Florida Bar Exam Guide Wills, Trusts, and Estates - Multiple-Choice Questions Prep With 100% Correct

Florida Bar Exam Guide Wills, Trusts, and Estates - Multiple-Choice Questions Prep With 100% Correct A disclaimer in interest to an estate must be in writing, signed, witnessed, and acknowledged in the manner provided for the conveyance of real property. Then the disclaimer is filed with the clerk of court. - ANSWER -A disclaimer filed under the statute is irrevocable, and is effective on the date it is filed. In Florida, the right to disclaim will be barred if the beneficiary is insolvent at the time of the event giving rise to the right to disclaim. A copy of the disclaimer instrument must be delivered to the personal representative, trustee, or other person having title to or possession of the disclaimed interest. A disclaimed interest passes as though the disclaiming party predeceased the decedent. - ANSWER -Thus, it passes to children, per stirpes. Circuit courts have jurisdiction over disputes seeking more than $15,000, excluding interest and costs. - ANSWER -In a class action, the claims of the class members may be aggregated to meet the jurisdictional amount. A contract reformation is an action of equity which is within the circuit court's jurisdiction. Punitive damages are included when computing the jurisdictional amount. While the prosecution may agree not to seek a departure from the recommended sentence, this does not preclude the judge from using discretion and following sentencing guidelines. - ANSWER -The court may consider the defendant's criminal history, the finite sources of the prison system, and the scoring system of the Criminal Punishment Code worksheet that is used to compute sentencing in Florida. The state attorney's office prepares the worksheet, and the worksheet must be presented to defense counsel to review for accuracy. Under Florida law, the revocation of a will revokes all codicils to that will. However, if the grantor mistakenly believed that by revoking a will, she could revive a previous will, the court would probably employ the doctrine of dependent relative revocation to save the devisee. - ANSWER -Doctrine of relative revocation makes a revocation of a former will ineffective if the testator made the revocation through execution of a new will, and that newly executed will is determined invalid. To establish undue influence, it must be established that: - ANSWER -(i) influence was exerted against grantor; (ii) the effect of the influence was to overpower grantor's mind and free agency; and (iii) the product was a will that would not have been executed but for the undue influence. An advancement is a gift made to a next of kin with the intent that the gift be applied against any share that the next of kin inherits from the donor's estate. In Florida, no gift is to be considered an advancement unless the intention to have it so treated is declared in a contemporaneous writing by the decedent or acknowledged in writing as such by the heir. - ANSWER -The value of the advancement is determined as of the time the gift was made, and any fluctuations in the value of the advanced property will not affect the position of the next of kin. Generally, an advancement made to a next of kin is binding on those who succeed to the estate of the next of kin who received the advance if he predeceases the donor. In Florida, however, an advancement is not binding on a predeceased heir's successors unless the writing or acknowledgement required by statute specifically provides otherwise. The state has 30 days to file a charging document when an accused is detained before trial, or else he will be released on the 33rd day. - ANSWER -Only persons in custody who are accused of a felony may move for an adversarial preliminary hearing if a charging document is not filed within 21 days. A misdemeanor may be charged by: - ANSWER -information, docket entry, notice to appear, affidavit, or indictment. Which of the following sanctions may be imposed against a corporation for failure to file an annual report with the department of state? - ANSWER -Involuntary dissolution and barred from bringing or defending any action in Florida courts. To gain jurisdiction of a partnership, service need only be made on one of the general partners. To gain jurisdiction of each individual partner, each partner must be named and served. - ANSWER -Failure to name and serve a partner will make his individual assets unavailable for satisfaction of the judgment. Under the Simultaneous Death Act, when the title to property or its devolution depends on priority of death and there is insufficient evidence that the persons have died otherwise than simultaneously, the property of each person is disposed of as if he had survived. - ANSWER -In other words, the property passes as though the beneficiary or heir predeceased the other decedent. The Act applies to distributions of property by any means, including will or life insurance contract. If one has no lineal descendant, surviving parents, brothers or sisters and descendants of brothers or sisters, surviving grandparents or descendants of surviving grandparents, his estate would pass to the kindred of the last deceased spouse. A shareholder will have preemptive rights based on the fact that the articles establish such rights. - ANSWER -Stock in exchange for property does not fall within a category to which preemptive rights are applicable. The criteria for incorporation of an instrument into a will by reference are: - ANSWER -(i) document is in existence when will is executed; (ii) will's text reasonably identifies the instrument; and (iii) reference shows testator's intention to incorporate document into will. An indigent defendant charged with a misdemeanor or ordinance violation punishable by imprisonment is entitled to appointed counsel, unless the court enters a written order that there will be no imprisonment is entered. - ANSWER -A waiver of counsel must be in writing and attested to by two witnesses, or made in court on the record after a thorough inquiry to determine that the waiver is made knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently. What is required before any plea of guilty or no contest may be accepted by the court? - ANSWER -A determination that the plea is voluntary with a full understanding of his rights, and that there was a factual basis for the plea AND a