North Dakota Code 30.1-08-11 – (2-511) Testamentary additions to trusts
1. A will may validly devise property to the trustee of a trust established or to be established during the testator‘s lifetime by the testator, by the testator and some other person, or by some other person including a funded or unfunded life insurance trust, although the trustor has reserved any or all rights of ownership of the insurance contracts, or at the testator’s death by the testator’s devise to the trustee, if the trust is identified in the testator’s will and its terms are set forth in a written instrument, other than a will, executed before, or concurrently with, or after the execution of the testator’s will or in another individual‘s will if that other individual has predeceased the testator, regardless of the existence, size, or character of the corpus of the trust. The devise is not invalid because the trust is amendable or revocable, or because the trust was amended after the execution of the will or the testator’s death.
Terms Used In North Dakota Code 30.1-08-11
- Devise: To gift property by will.
- Individual: means a human being. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- Person: means an individual, organization, government, political subdivision, or government agency or instrumentality. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- Property: includes property, real and personal. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- Testator: A male person who leaves a will at death.
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
- Trustor: The person who makes or creates a trust. Also known as the grantor or settlor.
- written: include "typewriting" and "typewritten" and "printing" and "printed" except in the case of signatures and when the words are used by way of contrast to typewriting and printing. See North Dakota Code 1-01-37
2. Unless the testator’s will provides otherwise, property devised to a trust described in subsection 1:
a. Is not held under a testamentary trust of the testator but becomes a part of the trust to which it is devised.
b. Must be administered and disposed of in accordance with the provisions of the governing instrument setting forth the terms of the trust, including any amendments thereto made before or after the testator’s death.
3. Unless the testator’s will provides otherwise, a revocation or termination of the trust before the testator’s death causes the devise to lapse.