Time Lapse Ends Acceptance Power
Levi Lowe left property in his will to Luke Latham. Luke predeceased Levi. The intended gift lapsed and the property passed under the residuary clause instead.
Also known as: lapsed gifts · lapse
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A testamentary disposition that fails to take effect because the intended beneficiary predeceases the testator or because the trust to which the property is directed is revoked or terminated before the testator's death.
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Levi Lowe left property in his will to Luke Latham. Luke predeceased Levi. The intended gift lapsed and the property passed under the residuary clause instead.
Lucas Lee left property in his will to Lena Lawson. Lena predeceased Lucas. The intended gift lapsed and the property passed by intestacy.
Liam Larson directed property in his will to a trust he had created. He revoked the trust before his death. The devise lapsed and the property passed outside the will.
Lillian Locke left property in her will to a named beneficiary. The beneficiary predeceased Lillian. The intended gift lapsed and the property passed to Lillian's heirs.
Legacy Motors received a specific devise in a will. The beneficiary predeceased the testator. The will expressly provided that the lapsed gift would pass under the residuary clause instead.
Lotus Pharmaceuticals was named beneficiary in a will. The company dissolved before the testator died. The intended gift lapsed and the property passed under the residuary clause.
The portion of the residuary estate that is the subject of a lapsed gift remains undisposed of by the will and passes to the heirs-at-law.
Yes. Unless the testator's will provides otherwise, revocation or termination of the trust before the testator's death causes the devise to lapse.
A residuary clause constitutes an alternative devise for a nonresiduary devise only if the will specifically provides that upon lapse the nonresiduary devise passes under the residuary clause.
…real estate, bank accounts, and other earmarked funds, typically provides as a condition precedent to the escheat an appropriate lapse of time and the provision of adequate notice to make sure that the property may fairly be treated as abandoned.[^maj-13] Similarly, interpleader proceedings in District Court provide…