ANSWER KEY
CHAPTER 31 Wills, Trusts, and Estates
Opening Case Questions
1. In this case, the plaintiffs argued that Section 3 of Defense of Marriage Act was an
unconstitutional deprivation of equal protection and due process under the Fifth Amendment of
2. The case as written in the text suggests that the plaintiff believed that it was her duty to pay the
3. The Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group is a legal advisory group for the House of
A QUESTION OF ETHICS-1
1. No. The Oregon Death with Dignity Act (ODWDA), protected physicians from prosecution under
criminal law and from litigation under civil law, for prescribing drugs for terminally ill patients who
3. Yes. Some bright gal or guy in a legal office somewhere could reverse the compelling state
interest standard and note that it is a compelling state interest to reduce the surplus population (as
4. Probably not. The court in Cruzon ruled that the federal government had no power to counteract a
state’s authority to regulate the practice of medicine. So, it is fair to conclude that the federal
5. Probably. Since the Supreme Court ruled that the right to die was constitutionally preserved by
the Due Process Clause, Gonzales might be used to hold that a voluntary gericide program could be
A QUESTION OF ETHICS-2
1. Whether Attorney General Gonzales in the Oregon case has failed “to successfully adapt in the
face of new realities” is open to a wide variety of interpretations. If the new realities that Jacobs’
describes have to do with increased problems associated with over population, dwindling
resources, and environmental problems, then, yes, it would seem that the AG has lost touch with
2. When the Supreme Court supported the right to die in the Cruzan case it may very well have
exhibited the type of self-deceptive hubris, of which Jacobs writes in Dark Age Ahead. Any
discussion of the “right to die” necessarily involves deciding who is to live and who is to die.
3. It is true. The Supreme Court justices did use a “technicality” to avoid the real issue in Oregon
and in doing so managed to support governmentally approved suicide without actually “sticking
4. Whether the rulings in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey are two examples of
Questions for Review and Discussion
1. Each state has its own laws passed by its legislature, different from other states,
governing the writing of wills and the settling of estates. For this reason, it is necessary to check one’s
own state law to ascertain the rules for writing a will and to determine how property passes when
someone dies. Because probate matters deal with the handling of people’s estates, and because all
businesses are owned by people in one way or another, the subject of probate law is relevant to all
forms of business entities.
2. Any person who has reached the age of adulthood (18 years) and is of sound mind may make a
will. When making the will, did the testator know, in a general way, the nature and extent of the
4. With variations from state to state, a will may be revoked (canceled) in any of the following
ways: (1) burning, tearing, canceling, or obliterating the will with the intent to revoke it; (2) executing a
new will; and (3) in some states, the subsequent marriage of the testator. In most states, the divorce or
annulment of a marriage revokes all gifts made under a will to the former spouse and revokes the
5. Only persons who would inherit under an earlier made will or under the law of
6. Under a typical state statute, if a person dies intestate, the rights of the
surviving spouse are as follows: If the deceased is survived by issue (children,
grandchildren, great-grandchildren), the surviving spouse is entitled to one-half of
the estate. If the deceased is survived by no issue but by blood relatives, the
surviving spouse is entitled to $200,000 plus one-half of the remainder of the
estate. If the deceased is survived by no issue and no blood relatives, the
surviving spouse is entitled to the entire estate. Keep in mind that this particular
formula will di&er from state to state. Under the same typical state statute, if a
7. When people die owning assets, their estates must be probated, that is, settled under the
supervision of the court. The court that supervises the procedure is called a probate court in some states
and a surrogate court, or orphan’s court, in others. The first step in probating an estate is to determine
whether the deceased left a will. If a will exists, it usually names a personal representative called an
executor (male) or executrix (female) who is the person named in the will to carry out its terms. If there
is no will, or if the executor named in the will fails to perform, someone must petition the court to settle
the estate. That person, if appointed, is called an administrator (male) or administratrix (female). In
8. Advance directives are written statements in which people give instructions for their
future medical care if they become unable to do so themselves. The most common type of advance
directive is the living will, which is a written expression of a person’s wishes to be allowed to die a
9. There are two types of trusts. The first kind of trust is a living trust, or inter vivos trust. It
Cases for Analysis
3. Yes. A signature on a will made by an X is valid, but the circumstances necessitating such a
4. Under the Uniform Simultaneous Death Act, half of each item of jointly-owned property will pass
8. No. There was no evidence that the decedent did not understand the ordinary affairs of life or the
10. No. The testator clearly stated that Lucy should be his heir to the exclusion of all others, and then
END CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE