15 Guam Code Ann. § 917
Terms Used In 15 Guam Code Ann. § 917
- Bequest: Property gifted by will.
- Decedent: A deceased person.
- Devise: To gift property by will.
- Escheat: Reversion of real or personal property to the state when 1) a person dies without leaving a will and has no heirs, or 2) when the property (such as a bank account) has been inactive for a certain period of time. Source: OCC
- Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
- Joint tenancy: A form of property ownership in which two or more parties hold an undivided interest in the same property that was conveyed under the same instrument at the same time. A joint tenant can sell his (her) interest but not dispose of it by will. Upon the death of a joint tenant, his (her) undivided interest is distributed among the surviving joint tenants.
- Probate: Proving a will
- Right of survivorship: The ownership rights that result in the acquisition of title to property by reason of having survived other co-owners.
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was set aside as a probate homestead, such property goes in equal shares to the children of such previously deceased spouse and their descendants
by right of representation, and if none, then one-half (2) of such
property goes to the parents of the decedent in equal shares, or if either is dead to the survivor, or if both are dead in equal shares to the brothers and sisters of the decedent and their descendants by right of representation, and the other half goes to the parents of such previously deceased spouse in equal shares, or if either is dead to the survivor, or if both are dead, in equal shares to the brothers and sisters of such deceased spouse and to their descendants by right of representation.
(b) If any of the property subject to the provisions of subsection (a) of this Section would otherwise escheat to the territory of Guam because there is no relative, including next of kin, of one of the spouses to succeed to such portion of the estate, such property shall be distributed in accordance with the provisions of Section 1309 of this Title.
SOURCE: California Probate Code, § 228 (as amended).
COMMENT: Section 917 operates as an exception to the general rules governing succession to separate property. It provides that a decedent’s separate property which was once community property of the decedent and the decedent’s previously deceased spouse goes to individuals other than those set forth in § 911, supra: in essence, such property returns to the family of the previously deceased spouse. Such a distribution scheme seems only fair, in that it has the effect of keeping such
Aformer community property@ in the family of the person who originally owned that
community property, rather than allowing the deceased spouse’s share to go to people who might be total strangers to such deceased spouse.
§ 919. Distribution of Former Separate Property of Decedent‘s
Previously Deceased Spouse.
(a) If the decedent leaves neither spouse nor issue, and the decedent’s estate or any portion thereof was the separate property of a previously deceased spouse of the decedent, and came to the decedent from such previously deceased spouse by gift, descent, devise or bequest, or became vested in the decedent on the death of such previously deceased spouse by right of survivorship in a homestead or in a joint tenancy between such previously deceased spouse and the decedent, such property goes in equal shares to the children of the deceased spouse and to their descendants by right of representation, and if none, then to the parents of such previously deceased spouse, in equal shares, or if either is dead to the survivor, or if both are dead, in equal shares to the brothers
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and sisters of the deceased spouse and to their descendants by right of representation.
(b) If the decedent leaves neither spouse nor issue, that portion of the decedent’s estate created by gift, descent, devise or bequest from the separate property of the decedent’s parent or grandparent shall go to the parent or grandparent who made such gift, devise or bequest or from whom the property descended, or if such parent or grandparent is dead, such property shall go in equal shares to the heirs of such deceased parent or grandparent.
(c) If any of the property subject to the provisions of subsections (a) or (b) of this Section would otherwise escheat to the territory of Guam because there is no relative, including next of kin, of one of the spouses to succeed to such portion of the estate, such property shall be distributed in accordance with the provisions of Section 1309 of this Title.
SOURCE: California Probate Code, § 229.
COMMENT: See Comment to § 917, supra, which is generally applicable to § 919 as well; the only essential difference is that § 919 covers separate property which the decedent received from a previously deceased spouse, while § 917 covers former community property. The rationales underlying both Sections, however, are essentially the same: to keep such property in the family of the original owner.