individuals (per capita) or as representatives of their fathers (per
stirpes). The court stated that “the purpose of a court in interpreting a will or trust is to
4. Yes. This writing had Ward’s signature in two places. While Tennessee law requires
holographic wills to contain the signature of the testator and to be proved by two
5. Yes. The facts indicate that Timmons intended the Trust to have the function of allowing
6. No. The issue in the case is whether the cy pres doctrine applies to permit the city to
modify the trust. The court stated that one of the criteria for the use of cy pres is whether
the specific trust purpose has become illegal, impractical, or impossible. The court stated,
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© 2016 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any
manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
Chapter 26 – Estates and Trusts
7. Troy’s parents were correct. While Troy and Marie may have been husband and wife at
the time of Troy’s death, Marie was not a surviving spouse within the meaning of the
8. Though Vencie did not immediately die, he and Melba were victims of a common
disaster. The shots were fired in a single episode. That Vencie was not immediately
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© 2016 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any
manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.