AS Title 13, Chapter 12: Intestacy, Wills, and Donative Transfers

Article 1. Intestate Succession. Chapter 12. Intestacy, Wills, and Donative Transfers. Sec. 13.12.101. Intestate estate. (a) A part of a decedent's estate not effectively disposed of by will passes by intestate succession to the decedent's heirs as prescribed in AS 13.06 — AS 13.36 , except as modified by the decedent's will. (b) A decedent by will may expressly exclude or limit the right of an individual or class to succeed to property of the decedent passing by intestate succession. If that individual or a member of that class survives the decedent, the share of the decedent's intestate estate to which that individual or class would have succeeded passes as if that individual or each member of that class had disclaimed the intestate share of the individual or member. Sec. 13.12.102. Share of spouse. (a) Except as provided in (b) of this section, the intestate share of a decedent's surviving spouse is (1) the entire intestate estate if (A) no descendant or parent of the decedent survives the decedent; or (B) all of the decedent's surviving descendants are also descendants of the surviving spouse and there is no other descendant of the surviving spouse who survives the decedent; (2) the first $200,000, plus three-fourths of any balance of the intestate estate, if no descendant of the decedent survives the decedent, but a parent of the decedent survives the decedent; (3) the first $150,000, plus one-half of any balance of the intestate estate, if all of the decedent's surviving descendants are also descendants of the surviving spouse and the surviving spouse has one or more surviving descendants who are not descendants of the decedent; (4) the first $100,000, plus one-half of any balance of the intestate estate, if one or more of the decedent's surviving descendants are not descendants of the surviving spouse. (b) The intestate share of the surviving spouse in settlement common stock or other inalienable stock in a corporation organized under the laws of the state under 43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq. (Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act) is (1) all of it if there is no surviving issue; or (2) one-half of it if the decedent is survived by issue. Sec. 13.12.103. Share of heirs other than surviving spouse. A part of the intestate estate not passing to the decedent's surviving spouse under AS 13.12.102 , or the entire intestate estate if there is no surviving spouse, passes in the following order to the individuals designated below who survive the decedent: (1) to the decedent's descendants by representation; (2) if there is no surviving descendant, to the decedent's parents equally if both survive, or to the surviving parent; (3) if there is no surviving descendant or parent, to the descendants of the decedent's parents or either of them by representation; (4) if there is no surviving descendant, parent, or descendant of a parent, but the decedent is survived by one or more grandparents or descendants of grandparents, half of the estate passes to the decedent's paternal grandparents equally if both survive, or to the surviving paternal grandparent, or to the descendants of the decedent's paternal grandparents or either of them if both are deceased, the descendants taking by representation; and the other half passes to the decedent's maternal relatives in the same manner; but if there is no surviving grandparent or descendant of a grandparent on either the paternal or the maternal side, the entire estate passes to the decedent's relatives on the other side in the same manner as the half. Sec. 13.12.104. Requirement that heir survive decedent for 120 hours. An individual who fails to survive the decedent by 120 hours is considered to have predeceased the decedent for purposes of homestead allowance, exempt property, and intestate succession, and the decedent's heirs are determined accordingly. If it is not established by clear and convincing evidence that an individual who would otherwise be an heir survived the decedent by 120 hours, it is considered that the individual failed to survive for the required period. This section is not to be applied if its application would result in a taking of intestate estate by the state under AS 13.12.105 . Sec. 13.12.105. No taker. If there is no taker under this chapter, (1) personal property in the intestate estate passes to the state and is subject to AS 34.45.280 — 34.45.780; if notice to heirs, substantially equivalent to that required by AS 34.45.310 , has been given by the personal representative or other person, AS 34.45.310 does not apply; (2) real property in the intestate estate passes to the state and is subject to AS 38.95.200 — 38.95.270. Sec. 13.12.106. Representation. (a) If, under AS 13.12.103 (1), all or part of a decedent's intestate estate passes by representation to the decedent's descendants, the estate or part of the estate passing is divided into as many equal shares as there are (1) surviving descendants in the generation nearest to the decedent that contains one or more surviving descendants; and (2) deceased descendants in the same generation who left surviving descendants, if any. (b) Under (a) of this section, each surviving descendant in the nearest generation is allocated one share, and the remaining shares, if any, are combined and then divided in the same manner among the surviving descendants of the deceased descendants as if the surviving descendants who were allocated a share and their surviving descendants had predeceased the decedent. (c) If, under AS 13.12.103 (3) or (4), all or part of a decedent's intestate estate passes by representation to the descendants of the decedent's deceased parents or either of them or to the descendants of the decedent's deceased paternal or maternal grandparents or either of them, the estate or part of the estate passing is divided into as many equal shares as there are (1) surviving descendants in the generation nearest the deceased parents or either of them, or the deceased grandparents or either of them, that contains one or more surviving descendants; and (2) deceased descendants in the same generation who left surviving descendants, if any. (d) Under (c) of this section, each surviving descendant in the nearest generation is allocated one share, and the remaining shares, if any, are combined and then divided in the same manner among the surviving descendants of the deceased descendants as if the surviving descendants who were allocated a share and their surviving descendants had predeceased the decedent. (e) In this section, “deceased descendant,” “deceased parent,” or “deceased grandparent” means a descendant, parent, or grandparent who either predeceased the decedent or is considered to have predeceased the decedent under AS 13.12.104 . Sec. 13.12.107. Kindred of half blood. Relatives of the half blood inherit the same share they would inherit if they were of the whole blood. Sec. 13.12.108. After-born heirs. An individual in gestation at a particular time is treated as living at that time if the individual lives 120 hours or more after birth. Sec. 13.12.109. Advancements. (a) If an individual dies intestate as to all or a portion of the individual's estate, property the decedent gave during the decedent's lifetime to an individual who, at the decedent's death, is an heir is treated as an advancement against the heir's intestate share only if (1) the decedent declared in a contemporaneous writing or the heir acknowledged in writing that the gift is an advancement; or (2) the decedent's contemporaneous writing or the heir's written acknowledgment otherwise indicates that the gift is to be taken into account in computing the division and distribution of the decedent's intestate estate. (b) For purposes of (a) of this section, property advanced is valued as of the time the heir came into possession or enjoyment of the property or as of the time of the decedent's death, whichever first occurs. (c) If the recipient of the property fails to survive the decedent, the property is not taken into account in computing the division and distribution of the decedent's intestate estate, unless the decedent's contemporaneous writing provides otherwise. Sec. 13.12.110. Debts to decedent. A debt owed to a decedent is not charged against the intestate share of any individual except the debtor. If the debtor fails to survive the decedent, the debt is not taken into account in computing the intestate share of the debtor's descendants. Sec. 13.12.111. Alienage. An individual is not disqualified to take as an heir because the individual or another individual through whom the individual claims is or has been an alien. Sec. 13.12.113. Individuals related to decedent through two lines. An individual who is related to the decedent through two lines of relationship is entitled to only a single share based on the relationship that would entitle the individual to the larger share. Sec. 13.12.114. Parent and child relationship. (a) Except as provided in (b) — (d) of this section, for purposes of intestate succession by, through, or from a person, an individual is the child of the individual's natural parents, regardless of their marital status, and the parent and child relationship may be established as indicated under AS 25.20.050 . (b) An adopted individual is the child of the individual's adopting parent or parents and not of the individual's natural parents, but adoption of a child by the spouse of either natural parent does not affect (1) the relationship between the child and that natural parent; or (2) the right of the child or a descendant of the child to inherit from or through the other natural parent. (c) Inheritance from or through a child by either natural parent or the natural parent's kindred is precluded unless that natural parent has openly treated the child as the natural parent's child, and has not refused to support the child. (d) To the extent there is a conflict between this section and either AS 25.20.050 or AS 25.23.130 , this section controls. Article 2. Elective Share of Surviving Spouse. Sec. 13.12.201. Definitions. (a) In AS 13.12.201 — 13.12.204 and 13.12.206 — 13.12.214, “decedent's nonprobate transfers to others” means the amounts that are included in the augmented estate under AS 13.12.205 . (b) In AS 13.12.201 — 13.12.214, (1) “fractional interest in property held in joint tenancy with the right of survivorship,” whether the fractional interest is unilaterally severable or not, means the fraction, the numerator of which is one and the denominator of which, if the decedent was a joint tenant, is one plus the number of joint tenants who survive the decedent, and which, if the decedent was not a joint tenant, is the number of joint tenants; (2) “marriage,” as it relates to a transfer by the decedent during marriage, means a marriage of the decedent to the decedent's surviving spouse; (3) “nonadverse party” means a person who does not have a substantial beneficial interest in the trust or other property arrangement that would be adversely affected by the exercise or nonexercise of the power that the person possesses respecting the trust or other property arrangement; a person having a general power of appointment over property is considered to have a beneficial interest in the property; (4) “power” or “power of appointment” includes a power to designate the beneficiary of a beneficiary designation; (5) “presently exercisable general power of appointment” means a power of appointment under which, at the time in question, the decedent, whether or not the decedent then had the capacity to exercise the power, held a power to create a present or future interest in the decedent, the decedent's creditors, the decedent's estate, or the creditors of the decedent's estate, and includes a power to revoke or invade the principal of a trust or another property arrangement; (6) “probate estate” means property that would pass by intestate succession if the decedent died without a valid will; (7) “property” includes values subject to a beneficiary designation; (8) “right to income” includes a right to payments under a commercial or private annuity, an annuity trust, a unitrust, or a similar arrangement; (9) “transfer,” as it relates to a transfer by or of the decedent, includes (A) an exercise or release of a presently exercisable general power of appointment held by the decedent; (B) a lapse at death of a presently exercisable general power of appointment held by the decedent; and (C) an exercise, release, or lapse of (i) a general power of appointment that the decedent created in the decedent; and (ii) a power described in AS 13.12.205 (a)(2)(B) that the decedent conferred on a nonadverse party. Sec. 13.12.202. Elective share. (a) The surviving spouse of a decedent who dies domiciled in this state has a right of election, under the limitations and conditions stated in AS 13.12.201 — 13.12.214, to take an elective share amount equal to one-third of the augmented estate. (b) If the sum of the amounts described in AS 13.12.207 , 13.12.209(a)(1), and that part of the elective share amount payable from the decedent's probate estate and nonprobate transfers to others under AS 13.12.209 (b) — (c) is less than $50,000, the surviving spouse is entitled to a supplemental elective share amount equal to $50,000, minus the sum of the amounts described in AS 13.12.207 and 13.12.209(a)(1), (b), and (c). The supplemental elective share amount is payable from the decedent's probate estate and from recipients of the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others in the order of priority set out in AS 13.12.209 (b) — (c). (c) If the right of election is exercised by or on behalf of the surviving spouse, the surviving spouse's homestead allowance, exempt property, and family allowance, if any, are not charged against but are in addition to the elective share and supplemental elective share amounts. (d) The right, if any, of the surviving spouse of a decedent who dies domiciled outside this state to take an elective share in property in this state is governed by the law of the decedent's domicile at death. Sec. 13.12.203. Composition of the augmented estate. Subject to AS 13.12.208 , the value of the augmented estate, to the extent provided in AS 13.12.204 — 13.12.207, consists of the sum of the values of all property, whether real or personal, movable or immovable, tangible or intangible, wherever situated, that constitute the decedent's net probate estate, the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others, the decedent's nonprobate transfers to the surviving spouse, and the surviving spouse's property and nonprobate transfers to others. Sec. 13.12.204. Decedent's net probate estate. The value of the augmented estate includes the value of the decedent's probate estate, reduced by funeral and administration expenses, homestead allowance, family allowances, exempt property, and enforceable claims. Sec. 13.12.205. Decedent's nonprobate transfers to others. (a) The value of the augmented estate includes the value of the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others, not included under AS 13.12.204 , of any of the following types, in the amount provided respectively for each type of transfer: (1) property owned or owned in substance by the decedent immediately before death that passed outside probate at the decedent's death; property included under this category consists of (A) property over which the decedent alone, immediately before death, held a presently exercisable general power of appointment; the amount included is the value of the property subject to the power, to the extent the property passed at the decedent's death, by exercise, release, lapse, default, or otherwise, to or for the benefit of a person other than the decedent's estate or surviving spouse; (B) the decedent's fractional interest in property held by the decedent in joint tenancy with the right of survivorship; the amount included is the value of the decedent's fractional interest, to the extent that the fractional interest passed by right of survivorship at the decedent's death to a surviving joint tenant other than the decedent's surviving spouse; (C) the decedent's ownership interest in property or accounts held in pay on death, transfer on death, or co-ownership registration with the right of survivorship; the amount included is the value of the decedent's ownership interest, to the extent the decedent's ownership interest passed at the decedent's death to or for the benefit of a person other than the decedent's estate or surviving spouse; (D) proceeds of insurance, including accidental death benefits, on the life of the decedent, if the decedent owned the insurance policy immediately before death or if and to the extent the decedent alone and immediately before death held a presently exercisable general power of appointment over the policy or its proceeds; the amount included is the value of the proceeds, to the extent the proceeds were payable at the decedent's death to or for the benefit of a person other than the decedent's estate or surviving spouse; (2) property transferred in any of the following forms by the decedent during marriage: (A) an irrevocable transfer in which the decedent retained the right to the possession or enjoyment of, or to the income from, the property, if and to the extent the decedent's right terminated at or continued beyond the decedent's death; the amount included is the value of the fraction of the property to which the decedent's right related, to the extent the fraction of the property passed outside probate to or for the benefit of a person other than the decedent's estate or surviving spouse; (B) a transfer in which the decedent created a power over the income or property, exercisable by the decedent alone or in conjunction with another person, or exercisable by a nonadverse party, to or for the benefit of the decedent, the decedent's creditors, the decedent's estate, or creditors of the decedent's estate; the amount included with respect to a power over property is the value of the property subject to the power, and the amount included with respect to a power over income is the value of the property that produces or produced the income, to the extent the power in either case was exercisable at the decedent's death to or for the benefit of a person other than the decedent's surviving spouse or to the extent the property passed at the decedent's death, by exercise, release, lapse, default, or otherwise, to or for the benefit of a person other than the decedent's estate or surviving spouse; if the power is a power over both income and property and the preceding provision defining the amount included produces different amounts, the amount included is the greater amount; and (3) property that passed during marriage and during the two-year period next preceding the decedent's death as a result of a transfer by the decedent if the transfer was of any of the following types: (A) property that passed as a result of the termination of a right or interest in, or power over, property that would have been included in the augmented estate under (1)(A), (B), or (C) or (2) of this subsection, if the right, interest, or power had not terminated until the decedent's death; the amount included is the value of the property that would have been included under (1)(A), (B), or (C) or (2) of this subsection, if the property were valued at the time the right, interest, or power terminated, and is included only to the extent the property passed upon termination to or for the benefit of a person other than the decedent or the decedent's estate, spouse, or surviving spouse; as used in this subparagraph, termination, with respect to a right or interest in property, occurs when the right or interest terminated by the terms of the governing instrument or the decedent transferred or relinquished the right or interest, and, with respect to a power over property, occurs when the power terminated by exercise, release, lapse, default, or otherwise, but, with respect to a power described in (1)(A) of this subsection, termination occurs when the power terminated by exercise or release, but not otherwise; (B) a transfer of or relating to an insurance policy on the life of the decedent if the proceeds would have been included in the augmented estate under (1)(D) of this subsection had the transfer not occurred; the amount included is the value of the insurance proceeds to the extent the proceeds were payable at the decedent's death to or for the benefit of a person other than the decedent's estate or surviving spouse; (C) a transfer of property, to the extent not otherwise included in the augmented estate, made to or for the benefit of a person other than the decedent's surviving spouse; the amount included is the value of the property transferred to a person to the extent that the aggregate transfers to that person in either of the two years exceeded $10,000. (b) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section, the augmented estate does not include property transferred to an irrevocable trust with a transfer restriction under AS 34.40.110 (a) if (1) the settlor is a discretionary beneficiary of the trust; and (2) the transfer was made more than 30 days before the marriage, or the decedent's spouse consented to the transfer under AS 13.12.208 (a)(2). Sec. 13.12.206. Decedent's nonprobate transfers to the surviving spouse. Excluding property passing to the surviving spouse under 42 U.S.C. 301 — 1397f (Social Security Act), the value of the augmented estate includes the value of the decedent's nonprobate transfers to the decedent's surviving spouse, which consist of all property that passed outside probate at the decedent's death from the decedent to the surviving spouse by reason of the decedent's death, including (1) the decedent's fractional interest in property held as a joint tenant with the right of survivorship, to the extent that the decedent's fractional interest passed to the surviving spouse as surviving joint tenant; (2) the decedent's ownership interest in property or accounts held in co-ownership registration with the right of survivorship, to the extent the decedent's ownership interest passed to the surviving spouse as surviving co-owner; and (3) all other property that would have been included in the augmented estate under AS 13.12.205 (a)(1) or (2) had it passed to or for the benefit of a person other than the decedent's spouse, the decedent's surviving spouse, the decedent, or the decedent's creditors, estate, or estate creditors. Sec. 13.12.207. Surviving spouse's property and nonprobate transfers to others. (a) Except to the extent included in the augmented estate under AS 13.12.204 or 13.12.206, the value of the augmented estate includes the value of (1) property that was owned by the decedent's surviving spouse at the decedent's death, including (A) the surviving spouse's fractional interest in property held in joint tenancy with the right of survivorship; (B) the surviving spouse's ownership interest in property or accounts held in co-ownership registration with the right of survivorship; and (C) property that passed to the surviving spouse by reason of the decedent's death, but not including the spouse's right to homestead allowance, family allowance, exempt property, or payments under 42 U.S.C. 301 — 1397f (Social Security Act); and (2) property that would have been included in the surviving spouse's nonprobate transfers to others, other than the spouse's fractional and ownership interests included under (1)(A) or (B) of this subsection, had the spouse been the decedent. (b) Property included under this section is valued at the decedent's death, taking the fact that the decedent predeceased the spouse into account, but, for purposes of (a)(1)(A) and (B) of this section, the values of the spouse's fractional and ownership interests are determined immediately before the decedent's death if the decedent was then a joint tenant or a co-owner of the property or accounts. For purposes of (a)(2) of this section, proceeds of insurance that would have been included in the spouse's nonprobate transfers to others under AS 13.12.205 (a)(1)(D) are not valued as if the spouse were deceased. (c) The value of property included under this section is reduced by enforceable claims against the surviving spouse. Sec. 13.12.208. Exclusions, valuation, and overlapping application. (a) The value of property is excluded from the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others (1) to the extent the decedent received adequate and full consideration in money or money's worth for a transfer of the property; or (2) if the property was transferred with the written joinder of, or if the transfer was consented to in writing by, the surviving spouse. (b) The value of property (1) included in the augmented estate under AS 13.12.205 , 13.12.206, or 13.12.207 is reduced in each category by enforceable claims against the included property; and (2) includes the commuted value of any present or future interest and the commuted value of amounts payable under a trust, life insurance settlement option, annuity contract, public or private pension, disability compensation, death benefit or retirement plan, or any similar arrangement, exclusive of 42 U.S.C. 301 — 1397f (Social Security Act). (c) In case of overlapping application to the same property of the provisions of AS 13.12.205 , 13.12.206, or 13.12.207, the property is included in the augmented estate under the provision yielding the greatest value, and under only one overlapping provision if all of the overlapping provisions yield the same value. (d) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section, the value of community property under AS 34.77 is not included in the augmented estate. Sec. 13.12.209. Sources from which elective share payable. (a) In a proceeding for an elective share, the following are applied first to satisfy the elective share amount and to reduce or eliminate any contributions due from the decedent's probate estate and recipients of the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others: (1) amounts included in the augmented estate under AS 13.12.204 that pass or have passed to the surviving spouse by testate or intestate succession, and amounts included in the augmented estate under AS 13.12.206 ; and (2) amounts included in the augmented estate under AS 13.12.207 , up to two-thirds of the augmented estate. (b) If, after the application of (a) of this section, the elective share amount is not fully satisfied or the surviving spouse is entitled to a supplemental elective share amount, amounts included in the decedent's probate estate and in the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others, other than amounts included under AS 13.12.205 (a)(3)(A) or (C), are applied first to satisfy the unsatisfied balance of the elective share amount or the supplemental elective share amount. The decedent's probate estate and that portion of the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others shall be applied so that liability for the unsatisfied balance of the elective share amount or for the supplemental elective share amount is equitably apportioned among the recipients of the decedent's probate estate and of that portion of the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others in proportion to the value of the recipients' interests in the decedent's probate estate and that portion of the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others. (c) If, after the application of (a) and (b) of this section, the elective share or supplemental elective share amount is not fully satisfied, the remaining portion of the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others shall be applied so that liability for the unsatisfied balance of the elective share or supplemental elective share amount is equitably apportioned among the recipients of that remaining portion of the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others in proportion to the value of the recipients' interests in the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others. Sec. 13.12.210. Personal liability of recipients. (a) Only original recipients of the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others, and the donees of the recipients of the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others, to the extent the donees have the property or its proceeds, are liable to make a proportional contribution toward satisfaction of the surviving spouse's elective share or supplemental elective share amount. A person liable to make contribution may choose to give up the person's proportional part of the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others or to pay the value of the amount for which the person is liable. (b) If a provision of AS 13.12.201 — 13.12.214 is preempted by federal law with respect to a payment, an item of property, or another benefit included in the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others, a person who, not for value, receives the payment, item of property, or other benefit is obligated to return the payment, item of property, or benefit, or is personally liable for the amount of the payment or the value of that item of property or benefit, as provided in AS 13.12.209 , to the person who would have been entitled to it if that provision were not preempted. Sec. 13.12.211. Proceeding for elective share; time limit. (a) Except as provided in (b) of this section, the election shall be made by filing in the court and mailing or delivering to the personal representative, if any, a petition for the elective share within nine months after the date of the decedent's death, or within six months after the probate of the decedent's will, whichever limitation expires later. The surviving spouse shall give notice of the time and place set for hearing to persons interested in the estate and to the distributees and recipients of portions of the augmented estate whose interests will be adversely affected by the taking of the elective share. Except as provided in (b) of this section, the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others are not included within the augmented estate for the purpose of computing the elective share if the petition is filed more than nine months after the decedent's death. (b) Within nine months after the decedent's death, the surviving spouse may petition the court for an extension of time for making an election. If, within nine months after the decedent's death, the spouse gives notice of the petition to all persons interested in the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others, the court for cause shown by the surviving spouse may extend the time for election. If the court grants the spouse's petition for an extension, the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others are not excluded from the augmented estate for the purpose of computing the elective share and supplemental elective share amounts, if the spouse makes an election by filing in the court and mailing or delivering to the personal representative, if any, a petition for the elective share within the time allowed by the extension. (c) The surviving spouse may withdraw the surviving spouse's demand for an elective share at any time before entry of a final determination by the court. (d) After notice and hearing, the court shall determine the elective share and supplemental elective share amounts, and shall order payment of these amounts from the assets of the augmented estate or by contribution as appears appropriate under AS 13.12.209 and 13.12.210. If it appears that a fund or property included in the augmented estate has not come into the possession of the personal representative, or has been distributed by the personal representative, the court nevertheless shall fix the liability of a person who has an interest in the fund or property or who has possession of the fund or the property, whether as trustee or otherwise. The proceeding may be maintained against fewer than all persons against whom relief could be sought, but a person is not subject to contribution in a greater amount than the person would have been under AS 13.12.209 and 13.12.210 if relief had been secured against all persons subject to contribution. (e) An order or judgment of the court may be enforced as necessary in suit for contribution or payment in other courts of this state or other jurisdictions. Sec. 13.12.212. Right of election personal to surviving spouse; incapacitated surviving spouse. (a) The right of election may be exercised only by a surviving spouse who is living when the petition for the elective share is filed in the court under AS 13.12.211 (a). If the election is not exercised by the surviving spouse personally, it may be exercised on the surviving spouse's behalf by the surviving spouse's conservator, guardian, or agent under the authority of a power of attorney. (b) If the election is exercised on behalf of a surviving spouse who is an incapacitated person, the portion of the elective share and supplemental elective share amounts due from the decedent's probate estate and recipients of the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others under AS 13.12.209 (b) and (c) shall be placed in a custodial trust for the benefit of the surviving spouse under AS 13.60 (Alaska Uniform Custodial Trust Act), except as provided in (c) — (e) of this section. For the purposes of this subsection, an election on behalf of a surviving spouse by an agent under a durable power of attorney is presumed to be on behalf of a surviving spouse who is an incapacitated person. For the purposes of the custodial trust established by this subsection, (1) the electing guardian, conservator, or agent is the custodial trustee; (2) the surviving spouse is the beneficiary; and (3) the custodial trust is determined to have been created by the decedent spouse by written transfer that takes effect at the decedent spouse's death and that directs the custodial trustee to administer the custodial trust as for an incapacitated beneficiary. (c) An incapacitated beneficiary or a person acting on behalf of an incapacitated beneficiary may not terminate a custodial trust established under (b) of this section; but if the beneficiary regains capacity, the beneficiary then acquires the power to terminate the custodial trust by delivering to the custodial trustee a writing signed by the beneficiary declaring the termination. If not previously terminated, the custodial trust terminates on the death of the beneficiary. (d) Expenditures by the custodial trustee of the property of a custodial trust established under (b) of this section shall be made with regard to other support, income, and property of the beneficiary and benefits of medical or other forms of assistance from any state or federal government or governmental agency for which the beneficiary must qualify on the basis of need. (e) Upon the beneficiary's death, the custodial trustee shall transfer the unexpended property of a custodial trust established under (b) of this section in the following order: (1) under the residuary clause, if any, of the will of the beneficiary's predeceased spouse against whom the elective share was taken, as if the predeceased spouse died immediately after the beneficiary; (2) to the predeceased spouse's heirs under AS 13.12.711 . Sec. 13.12.213. Waiver of right to elect and of other rights. (a) The right of election of a surviving spouse and the rights of the surviving spouse to homestead allowance, exempt property, and family allowance, or to any of them, may be waived, wholly or partially, before or after marriage, by a written contract, agreement, or waiver signed by the surviving spouse. (b) A surviving spouse's waiver is not enforceable if the surviving spouse proves that (1) the surviving spouse did not execute the waiver voluntarily; or (2) the waiver was unconscionable when it was executed and, before execution of the waiver, the surviving spouse (A) was not provided a fair and reasonable disclosure of the property or financial obligations of the decedent; (B) did not voluntarily and expressly waive, in writing, a right to disclosure of the property or financial obligations of the decedent beyond the disclosure provided; and (C) did not have, or reasonably could not have had, an adequate knowledge of the property or financial obligations of the decedent. (c) An issue of unconscionability of a waiver is for decision by the court as a matter of law. (d) Unless it provides to the contrary, a waiver of “all rights,” or equivalent language, in the property or estate of a present or prospective spouse or a complete property settlement entered into after or in anticipation of separation or divorce is a waiver of all rights of elective share, homestead allowance, exempt property, and family allowance by each spouse in the property of the other and a renunciation by each of all benefits that would otherwise pass to the spouse from the other by intestate succession or by virtue of a will executed before the waiver or property settlement. Sec. 13.12.214. Protection of payors and other third parties. (a) Although under AS 13.12.205 a payment, item of property, or other benefit is included in the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others, a payor or other third party is not liable for having made a payment or transferred an item of property or other benefit to a beneficiary designated in a governing instrument, or for having taken other action in good faith reliance on the validity of a governing instrument, upon request and satisfactory proof of the decedent's death, before the payor or other third party received written notice from the surviving spouse or spouse's representative of an intention to file a petition for the elective share or that a petition for the elective share has been filed. A payor or other third party is liable for payments made or other actions taken after the payor or other third party received written notice of an intention to file a petition for the elective share or that a petition for the elective share has been filed. (b) The written notice under (a) of this section of intention to file a petition for the elective share or that a petition for the elective share has been filed shall be mailed to the payor's or other third party's main office or home by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, or served upon the payor or other third party in the same manner as a summons in a civil action. Upon receipt of written notice of intention to file a petition for the elective share or that a petition for the elective share has been filed, a payor or other third party may pay any amount owed or transfer or deposit an item of property held by it to or with the court having jurisdiction of the probate proceedings relating to the decedent's estate, or if proceedings have not been commenced, to or with the court located in the judicial district of the decedent's residence. The court shall hold the funds or item of property and, upon its determination under AS 13.12.211 (d), shall order disbursement in accordance with the determination. If a petition is not filed in the court within the specified time under AS 13.12.211 (a) or, if filed, the demand for an elective share is withdrawn under AS 13.12.211 (c), the court shall order disbursement to the designated beneficiary. Payments or transfers to the court or deposits made into court discharge the payor or other third party from all claims for amounts so paid or the value of property so transferred or deposited. (c) Upon petition to the court by the beneficiary designated in a governing instrument, a court may order that all or part of the property paid or transferred into court under (b) of this section be paid to the beneficiary in an amount and subject to conditions consistent with AS 13.12.201 — 13.12.214. Article 3. Spouse or Children Unprovided for in Wills. Sec. 13.12.301. Entitlement of spouse; premarital will. (a) If a testator's surviving spouse married the testator after the testator executed the testator's will, the surviving spouse is entitled to receive, as an intestate share, no less than the value of the share of the estate the surviving spouse would have received if the testator had died intestate as to that portion of the testator's estate, if any, that neither is devised to a child of the testator who was born before the testator married the surviving spouse and who is not a child of the surviving spouse nor is devised to a descendant of such a child or passes under AS 13.12.603 or 13.12.604 to such a child or to a descendant of such a child, unless (1) it appears from the will or other evidence that the will was made in contemplation of the testator's marriage to the surviving spouse; (2) the will expresses the intention that it is to be effective notwithstanding a subsequent marriage; or (3) the testator provided for the spouse by transfer outside the will and the intent that the transfer be in lieu of a testamentary provision is shown by the testator's statements or is reasonably inferred from the amount of the transfer or other evidence. (b) In satisfying the share provided by this section, devises made by the will to the testator's surviving spouse, if any, are applied first, and other devises, other than a devise to a child of the testator who was born before the testator married the surviving spouse and who is not a child of the surviving spouse or a devise or substitute gift under AS 13.12.603 or 13.12.604 to a descendant of the child, abate as provided in AS 13.16.540 . Sec. 13.12.302. Omitted children. (a) Except as provided in (b) of this section, if a testator fails to provide in the testator's will for the testator's children born or adopted after the execution of the will, the omitted after-born or after-adopted child receives a share in the estate as follows: (1) if the testator did not have a child living when the testator executed the will, an omitted after-born or after-adopted child receives a share in the estate equal in value to that which the child would have received had the testator died intestate, unless the will devised all or substantially all of the estate to the other parent of the omitted child and that other parent survives the testator and is entitled to take under the will; (2) if the testator had one or more children living when the testator executed the will, and the will devised property or an interest in property to one or more of the then living children, an omitted after-born or after-adopted child is entitled to share in the testator's estate as follows: (A) the portion of the testator's estate in which the omitted after-born or after-adopted child is entitled to share is limited to devises made to the testator's then living children under the will; (B) the omitted after-born or after-adopted child is entitled to receive the share of the testator's estate, as limited in (A) of this paragraph, that the child would have received had the testator included all omitted after-born and after-adopted children with the children to whom devises were made under the will and had given an equal share of the estate to each child; (C) to the extent feasible, the interest granted an omitted after-born or after-adopted child under this section must be of the same character, whether equitable or legal, or present or future, as that devised to the testator's then living children under the will; (D) in satisfying a share provided by this paragraph, devises to the testator's children who were living when the will was executed abate ratably; in abating the devises of the then living children, the court shall preserve to the maximum extent possible the character of the testamentary plan adopted by the testator. (b) Neither (a)(1) nor (a)(2) of this section applies if (1) it appears from the will that the omission was intentional; or (2) the testator provided for the omitted after-born or after-adopted child by transfer outside the will and the intent that the transfer be in lieu of a testamentary provision is shown by the testator's statements or is reasonably inferred from the amount of the transfer or other evidence. (c) If at the time of execution of the will the testator fails to provide in the testator's will for a living child solely because the testator believes the child to be dead, the child is entitled to share in the estate as if the child were an omitted after-born or after-adopted child. (d) In satisfying a share provided by (a)(1) of this section, devises made by the will abate under AS 13.16.540 . Article 4. Exempt Property and Allowances. Sec. 13.12.401. Applicable law. Except as provided in AS 13.06.068 , AS 13.12.401 — 13.12.405 apply to the estate of a decedent who dies domiciled in this state, and rights to homestead allowance, exempt property, and family allowance for a decedent who dies not domiciled in this state are governed by the law of the decedent's domicile at death. Sec. 13.12.402. Homestead allowance. A decedent's surviving spouse is entitled to a homestead allowance of $27,000. If there is no surviving spouse, each minor child and each dependent child of the decedent is entitled to a homestead allowance amounting to $27,000 divided by the number of minor and dependent children of the decedent. The homestead allowance is exempt from and has priority over all claims against the estate. Homestead allowance is in addition to a share passing to the surviving spouse or minor or dependent child by the will of the decedent, unless otherwise provided, by intestate succession, or by way of elective share. Sec. 13.12.403. Exempt property. In addition to the homestead allowance, the decedent's surviving spouse is entitled from the estate to a value, not exceeding $10,000 in excess of security interests in the items, in household furniture, automobiles, furnishings, appliances, and personal effects. If there is no surviving spouse, the decedent's children are entitled jointly to the same value. If encumbered chattels are selected and the value in excess of security interests, plus that of other exempt property, is less than $10,000, or if there is not $10,000 worth of exempt property in the estate, the spouse or children are entitled to other assets of the estate, if any, to the extent necessary to make up the $10,000 value. Rights to exempt property and assets needed to make up a deficiency of exempt property have priority over all claims against the estate, but the right to assets to make up a deficiency of exempt property abates as necessary to permit earlier payment of homestead allowance and family allowance. These rights are in addition to a benefit or share passing to the surviving spouse or children by the decedent's will, unless otherwise provided, by intestate succession, or by way of elective share. Sec. 13.12.404. Family allowance. (a) In addition to the right to homestead allowance and exempt property, the decedent's surviving spouse and minor children whom the decedent was obligated to support and children who were in fact being supported by the decedent are entitled to a reasonable allowance in money out of the estate for their maintenance during the period of administration. The allowance may not continue for longer than one year if the estate is inadequate to discharge allowed claims. The allowance may be paid as a lump sum or in periodic installments. It is payable to the surviving spouse, if living, for the use of the surviving spouse and minor and dependent children; otherwise it is payable to the children, or persons having their care and custody. If a minor child or dependent child is not living with the surviving spouse, the allowance may be made partially to the child or the child's guardian or other person having the child's care and custody, and partially to the spouse, as their needs may appear. The family allowance is exempt from and has priority over all claims except the homestead allowance.

(b) The family allowance is not chargeable against a benefit or share passing to the surviving spouse or children by the will of the decedent, unless otherwise provided, by intestate succession, or by way of elective share. The death of a person entitled to family allowance terminates the right to allowances not yet paid. Sec. 13.12.405. Source, determination, and documentation. (a) If the estate is otherwise sufficient, property specifically devised may not be used to satisfy rights to homestead allowance or exempt property. Subject to this restriction, the surviving spouse, guardians of minor children, or children who are adults may select property of the estate as homestead allowance and exempt property. The personal representative may make those selections if the surviving spouse, the children, or the guardians of the minor children are unable or fail to do so within a reasonable time or there is no guardian of a minor child. The personal representative may execute an instrument or deed of distribution to establish the ownership of property taken as homestead allowance or exempt property. The personal representative may determine the family allowance in a lump sum not exceeding $18,000 or periodic installments not exceeding $1,500 per month for one year, and may disburse funds of the estate in payment of the family allowance and any part of the homestead allowance payable in cash. The personal representative or an interested person aggrieved by a selection, determination, payment, proposed payment, or failure to act under this section may petition the court for appropriate relief, which may include a family allowance other than that which the personal representative determined or could have determined. (b) If the right to an elective share is exercised on behalf of a surviving spouse who is an incapacitated person, the personal representative may add unexpended portions payable under the homestead allowance, exempt property, and family allowance to the trust established under AS 13.12.212 (b). Article 5. Wills, Will Contracts, and Custody and Deposit of Wills. Sec. 13.12.501. Who may make will. An individual 18 or more years of age who is of sound mind may make a will. Sec. 13.12.502. Execution; witnessed wills; holographic wills. (a) Except as provided in (b) of this section, AS 13.06.068 , AS 13.12.506 , and 13.12.513, a will must be (1) in writing; (2) signed by the testator or in the testator's name by another individual in the testator's conscious presence and by the testator's direction; and (3) signed by at least two individuals, each of whom signs within a reasonable time after the witness witnesses either the signing of the will as described in (2) of this subsection or the testator's acknowledgment of that signature or the will. (b) Except as provided in AS 13.06.068 , a will that does not comply with (a) of this section is valid as a holographic will, whether or not witnessed, if the signature and material portions of the document are in the testator's handwriting. Sec. 13.12.504. Self-proved will. (a) A will may be simultaneously executed, attested, and made self-proved, by acknowledgment of the will by the testator and affidavits of the witnesses, each made before an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of the state in which execution occurs and evidenced by the officer's certificate, under official seal, in substantially the following form: I, __________________________________, the testator, sign my name to this instrument this __________ day of _____, and being first duly sworn, do hereby declare to the undersigned authority that I sign and execute this instrument as my will and that I sign it willingly (or willingly direct another to sign for me), that I execute it as my free and voluntary act for the purposes expressed in the will, and that I am eighteen years of age or older, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence. Testator We, __________________________________, __________________________________, the witnesses, sign our names to this instrument, being first duly sworn, and do hereby declare to the undersigned authority that the testator signs and executes this instrument as the testator's will and that the testator signs it willingly (or willingly directs another to sign for the testator), and that each of us, in the presence and hearing of the testator, hereby signs this will as witness to the testator's signing, and that to the best of our knowledge the testator is eighteen years of age or older, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence. Witness Witness State of _______________________________________________________________________________________ Judicial DistrictSubscribed, sworn to, and acknowledged before me by __________________________________, the testator, and subscribed and sworn to before me by __________________________________, and __________________________________, witness, this __________ day of _____.(Seal) (Signed) (Official capacity of officer) (b) An attested will may be made self-proved at any time after its execution by the acknowledgment of the will by the testator and the affidavits of the witnesses, each made before an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of the state in which the acknowledgment occurs and evidenced by the officer's certificate, under the official seal, attached or annexed to the will in substantially the following form: State of _______________________________________________________________________________________ Judicial DistrictWe, __________________________________, __________________________________, and __________________________________, the testator and the witnesses, respectively, whose names are signed to the attached or foregoing instrument, being first duly sworn, do hereby declare to the undersigned authority that the testator signed and executed the instrument as the testator's will and that the testator had signed willingly (or willingly directed another to sign for the testator), and that the testator executed it as the testator's free and voluntary act for the purposes expressed in the will, and that each of the witnesses, in the presence and hearing of the testator, signed the will as witness and that to the best of the witnesses' knowledge the testator was at that time eighteen years of age or older, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence. Testator Witness Witness Subscribed, sworn to and acknowledged before me by __________________________________, the testator, and subscribed and sworn to before me by __________________________________, and __________________________________, witnesses, this __________ day of _____.(Seal) (Signed) (Official capacity of officer) (c) A signature affixed to a self-proving affidavit attached to a will is considered a signature affixed to the will, if necessary to prove the will's due execution. Sec. 13.12.505. Who may witness. (a) An individual generally competent to be a witness may act as a witness to a will. (b) The signing of a will by an interested witness does not invalidate the will or a provision of it. Sec. 13.12.506. Choice of law as to execution. Except as provided by AS 13.06.068 , a written will is valid if executed in compliance with AS 13.12.502 or if its execution complies with the law at the time of execution of the place where the will is executed or of the law of the place where, at the time of execution or at the time of death, the testator is domiciled, has a place of abode, or is a national. Sec. 13.12.507. Revocation by writing or by act. (a) A will or a part of a will is revoked (1) by executing a subsequent will that revokes the previous will or part expressly or by inconsistency; or (2) by performing a revocatory act on the will, if the testator performed the act with the intent and for the purpose of revoking the will or part of the will or if another individual performed the act in the testator's conscious presence and by the testator's direction; in this paragraph, “revocatory act on the will” includes burning, tearing, canceling, obliterating, or destroying the will or any part of it; a “revocatory act on the will” includes a burning, tearing, or canceling whether or not the burn, tear, or cancellation touched any of the words on the will. (b) If a subsequent will does not expressly revoke a previous will, the execution of the subsequent will wholly revokes the previous will by inconsistency if the testator intended the subsequent will to replace rather than supplement the previous will. (c) The testator is presumed to have intended a subsequent will to replace rather than supplement a previous will if the subsequent will makes a complete disposition of the testator's estate. If this presumption arises and is not rebutted by clear and convincing evidence, the previous will is revoked; only the subsequent will is operative on the testator's death. (d) The testator is presumed to have intended a subsequent will to supplement rather than replace a previous will if the subsequent will does not make a complete disposition of the testator's estate. If this presumption arises and is not rebutted by clear and convincing evidence, the subsequent will revokes the previous will only to the extent the subsequent will is inconsistent with the previous will; each will is fully operative on the testator's death to the extent they are not inconsistent. Sec. 13.12.508. Revocation by change of circumstances. Except as provided in AS 13.12.803 and 13.12.804, a change of circumstances does not revoke a will or a part of it. Sec. 13.12.509. Revival of revoked will. (a) If a subsequent will that wholly revoked a previous will is thereafter revoked by a revocatory act under AS 13.12.507 (a)(2), the previous will remains revoked unless it is revived. The previous will is revived if it is evident from the circumstances of the revocation of the subsequent will or from the testator's contemporary or subsequent declarations that the testator intended the previous will to take effect as executed. (b) If a subsequent will that partly revoked a previous will is thereafter revoked by a revocatory act under AS 13.12.507 (a)(2), a revoked part of the previous will is revived unless it is evident from the circumstances of the revocation of the subsequent will or from the testator's contemporary or subsequent declarations that the testator did not intend the revoked part to take effect as executed. (c) If a subsequent will that revoked a previous will in whole or in part is thereafter revoked by another, later, will, the previous will remains revoked in whole or in part, unless it or its revoked part is revived. The previous will or its revoked part is revived to the extent it appears from the terms of the later will that the testator intended the previous will to take effect. Sec. 13.12.510. Incorporation by reference. A writing in existence when a will is executed may be incorporated by reference if the language of the will manifests this intent and describes the writing sufficiently to permit its identification. Sec. 13.12.511. Testamentary additions to trusts. (a) A will may validly devise property to the trustee of a trust established or to be established (1) 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 settlor has reserved any or all rights of ownership of the insurance contracts; or (2) 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 out in a written instrument, other than a will, executed before, 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. (b) A devise under (a) of this section 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. (c) Unless the testator's will provides otherwise, property devised to a trust described in (a) — (b) of this section is not held under a testamentary trust of the testator, but it becomes a part of the trust to which it is devised, and must be administered and disposed of in accordance with the provisions of the governing instrument setting out the terms of the trust, including any amendments to the trust made before or after the testator's death. (d) Unless the testator's will provides otherwise, a revocation or termination of the trust before the testator's death causes the devise to lapse. Sec. 13.12.512. Events of independent significance. A will may dispose of property by reference to acts and events that have significance apart from their effect upon the dispositions made by the will, whether they occur before or after the execution of the will or before or after the testator's death. The execution or revocation of another individual's will is an event covered by this section. Sec. 13.12.513. Separate writing identifying devise of certain types of tangible personal property. Whether or not the provisions relating to holographic wills apply, a will may refer to a written statement or list to dispose of items of tangible personal property not otherwise specifically disposed of by the will, other than money. To be admissible under this section as evidence of the intended disposition, the writing must be signed by the testator and must describe the items and the devisees with reasonable certainty. The writing may be referred to as one to be in existence at the time of the testator's death; it may be prepared before or after the execution of the will; it may be altered by the testator after its preparation; and it may be a writing that does not have significance apart from its effect on the dispositions made by the will. Sec. 13.12.514. Contracts concerning succession. (a) A contract to make a will or devise, or not to revoke a will or devise, or to die intestate, if executed after January 1, 1997, may be established only by (1) provisions of a will stating material provisions of the contract; (2) an express reference in a will to a contract and extrinsic evidence proving the terms of the contract; or (3) a writing signed by the decedent evidencing the contract. (b) The execution of a joint will or mutual wills does not create a presumption of a contract not to revoke the will or wills. Sec. 13.12.515. Deposit of will with court in testator's lifetime. A will may be deposited by the testator or the testator's agent with a court for safekeeping, under rules of the court. During the testator's lifetime, the will must be kept confidential. During the testator's lifetime, a deposited will shall be delivered only to the testator or to a person authorized in writing signed by the testator to receive the will. A conservator may be allowed to examine a deposited will of a protected testator under procedures designed to maintain the confidential character of the document to the extent possible, and to ensure that it will be kept confidential and on deposit after the examination. Sec. 13.12.516. Duty of custodian of will; liability. After the death of a testator and on request of an interested person, a person having custody of a will of the testator shall deliver it with reasonable promptness to a person able to secure its probate and, if the person with custody does not know of a person able to secure the will's probate, to an appropriate court. A person who wilfully fails to deliver a will is liable to a person aggrieved for any damages that may be sustained by the failure. A person who wilfully refuses or fails to deliver a will after being ordered by the court in a proceeding brought for the purpose of compelling delivery is subject to penalty for contempt of court. Sec. 13.12.517. Penalty clause for contest. A provision in a will purporting to penalize an interested person for contesting the will or instituting other proceedings relating to the estate is unenforceable if probable cause exists for instituting proceedings. Article 6. Establishment of Will and Trust Validity before Death. Sec. 13.12.530. Establishment of will validity before death. A testator, a person who is nominated in a will to serve as a personal representative, or, with the testator's consent, an interested party may petition the court to determine before the testator's death that the will is a valid will subject only to subsequent revocation or modification. Sec. 13.12.535. Establishment of trust validity before death. If at least one of the trustees of a trust is a qualified person, the settlor or a trustee of the trust may petition the court to determine before the settlor's death that the trust is valid and enforceable under its terms, subject only to a subsequent revocation or modification of the trust. Sec. 13.12.540. Venue. (a) The venue for a petition under AS 13.12.530 is (1) the judicial district of this state where the testator is domiciled; or (2) if the person who executed the will is not domiciled in this state, any judicial district of this state. (b) The venue for a petition under AS 13.12.535 is the judicial district where the trust is registered. The venue for proceedings involving a trust that is not registered in this state is (1) any place in this state where the trust could have been properly registered; or (2) the location established by the rules of court. Sec. 13.12.545. Contents of petition for will validity. A petition under AS 13.12.530 must contain (1) a statement that a copy of the will has been filed with the court; (2) a statement that the will is in writing; (3) a statement that the will was signed by the testator, or was signed in the testator's name by another person in the testator's conscious presence and at the testator's direction; (4) in the case of a witnessed will, a statement that the will was signed by at least two individuals, each of whom signed within a reasonable time after witnessing the signing of the will or the testator's acknowledgment of the signature on the will; (5) in the case of a holographic will, a statement that the signature and material portions of the will are in the testator's handwriting; (6) a statement that the will was executed with testamentary intent; (7) a statement that the testator had testamentary capacity; (8) a statement that the testator was free from undue influence and duress and executed the will in the exercise of the testator's free will; (9) a statement that the execution of the will was not the result of fraud or mistake; (10) the names and addresses of the testator, the testator's spouse, the testator's children, the testator's heirs, the personal representatives nominated in the will, and the devisees under the will; (11) if minors, the ages of the testator's children, the testator's heirs, and the devisees under the will, as far as known or ascertainable with reasonable diligence by the petitioner; (12) a statement that the will has not been revoked or modified; and (13) a statement that the testator is familiar with the contents of the will. Sec. 13.12.550. Contents of petition for trust validity. (a) A petition for trust validity under AS 13.12.535 must contain (1) a statement that a copy of the trust has been filed with the court; (2) a statement that the trust is in writing and was signed by the settlor; (3) a statement that the trust was executed with the intent that it be enforceable in accordance with its terms; (4) a statement that the settlor had the legal capacity to enter into and establish the trust; (5) a statement that the settlor was free from undue influence and duress and executed the trust in the exercise of free will; (6) a statement that execution of the trust was not the result of fraud or mistake; (7) the names and addresses of the settlor, the settlor's spouse, the settlor's children, the settlor's heirs, and the parties in interest; (8) the ages of the settlor's children, the settlor's heirs, and the parties in interest who are minors so far as known or ascertainable with reasonable diligence by the petitioner; (9) a statement that the trust has not been revoked or modified; and (10) a statement that the settlor is familiar with the contents of the trust. (b) In this section, “party in interest” has the meaning given in AS 13.36.390 . Sec. 13.12.555. Declaration by court. The court may declare a will or trust to be valid and make other findings of fact and conclusions of law that are appropriate under the circumstances. After the testator's death, unless the will is modified or revoked after the declaration, the will has full legal effect as the instrument of the disposition of the testator's estate and shall be admitted to probate upon request. Sec. 13.12.560. Binding effect of declaration. A person, whether the person is known, unknown, born, or not born at the time of a proceeding under AS 13.12.530 — 13.12.590, including a person who is represented by another person under AS 13.06.120 , is bound by the declaration under AS 13.12.555 even if, by the time of the testator's death, the representing person has died or would no longer be able to represent the person represented in the proceeding under AS 13.12.530 — 13.12.590. Sec. 13.12.565. Hearing and notice. (a) After the petition under AS 13.12.530 or 13.12.535 is filed, the court shall fix a time and place for a hearing. The petitioner shall notify the spouse, the children, and the heirs of the testator or settlor in the manner established by AS 13.06.110 . (b) In addition to the notice required by (a) of this section, in proceedings involving a petition under AS 13.12.530 , the petitioner shall notify the testator, the personal representatives nominated in the will, and the devisees under the will in the manner established by AS 13.06.110 . (c) In addition to the notice required by (a) of this section, in proceedings involving a petition under AS 13.12.535 , the petitioner shall notify the settlor and the parties in interest in the manner established by AS 13.06.110 . Notice may be given to other persons. In this subsection, “party in interest” has the meaning given in AS 13.36.390 . Sec. 13.12.570. Burden of proof. A petitioner under AS 13.12.530 or 13.12.535 has the burden of establishing prima facie proof of the execution of the will or trust. A person who opposes the petition has the burden of establishing the lack of testamentary intent, lack of capacity, undue influence, fraud, duress, mistake, or revocation. A party to the proceeding has the ultimate burden of persuasion as to the matters for which the party has the initial burden of proof. Sec. 13.12.575. Change to will after declaration. After a declaration of the validity of a will under AS 13.12.555 , a testator may modify a will by a later will or codicil executed according to the laws of this state or another state, and the will may be revoked or modified under AS 13.12.507 , 13.12.508, or another applicable law. Sec. 13.12.580. Change to trust after declaration. After a declaration of validity under AS 13.12.555 , a trust may be modified, terminated, revoked, or reformed under AS 13.36.340 — 13.36.365, or another applicable law. Sec. 13.12.585. Confidentiality. (a) A notice of the filing of a petition under AS 13.12.530 — 13.12.580, a summary of all formal proceedings under AS 13.12.530 — 13.12.580, and a dispositional order or a modification or termination of a dispositional order relating to a proceeding under AS 13.12.530 — 13.12.580 shall be available for public inspection. Except as provided in (b) and (c) of this section, all other information contained in the court records relating to a proceeding under AS 13.12.530 — 13.12.580 is confidential. (b) The records that are confidential under (a) of this section may be made available to (1) the petitioner and the petitioner's attorney; (2) interested persons who have appeared in the proceedings, interested persons who have otherwise submitted to the jurisdiction of the court, and the attorneys, guardians, and conservators of the interested persons; (3) the judge hearing or reviewing the matter; and (4) a member of the clerical or administrative staff of the court if access is essential for authorized internal administrative purposes. (c) For good cause shown, the court may order the records that are confidential under (a) of this section to be made available to a person who is not listed in (b) of this section. Sec. 13.12.590. Definitions. In AS 13.12.530 — 13.12.590, (1) “qualified person” has the meaning given in AS 13.36.390 ; (2) “testator” means a person who executes a will as a testator; (3) “trust” means a revocable or irrevocable trust. Article 7. Rules of Construction Applicable Only to Wills. Sec. 13.12.601. Scope. Except as provided in AS 13.06.068 , in the absence of a finding of a contrary intention, the rules of construction in AS 13.12.601 — 13.12.609 control the construction of a will. Sec. 13.12.602. Will may pass all property and after-acquired property. A will may provide for the passage of all property the testator owns at death and all property acquired by the estate after the testator's death. Sec. 13.12.603. Antilapse; deceased devisee; class gifts. (a) If a devisee fails to survive the testator and is a grandparent, a descendant of a grandparent, or a stepchild of either the testator or the donor of a power of appointment exercised by the testator's will, the following apply: (1) except as provided in (4) of this subsection, if the devise is not in the form of a class gift and the deceased devisee leaves surviving descendants, a substitute gift is created in the devisee's surviving descendants; the surviving descendants take by representation the property to which the devisee would have been entitled had the devisee survived the testator; (2) except as provided in (4) of this subsection, if the devise is in the form of a class gift, other than a devise to “issue,” “descendants,” “heirs of the body,” “heirs,” “next of kin,” “relatives,” or “family,” or a class described by language of similar import, a substitute gift is created in the surviving descendants of a deceased devisee; the property to which the devisees would have been entitled had all of them survived the testator passes to the surviving devisees and the surviving descendants of the deceased devisees; each surviving devisee takes the share to which the surviving devisee would have been entitled had the deceased devisees survived the testator; each deceased devisee's surviving descendants who are substituted for the deceased devisee take by representation the share to which the deceased devisee would have been entitled had the deceased devisee survived the testator; (3) for the purposes of AS 13.12.601 , words of survivorship, as in a devise to an individual “if the individual survives me,” or in a devise to “my surviving children,” are not, in the absence of additional evidence, a sufficient indication of an intent contrary to the application of this section; (4) if the will creates an alternative devise with respect to a devise for which a substitute gift is created by (1) or (2) of this subsection, the substitute gift is superseded by the alternative devise only if an expressly designated devisee of the alternative devise is entitled to take under the will; (5) unless the language creating a power of appointment expressly excludes the substitution of the descendants of an appointee for the appointee, a surviving descendant of a deceased appointee of a power of appointment can be substituted for the appointee under this section, whether or not the descendant is an object of the power. (b) If, under (a) of this section, substitute gifts are created and not superseded with respect to more than one devise and the devises are alternative devises, one to the other, the determination of which of the substitute gifts takes effect is resolved as follows: (1) except as provided in (2) of this subsection, the devised property passes under the primary substitute gift; (2) if there is a younger-generation devise, the devised property passes under the younger-generation substitute gift and not under the primary substitute gift. (c) [Repealed, § 103 ch 13 SLA 2019.] (d) In this section, (1) “alternative devise” means a devise that is expressly created by the will and, under the terms of the will, can take effect instead of another devise on the happening of one or more events, including survival of the testator or failure to survive the testator, whether an event is expressed in condition-precedent, condition-subsequent, or other form; a residuary clause constitutes an alternative devise with respect to a nonresiduary devise only if the will specifically provides that, upon lapse or failure, the nonresiduary devise, or nonresiduary devises in general, pass under the residuary clause; (2) “class member” includes an individual who fails to survive the testator but who would have taken under a devise in the form of a class gift had the individual survived the testator; (3) “deceased devisee” means a class member who failed to survive the testator and left one or more surviving descendants; (4) “devise” includes an alternative devise, a devise in the form of a class gift, and an exercise of a power of appointment; (5) “devisee” includes (A) a class member if the devise is in the form of a class gift; (B) an individual or class member who was deceased at the time the testator executed the testator's will as well as an individual or class member who was then living but who failed to survive the testator; and (C) an appointee under a power of appointment exercised by the testator's will; (6) “primary devise” means the devise that would have taken effect had all the deceased devisees of the alternative devises who left surviving descendants survived the testator; (7) “primary substitute gift” means the substitute gift created with respect to a primary devise; (8) “stepchild” means a child of the surviving, deceased, or former spouse of the testator or of the donor of a power of appointment, and not of the testator or donor; (9) “surviving devisee” or “surviving descendant” means a devisee or a descendant who neither predeceases the testator nor is considered to have predeceased the testator under AS 13.12.702 ; (10) “testator” includes the donee of a power of appointment if the power is exercised in the testator's will; (11) “younger-generation devise” means a devise that (A) is to a descendant of a devisee of a primary devise; (B) is an alternative devise with respect to the primary devise; (C) is a devise for which a substitute gift is created; and (D) would have taken effect had all the deceased devisees who left surviving descendants survived the testator except the deceased devisee or devisees of the primary devise; (12) “younger-generation substitute gift” means a substitute gift created with respect to a younger-generation devise. Sec. 13.12.604. Failure of testamentary provision. (a) Except as provided in AS 13.12.603 , a devise, other than a residuary devise, that fails for any reason becomes a part of the residue. (b) Except as provided in AS 13.12.603 , if the residue is devised to two or more persons, the share of a residuary devisee that fails for any reason passes to the other residuary devisee, or to other residuary devisees in proportion to the interest of each in the remaining part of the residue. Sec. 13.12.605. Increase in securities; accessions. (a) If a testator executes a will that devises securities and the testator then owned securities that meet the description in the will, the devise includes additional securities that are owned by the testator at death to the extent the additional securities were acquired by the testator after the will was executed as a result of the testator's ownership of the described securities and that are securities of (1) the same organization acquired by reason of action initiated by the organization or a successor, related, or acquiring organization, excluding securities acquired by exercise of purchase options; (2) another organization acquired as a result of a merger, consolidation, reorganization, or other distribution by the organization or a successor, related, or acquiring organization; or (3) the same organization acquired as a result of a plan of reinvestment. (b) Distributions in cash before death with respect to a described security are not part of the devise. Sec. 13.12.606. Nonademption of specific devises. (a) A specific devisee has a right to the specifically devised property in the testator's estate at death and (1) any amount of a condemnation award for the taking of the property unpaid at death; (2) any proceeds unpaid at death on fire or casualty insurance on or other recovery for injury to the property; and (3) property owned by the testator at death and acquired as a result of foreclosure, or obtained in lieu of foreclosure, of the security interest for the specifically devised obligation. (b) If specifically devised property is sold or mortgaged by a conservator or by an agent acting within the authority of a durable power of attorney for an incapacitated principal, or if a condemnation award, insurance proceeds, or recovery for injury to the property are paid to a conservator or to an agent acting within the authority of a durable power of attorney for an incapacitated principal, the specific devisee has the right to a general pecuniary devise equal to the net sale price, the amount of the unpaid loan, the condemnation award, the insurance proceeds, or the recovery. (c) The right of a specific devisee under (b) of this section is reduced by any right the devisee has under (a) of this section. (d) For the purposes of the references in (b) of this section to a conservator, (b) of this section does not apply if after the sale, mortgage, condemnation, casualty, or recovery, it was adjudicated that the testator's incapacity ceased and the testator survived the adjudication by one year. (e) For the purposes of the references in (b) of this section to an agent acting within the authority of a durable power of attorney for an incapacitated principal, (1) “incapacitated principal” means a principal who is an incapacitated person; (2) adjudication of incapacity before death is not necessary; and (3) the acts of an agent within the authority of a durable power of attorney are presumed to be for an incapacitated principal. Sec. 13.12.607. Nonexoneration. A specific devise passes subject to any mortgage interest existing at the date of death, without right of exoneration, regardless of a general directive in the will to pay debts. Sec. 13.12.608. Exercise of power of appointment. In the absence of a requirement that a power of appointment be exercised by a reference, or by an express or specific reference, to the power, a general residuary clause in a will, or a will making general disposition of all of the testator's property, expresses an intention to exercise a power of appointment held by the testator only if (1) the power is a general power and the creating instrument does not contain a gift if the power is not exercised; or (2) the testator's will manifests an intention to include the property subject to the power. Sec. 13.12.609. Ademption by satisfaction. (a) Property a testator gave in the testator's lifetime to a person is treated as a satisfaction of a devise in whole or in part, only if (1) the will provides for deduction of the gift; (2) the testator declared in a contemporaneous writing that the gift is in satisfaction of the devise or that its value is to be deducted from the value of the devise; or (3) the devisee acknowledged in writing that the gift is in satisfaction of the devise or that its value is to be deducted from the value of the devise. (b) For purposes of partial satisfaction, property given during lifetime is valued as of the time the devisee came into possession or enjoyment of the property or at the testator's death, whichever occurs first. (c) If the devisee fails to survive the testator, the gift is treated as a full or partial satisfaction of the devise, as appropriate, in applying AS 13.12.603 and 13.12.604, unless the testator's contemporaneous writing provides otherwise. Article 8. Rules of Construction Applicable to Wills and Other Governing Instruments. Sec. 13.12.701. Scope. In the absence of a finding of a contrary intention, the rules of construction in AS 13.12.701 — 13.12.711 control the construction of a governing instrument. The rules of construction in AS 13.12.701 — 13.12.711 apply to a governing instrument of any type, except as the application of a particular section is limited by its terms to a specific type of provision or governing instrument. Sec. 13.12.702. Requirement of survival by 120 hours. (a) For the purposes of AS 13.06 — AS 13.36 , except as provided in (d) of this section, an individual who is not established by clear and convincing evidence to have survived an event, including the death of another individual, by 120 hours is considered to have predeceased the event. (b) Except as provided in (d) of this section, for purposes of a provision of a governing instrument that relates to an individual surviving an event, including the death of another individual, an individual who is not established by clear and convincing evidence to have survived the event by 120 hours is considered to have predeceased the event. (c) Except as provided in (d) of this section, if it is not established by clear and convincing evidence that one of two co-owners with right of survivorship survived the other co-owner by 120 hours, one-half of the property passes as if one had survived by 120 hours and one-half as if the other had survived by 120 hours, and if there are more than two co-owners with right of survivorship and it is not established by clear and convincing evidence that at least one of them survived the others by 120 hours, the property passes in the proportion that one bears to the whole number of co-owners. In this subsection, “co-owners with right of survivorship” includes joint tenants, tenants by the entirety, and other co-owners of property or accounts held under circumstances that entitle one or more to the whole of the property or account on the death of the other or others. (d) Survival by 120 hours is not required if (1) the governing instrument contains language dealing explicitly with simultaneous deaths or deaths in a common disaster and that language is operable under the facts of the case; (2) the governing instrument expressly indicates that an individual is not required to survive an event, including the death of another individual, by a specified period or expressly requires the individual to survive the event by a specified period, but survival of the event or the specified period must be established by clear and convincing evidence; (3) the imposition of a 120-hour requirement of survival would cause a nonvested property interest or a power of appointment to fail to qualify for validity under AS 34.27.051 or 34.27.100 or to become invalid under AS 34.27.051 or 34.27.100, but survival must be established by clear and convincing evidence; or (4) the application of a 120-hour requirement of survival to multiple governing instruments would result in an unintended failure or duplication of a disposition, but survival must be established by clear and convincing evidence. (e) A payor or other third party is not liable for having made a payment or transferred an item of property or other benefit to a beneficiary designated in a governing instrument who, under this section, is not entitled to the payment or item of property, or for having taken other action in good faith reliance on the beneficiary's apparent entitlement under the terms of the governing instrument, before the payor or other third party receives written notice of a claimed lack of entitlement under this section. A payor or other third party is liable for a payment made or other action taken after the payor or other third party receives written notice of a claimed lack of entitlement under this section. (f) Written notice of a claimed lack of entitlement under this section shall be mailed to the payor's or other third party's main office or home by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, or served upon the payor or other third party in the same manner as a summons in a civil action. Upon receipt of written notice of a claimed lack of entitlement under this section, a payor or other third party may pay any amount owed or transfer or deposit an item of property held by it to or with the court having jurisdiction of the probate proceedings relating to the decedent's estate, or if proceedings have not been commenced, to or with the court in the judicial district of the decedent's residence. The court shall hold the funds or item of property and, upon the court's determination under this section, shall order disbursement in accordance with the determination. Payments, transfers, or deposits made to or with the court discharge the payor or other third party from all claims for the value of amounts paid to or items of property transferred to or deposited with the court. (g) A person who purchases property for value and without notice, or who receives a payment or other item of property in partial or full satisfaction of a legally enforceable obligation, is not obligated under this section to return the payment, item of property, or benefit or liable under this section for the amount of the payment or the value of the item of property or benefit. But a person who, not for value, receives a payment, item of property, or other benefit to which the person is not entitled under this section is obligated to return the payment, item of property, or benefit, or is personally liable for the amount of the payment or the value of the item of property or benefit, to the person who is entitled to it under this section. (h) If this section or a part of this section is preempted by federal law with respect to a payment, an item of property, or other benefit covered by this section, a person who, not for value, receives the payment, item of property, or benefit to which the person is not entitled under this section is obligated to return the payment, item of property, or benefit, or is personally liable for the amount of the payment or the value of the item of property or benefit, to the person who would have been entitled to it if this section or part of this section were not preempted. Sec. 13.12.703. Choice of law as to meaning and effect of governing instrument. (a) The meaning and legal effect of a governing instrument is determined by the local law of the state selected in the governing instrument, unless the application of that law is contrary to the provisions relating to the elective share described in AS 13.12.201 — 13.12.214, the provisions relating to exempt property and allowances described in AS 13.12.401 — 13.12.405, or other public policy of this state otherwise applicable to the disposition. (b) The provisions of (a) of this section are subject to AS 13.06.068 . Sec. 13.12.704. Power of appointment; meaning of specific reference requirement. If a governing instrument creating a power of appointment expressly requires that the power be exercised by a reference, an express reference, or a specific reference, to the power or its source, it is presumed that the donor's intention, in requiring that the donee exercise the power by making reference to the particular power or to the creating instrument, was to prevent an inadvertent exercise of the power. Sec. 13.12.705. Class gifts; terms of relationship. (a) Adopted individuals and individuals born out of wedlock, and their respective descendants if appropriate to the class, are included in class gifts and other terms of relationship in accordance with the rules for intestate succession. Terms of relationship that do not differentiate relationships by blood from those by affinity, such as “uncles,” “aunts,” “nieces,” or “nephews,” are construed to exclude relatives by affinity. Terms of relationship that do not differentiate relationships by the half blood from those by the whole blood, such as “brothers,” “sisters,” “nieces,” or “nephews,” are construed to include both types of relationships. (b) In addition to the requirements of (a) of this section, in construing a dispositive provision of a transferor who is not the natural parent, an individual born to the natural parent is not considered the child of that natural parent unless the individual lived while a minor as a regular member of the household of that natural parent or of that natural parent's parent, brother, sister, spouse, or surviving spouse. (c) In addition to the requirements of (a) of this section, in construing a dispositive provision of a transferor who is not the adopting parent, an adopted individual is not considered the child of the adopting parent unless the adopted individual lived while a minor, either before or after the adoption, as a regular member of the household of the adopting parent. Sec. 13.12.706. Life insurance; retirement plan; account with pay on death designation; transfer on death registration; deceased beneficiary. (a) If a beneficiary fails to survive the decedent and is a grandparent, a descendant of a grandparent, or a stepchild of the decedent, the following apply: (1) except as provided in (4) of this subsection, if the beneficiary designation is not in the form of a class gift and the deceased beneficiary leaves surviving descendants, a substitute gift is created in the beneficiary's surviving descendants; the beneficiary's surviving descendants take by representation the property to which the beneficiary would have been entitled had the beneficiary survived the decedent; (2) except as provided in (4) of this subsection, if the beneficiary designation is in the form of a class gift, other than a beneficiary designation to “issue,” “descendants,” “heirs of the body,” “heirs,” “next of kin,” “relatives,” or “family,” or a class described by language of similar import, a substitute gift is created in the surviving descendants of a deceased beneficiary; the property to which the beneficiaries would have been entitled had all of them survived the decedent passes to the surviving beneficiaries and the surviving descendants of the deceased beneficiaries; each surviving beneficiary takes the share to which the surviving beneficiary would have been entitled had the deceased beneficiaries survived the decedent; each deceased beneficiary's surviving descendants who are substituted for the deceased beneficiary take by representation the share to which the deceased beneficiary would have been entitled had the deceased beneficiary survived the decedent; in this paragraph, “deceased beneficiary” means a class member who failed to survive the decedent and left one or more surviving descendants; (3) for the purposes of AS 13.12.701 , words of survivorship, as in a beneficiary designation to an individual “if the individual survives me,” or in a beneficiary designation to “my surviving children,” are not, in the absence of additional evidence, a sufficient indication of an intent contrary to the application of this section; (4) if a governing instrument creates an alternative beneficiary designation with respect to a beneficiary designation for which a substitute gift is created by (1) or (2) of this subsection, the substitute gift is superseded by the alternative beneficiary designation only if an expressly designated beneficiary of the alternative beneficiary designation is entitled to take.

(b) If, under (a) of this section, substitute gifts are created and not superseded with respect to more than one beneficiary designation and the beneficiary designations are alternative beneficiary designations, one to the other, the property passes under the primary substitute gift, except that if there is a younger-generation beneficiary designation, the property passes under the younger-generation substitute gift and not under the primary substitute gift. In this subsection, (1) “primary beneficiary designation” means the beneficiary designation that would have taken effect had all the deceased beneficiaries of the alternative beneficiary designations who left surviving descendants survived the decedent; (2) “primary substitute gift” means the substitute gift created with respect to the primary beneficiary designation; (3) “younger-generation beneficiary designation” means a beneficiary designation that (A) is to a descendant of a beneficiary of the primary beneficiary designation; (B) is an alternative beneficiary designation with respect to the primary beneficiary designation; (C) is a beneficiary designation for which a substitute gift is created; and (D) would have taken effect had all the deceased beneficiaries who left surviving descendants survived the decedent except the deceased beneficiary or beneficiaries of the primary beneficiary designation; (4) “younger-generation substitute gift” means the substitute gift created with respect to the younger-generation beneficiary designation. (c) A payor is protected from liability in making payments under the terms of the beneficiary designation until the payor has received written notice of a claim to a substitute gift under this section. Payment made before the receipt of written notice of a claim to a substitute gift under this section discharges the payor, but not the recipient, from all claims for the amounts paid. A payor is liable for a payment made after the payor has received written notice of the claim. A recipient is liable for a payment received, whether or not written notice of the claim is given. (d) In (c) of this section, the written notice of the claim shall be mailed to the payor's main office or home by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, or served upon the payor in the same manner as a summons in a civil action. Upon receipt of written notice of the claim, a payor may pay any amount owed by it to the court having jurisdiction of the probate proceedings relating to the decedent's estate or, if proceedings have not been commenced, to the court in the judicial district of the decedent's residence. The court shall hold the funds and, upon its determination under this section, shall order disbursement in accordance with the determination. Payment made to the court discharges the payor from all claims for the amounts paid. (e) A person who purchases property for value and without notice, or who receives a payment or other item of property in partial or full satisfaction of a legally enforceable obligation, is not obligated under this section to return the payment, item of property, or benefit, or liable under this section for the amount of the payment or the value of the item of property or benefit. But a person who, not for value, receives a payment, item of property, or other benefit to which the person is not entitled under this section is obligated to return the payment, item of property, or benefit, or is personally liable for the amount of the payment or the value of the item of property or benefit, to the person who is entitled to it under this section. (f) If this section or a part of this section is preempted by federal law with respect to a payment, an item of property, or other benefit covered by this section, a person who, not for value, receives the payment, item of property, or other benefit to which the person is not entitled under this section is obligated to return the payment, item of property, or benefit, or is personally liable for the amount of the payment or the value of the item of property or benefit, to the person who would have been entitled to it if this section or part of this section were not preempted. (g) In this section, (1) “alternative beneficiary designation” means a beneficiary designation that is expressly created by the governing instrument and, under the terms of the governing instrument, can take effect instead of another beneficiary designation on the happening of one or more events, including survival of the decedent or failure to survive the decedent, whether an event is expressed in condition-precedent, condition-subsequent, or another form; (2) “beneficiary” means the beneficiary of a beneficiary designation under which the beneficiary must survive the decedent and (A) includes a class member if the beneficiary designation is in the form of a class gift; (B) includes an individual or class member who was deceased at the time the beneficiary designation was executed as well as an individual or class member who was then living but who failed to survive the decedent; (C) excludes a joint tenant of a joint tenancy with the right of survivorship and a party to a joint and survivorship account; (3) “beneficiary designation” includes an alternative beneficiary designation and a beneficiary designation in the form of a class gift; (4) “class member” includes an individual who fails to survive the decedent but who would have taken under a beneficiary designation in the form of a class gift had the individual survived the decedent; (5) “stepchild” means a child of the decedent's surviving, deceased, or former spouse, and not of the decedent; (6) “surviving beneficiary” or “surviving descendant” means a beneficiary or a descendant who neither predeceased the decedent nor is considered to have predeceased the decedent under AS 13.12.702 . Sec. 13.12.707. Survivorship with respect to future interests under terms of trust; substitute takers. (a) A future interest under the terms of a trust is contingent on the beneficiary's surviving the distribution date. If a beneficiary of a future interest under the terms of a trust fails to survive the distribution date, the following apply: (1) except as provided in (4) of this subsection, if the future interest is not in the form of a class gift and the deceased beneficiary leaves surviving descendants, a substitute gift is created in the beneficiary's surviving descendants; the beneficiary's surviving descendants take by representation the property to which the beneficiary would have been entitled had the beneficiary survived the distribution date; (2) except as provided in (4) of this subsection, if the future interest is in the form of a class gift, other than a future interest to “issue,” “descendants,” “heirs of the body,” “heirs,” “next of kin,” “relatives,” or “family,” or a class described by language of similar import, a substitute gift is created in the surviving descendants of a deceased beneficiary; the property to which the beneficiaries would have been entitled had all of them survived the distribution date passes to the surviving beneficiaries and the surviving descendants of the deceased beneficiaries; each surviving beneficiary takes the share to which the surviving beneficiary would have been entitled had the deceased beneficiaries survived the distribution date; each deceased beneficiary's surviving descendants who are substituted for the deceased beneficiary take by representation the share to which the deceased beneficiary would have been entitled had the deceased beneficiary survived the distribution date; in this paragraph, “deceased beneficiary” means a class member who fails to survive the distribution date and leaves one or more surviving descendants; (3) for the purposes of AS 13.12.701 , words of survivorship attached to a future interest are not, in the absence of additional evidence, a sufficient indication of an intent contrary to the application of this section; words of survivorship include words of survivorship that relate to the distribution date or to an earlier or an unspecified time, whether those words of survivorship are expressed in condition-precedent, condition-subsequent, or another form; (4) if a governing instrument creates an alternative future interest with respect to a future interest for which a substitute gift is created by (1) or (2) of this subsection, the substitute gift is superseded by the alternative future interest only if an expressly designated beneficiary of the alternative future interest is entitled to take in possession or enjoyment. (b) If, under (a) of this section, substitute gifts are created and not superseded with respect to more than one future interest and the future interests are alternative future interests, one to the other, the property passes under the primary substitute gift, except that, if there is a younger-generation future interest, the property passes under the younger-generation substitute gift and not under the primary substitute gift. In this subsection, (1) “primary future interest” means the future interest that would have taken effect had all the deceased beneficiaries of the alternative future interests who left surviving descendants survived the distribution date; (2) “primary substitute gift” means the substitute gift created with respect to the primary future interest; (3) “younger-generation future interest” means a future interest that (A) is to a descendant of a beneficiary of the primary future interest; (B) is an alternative future interest with respect to the primary future interest; (C) is a future interest for which a substitute gift is created; and (D) would have taken effect had all the deceased beneficiaries who left surviving descendants survived the distribution date except the deceased beneficiary of the primary future interest; (4) “younger-generation substitute gift” means the substitute gift created with respect to the younger-generation future interest. (c) Except as provided in (d) of this section, if, after the application of (a) and (b) of this section, there is not a surviving taker, the property passes in the following order: (1) if the trust was created in a nonresiduary devise in the transferor's will or in a codicil to the transferor's will, the property passes under the residuary clause in the transferor's will; for purposes of this section, the residuary clause is treated as creating a future interest under the terms of a trust; (2) if a taker is not produced by the application of (1) of this subsection, the property passes to the transferor's heirs under AS 13.12.711 . (d) If, after the application of (a) and (b) of this section, there is not a surviving taker and if the future interest was created by the exercise of a power of appointment, (1) the property passes under the donor's gift-in-default clause, if any, and the clause is treated as creating a future interest under the terms of a trust; and (2) if a taker is not produced by the application of (1) of this subsection, the property passes as provided in (c) of this section. (e) In (c) of this section, “transferor” means the donor if the power was a nongeneral power and means the donee if the power was a general power. (f) In this section, (1) “alternative future interest” means an expressly created future interest that can take effect in possession or enjoyment instead of another future interest on the happening of one or more events, including survival of an event or failure to survive an event, whether an event is expressed in condition-precedent, condition-subsequent, or other form; a residuary clause in a will does not create an alternative future interest with respect to a future interest created in a nonresiduary devise in the will, whether or not the will specifically provides that lapsed or failed devises are to pass under the residuary clause; (2) “beneficiary” means the beneficiary of a future interest and includes a class member if the future interest is in the form of a class gift; (3) “class member” includes an individual who fails to survive the distribution date but who would have taken under a future interest in the form of a class gift had the individual survived the distribution date; (4) “distribution date,” with respect to a future interest, means the time when the future interest is to take effect in possession or enjoyment; the distribution date does not need to occur at the beginning or end of a calendar day, but can occur at a time during the course of a day; (5) “future interest” includes an alternative future interest and a future interest in the form of a class gift; (6) “future interest under the terms of a trust” means a future interest that was created by a transfer creating a trust or to an existing trust or by an exercise of a power of appointment to an existing trust, directing the continuance of an existing trust, designating a beneficiary of an existing trust, or creating a trust; (7) “surviving beneficiary” or “surviving descendant” means a beneficiary or a descendant who neither predeceased the distribution date nor is considered to have predeceased the distribution date under AS 13.12.702 . Sec. 13.12.708. Class gifts to “descendants,” “issue,” or “heirs of the body”; form of distribution if none specified. If a class gift in favor of “descendants,” “issue,” or “heirs of the body” does not specify the manner in which the property is to be distributed among the class members, the property is distributed among the class members who are living when the interest is to take effect in possession or enjoyment, in such shares as they would receive, under the applicable law of intestate succession, if the designated ancestor had then died intestate owning the subject matter of the class gift. Sec. 13.12.709. Distribution by representation, per capita at each generation, and per stirpes. (a) If an applicable statute or a governing instrument calls for property to be distributed “by representation” or “per capita at each generation,” the property is divided into as many equal shares as there are (1) surviving descendants in the generation nearest to the designated ancestor that contains one or more surviving descendants; and (2) deceased descendants in the same generation who left surviving descendants, if any. (b) In (a) of this section, each surviving descendant in the nearest generation is allocated one share, and the remaining shares, if any, are combined and then divided in the same manner among the surviving descendants of the deceased descendants as if the surviving descendants who were allocated a share and their surviving descendants had predeceased the distribution date. (c) If a governing instrument calls for property to be distributed “per stirpes,” the property is divided into as many equal shares as there are (1) surviving children of the designated ancestor; and (2) deceased children who left surviving descendants. (d) In (c) of this section, each surviving child, if any, is allocated one share, and the share of each deceased child with surviving descendants is divided in the same manner, with subdivision repeating at each succeeding generation until the property is fully allocated among surviving descendants. (e) For the purposes of (a) — (d) of this section, an individual who is deceased and does not leave surviving descendants is disregarded, and an individual who leaves a surviving ancestor who is a descendant of the designated ancestor is not entitled to a share. (f) In this section, (1) “deceased child” or “deceased descendant” means a child or a descendant who either predeceased the distribution date or is considered to have predeceased the distribution date under AS 13.12.702 ; (2) “distribution date,” with respect to an interest, means the time when the interest is to take effect in possession or enjoyment; the distribution date does not need to occur at the beginning or end of a calendar day, but can occur at a time during the course of a day; (3) “surviving ancestor,” “surviving child,” or “surviving descendant” means an ancestor, a child, or a descendant who neither predeceased the distribution date nor is considered to have predeceased the distribution date under AS 13.12.702 . Sec. 13.12.710. Worthier-title doctrine abolished. The doctrine of worthier title is abolished as a rule of law and as a rule of construction. Language in a governing instrument describing the beneficiaries of a disposition as the transferor's “heirs,” “heirs at law,” “next of kin,” “distributees,” “relatives,” or “family,” or language of similar import, does not create or presumptively create a reversionary interest in the transferor. Sec. 13.12.711. Interests in heirs and other persons. If an applicable statute or a governing instrument calls for a present or future distribution to or creates a present or future interest in a designated individual's “heirs,” “heirs at law,” “next of kin,” “relatives,” or “family,” or language of similar import, the property passes to those persons, including the state, and in such shares as would succeed to the designated individual's intestate estate under the intestate succession law of the designated individual's domicile if the designated individual died when the disposition is to take effect in possession or enjoyment. If the designated individual's surviving spouse is living but is remarried at the time the disposition is to take effect in possession or enjoyment, the surviving spouse is not an heir of the designated individual. Sec. 13.12.712. Nonademption of specific transfers in trust. (a) Unless the trust provides otherwise, a beneficiary of a trust has a right to property that, by the terms of the trust, is to be specifically distributed to the beneficiary and to (1) any amount of a condemnation award that is for the taking of the property and that is unpaid when the distribution becomes effective; (2) any proceeds from fire or casualty insurance on, or other recovery for injury to, the property that are unpaid when the distribution becomes effective; and (3) property owned by the settlor when the distribution becomes effective if the property is acquired as a result of foreclosure, or obtained in lieu of foreclosure, of the security interest for the specifically distributed obligation. (b) Unless the covered trust provides otherwise, if property that is to be specifically distributed to a beneficiary of a covered trust is instead sold or mortgaged by a trustee of the covered trust, or if a condemnation award, insurance proceeds, or a recovery for injury to the property is paid to a trustee of the covered trust, the beneficiary has the right to a general pecuniary property distribution that is equal to the net sale price, the amount of the unpaid loan, the condemnation award, the insurance proceeds, or the recovery. In this subsection, “covered trust,” means a trust that was originally amendable or revocable by the settlor but that cannot be amended or revoked by the settlor because of the settlor's incapacity. (c) The right of a beneficiary under (b) of this section is reduced by any right the beneficiary has under (a) of this section. (d) [Repealed, § 3 ch 36 SLA 2001.] (e) [Repealed, § 3 ch 36 SLA 2001.] Sec. 13.12.720. Family-owned business deduction. (a) If an individual includes a provision in a will, trust document, or beneficiary designation that is designed to reduce federal estate tax liability to zero, or to the lowest possible amount payable, by describing a portion or amount measured by reference to the unified credit, applicable exclusion amount, or exemption equivalent under 26 U.S.C. 2010 (Internal Revenue Code), or to other credits or deductions under 26 U.S.C. (Internal Revenue Code), then unless specifically stated otherwise, the reference to the unified credit, applicable exclusion amount, exemption equivalent, other credit, or other deduction shall be considered to include a reference to the family-owned business deduction available and allowed under 26 U.S.C. 2057 (Internal Revenue Code). (b) Unless specifically stated otherwise, the reference in the will, trust document, or beneficiary designation to the unified credit, applicable exclusion amount, exemption equivalent, family-owned business deduction, other credit, or other deduction shall be considered to refer to the unified credit, applicable exclusion amount, exemption equivalent, family-owned business deduction, other credit, or other deduction as it exists at the time of death of the individual. Article 9. General Provisions Concerning Probate and Nonprobate Transfers. Sec. 13.12.801. Disclaimer of property interests. [Repealed, § 2 ch 63 SLA 2010.] Sec. 13.12.802. Effect of divorce, annulment, and decree of separation. (a) An individual who is divorced from the decedent or whose marriage to the decedent has been annulled is not a surviving spouse unless, by virtue of a subsequent marriage, the individual is married to the decedent at the time of death. A decree of separation that does not terminate the status of husband and wife is not a divorce for purposes of this section. (b) In AS 13.12.101 — 13.12.405 and AS 13.16.065 , a surviving spouse does not include (1) an individual who obtains or consents to a final decree or judgment of divorce from the decedent or an annulment of their marriage, if the decree or judgment is not recognized as valid in this state, unless subsequently they participate in a marriage ceremony purporting to marry each to the other or live together as husband and wife; (2) an individual who, following an invalid decree or judgment of divorce or annulment obtained by the decedent, participates in a marriage ceremony with a third individual; or (3) an individual who was a party to a valid proceeding concluded by an order purporting to terminate all marital property rights. Sec. 13.12.803. Effect of homicide on intestate succession, wills, trusts, joint assets, life insurance, and beneficiary designations. (a) An individual who feloniously kills the decedent forfeits all benefits under this chapter with respect to the decedent's estate, including an intestate share, an elective share, an omitted spouse's or child's share, a homestead allowance, exempt property, and a family allowance. If the decedent died intestate, the decedent's intestate estate passes as if the killer disclaimed the killer's intestate share. (b) The felonious killing of the decedent (1) revokes a revocable (A) disposition or appointment of property made by the decedent to the killer in a governing instrument; (B) provision in a governing instrument conferring a general or nongeneral power of appointment on the killer; and (C) nomination of the killer in a governing instrument, nominating or appointing the killer to serve in fiduciary or representative capacity, including a personal representative, executor, trustee, or agent; and (2) severs the interests of the decedent and killer in property held by them at the time of the killing as joint tenants with the right of survivorship, transforming the interests of the decedent and killer into tenancies in common. (c) A severance under (b)(2) of this section does not affect a third-party interest in property acquired for value and in good faith reliance on an apparent title by survivorship in the killer unless a writing declaring the severance has been noted, registered, filed, or recorded in records that are appropriate to the kind and location of the property and that are relied upon, in the ordinary course of transactions involving the type of property, as evidence of ownership. (d) Provisions of a governing instrument are given effect as if the killer disclaimed all provisions revoked by this section or, in the case of a revoked nomination in a fiduciary or representative capacity, as if the killer predeceased the decedent. (e) A wrongful acquisition of property or interest by a killer not covered by this section shall be treated in accordance with the principle that a killer may not profit from the killer's wrong. (f) After all right to appeal has been exhausted, a judgment of conviction establishing criminal accountability for the felonious killing of the decedent conclusively establishes the convicted individual as the decedent's killer for purposes of this section. In the absence of a conviction, the court, upon the petition of an interested person, shall determine whether, under the preponderance of evidence standard, the individual would be found criminally accountable for the felonious killing of the decedent. If the court determines that, under that standard, the individual would be found criminally accountable for the felonious killing of the decedent, the determination conclusively establishes that individual as the decedent's killer for purposes of this section. (g) A payor or other third party is not liable for having made a payment or transferred an item of property or other benefit to a beneficiary designated in a governing instrument affected by a felonious killing, or for having taken other action in good faith reliance on the validity of the governing instrument, upon request and satisfactory proof of the decedent's death, before the payor or other third party received written notice of a claimed forfeiture or revocation under this section. A payor or other third party is liable for a payment made or other action taken after the payor or other third party receives written notice of a claimed forfeiture or revocation under this section. (h) Written notice of a claimed forfeiture or revocation under (g) of this section shall be mailed to the payor's or other third party's main office or home by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, or served upon the payor or other third party in the same manner as a summons in a civil action. Upon receipt of written notice of a claimed forfeiture or revocation under this section, a payor or other third party may pay an amount owed or transfer or deposit an item of property held by it to or with the court having jurisdiction of the probate proceedings relating to the decedent's estate, or if proceedings have not been commenced, to or with the court in the judicial district of the decedent's residence. The court shall hold the funds or item of property and, upon the court's determination under this section, shall order disbursement in accordance with the determination. Payments, transfers, or deposits made to or with the court discharge the payor or other third party from all claims for the value of amounts paid to or items of property transferred to or deposited with the court. (i) A person who purchases property for value and without notice, or who receives a payment or other item of property in partial or full satisfaction of a legally enforceable obligation, is not obligated under this section to return the payment, item of property, or benefit, or liable under this section for the amount of the payment or the value of the item of property or benefit. However a person who, not for value, receives a payment, an item of property, or other benefit to which the person is not entitled under this section is obligated to return the payment, item of property, or benefit, or is personally liable for the amount of the payment or the value of the item of property or benefit, to the person who is entitled to it under this section. (j) If this section or part of this section is preempted by federal law with respect to a payment, an item of property, or other benefit covered by this section, a person who, not for value, receives the payment, item of property, or other benefit to which the person is not entitled under this section is obligated to return the payment, item of property, or benefit, or is personally liable for the amount of the payment or the value of the item of property or benefit, to the person who would have been entitled to it if this section or part of this section were not preempted. (k) In the case of an unintentional felonious killing, a court may set aside the application of (a), (b), (d), or (e) of this section if the court makes special findings of fact and conclusions of law that the application of the subsection would result in a manifest injustice and that the subsection should not be applied. (l) In this section, (1) “disposition or appointment of property” includes a transfer of an item of property or other benefit to a beneficiary designated in a governing instrument; (2) “governing instrument” means a governing instrument executed by the decedent; (3) “revocable,” with respect to a disposition, appointment, provision, or nomination, means a disposition, appointment, provision, or nomination under which the decedent, at the time of or immediately before death, was alone empowered, by law or under the governing instrument, to cancel the designation in favor of the killer, whether or not the decedent was then empowered to designate the decedent in place of the decedent's killer or the decedent then had capacity to exercise the power. Sec. 13.12.804. Effect of divorce, annulment, and other changes of circumstances on probate and nonprobate transfers. (a) Except as provided by the express terms of a governing instrument, a court order, or a contract relating to the division of the marital estate made between the divorced individuals before or after the marriage, divorce, or annulment, the divorce or annulment of a marriage (1) revokes a revocable (A) disposition or appointment of property made by a divorced individual to the divorced individual's former spouse in a governing instrument and a disposition or appointment created by law or in a governing instrument to a relative of the divorced individual's former spouse; (B) provision in a governing instrument conferring a general or nongeneral power of appointment on the divorced individual's former spouse or on a relative of the divorced individual's former spouse; and (C) nomination in a governing instrument, nominating a divorced individual's former spouse or a relative of the divorced individual's former spouse to serve in a fiduciary or representative capacity, including a personal representative, executor, trustee, conservator, agent, or guardian; and (2) severs the interests of the former spouses in property held by them at the time of the divorce or annulment as joint tenants with the right of survivorship, transforming the interests of the former spouses into tenancies in common. (b) A severance under (a)(2) of this section does not affect a third-party interest in property acquired for value and in good faith reliance on an apparent title by survivorship in the survivor of the former spouses unless a writing declaring the severance has been noted, registered, filed, or recorded in records appropriate to the kind and location of the property that are relied upon, in the ordinary course of transactions involving that kind of property, as evidence of ownership. (c) Provisions of a governing instrument are given effect as if the former spouse and relatives of the former spouse disclaimed all provisions revoked by this section or, in the case of a revoked nomination in a fiduciary or representative capacity, as if the former spouse and relatives of the former spouse died immediately before the divorce or annulment. (d) Provisions revoked solely by this section are revived by the divorced individual's remarriage to the former spouse or by a nullification of the divorce or annulment. (e) A change of circumstances other than as described in this section and in AS 13.12.803 does not effect a revocation. (f) A payor or other third party is not liable for having made a payment or transferred an item of property or other benefit to a beneficiary designated in a governing instrument affected by a divorce, annulment, or remarriage, or for having taken other action in good faith reliance on the validity of the governing instrument, before the payor or other third party received written notice of the divorce, annulment, or remarriage. A payor or other third party is liable for a payment made or other action taken after the payor or other third party receives written notice of a claimed forfeiture or revocation under this section. (g) Written notice of the divorce, annulment, or remarriage under (f) of this section shall be mailed to the payor's or other third-party's main office or home by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, or served upon the payor or other third party in the same manner as a summons in a civil action. Upon receipt of written notice of the divorce, annulment, or remarriage, a payor or other third party may pay any amount owed or transfer or deposit any item of property held by it to or with the court having jurisdiction of the probate proceedings relating to the decedent's estate or, if proceedings have not been commenced, to or with the court located in the judicial district of the decedent's residence. The court shall hold the funds or item of property and, upon its determination under this section, shall order disbursement or transfer in accordance with the determination. Payments, transfers, or deposits made to or with the court discharge the payor or other third party from all claims for the value of amounts paid to or items of property transferred to or deposited with the court. (h) A person who purchases property from a former spouse, relative of a former spouse, or another person for value and without notice, or who receives from a former spouse, relative of a former spouse, or another person a payment or other item of property in partial or full satisfaction of a legally enforceable obligation, is not obligated under this section to return the payment, an item of property, or benefit, or liable under this section for the amount of the payment or the value of the item of property or benefit. However, a former spouse, relative of a former spouse, or other person who, not for value, receives a payment, an item of property, or other benefit to which that person is not entitled under this section is obligated to return the payment, an item of property, or benefit, or is personally liable for the amount of the payment or the value of the item of property or benefit, to the person who is entitled to it under this section. (i) If this section or a part of this section is preempted by federal law with respect to a payment, an item of property, or other benefit covered by this section, a former spouse, relative of the former spouse, or another person who, not for value, received a payment, an item of property, or other benefit to which that person is not entitled under this section is obligated to return that payment, item of property, or benefit, or is personally liable for the amount of the payment or the value of the item of property or benefit, to the person who would have been entitled to it if this section or part of this section were not preempted. (j) In this section, (1) “disposition or appointment of property” includes a transfer of an item of property or other benefit to a beneficiary designated in a governing instrument; (2) “divorce or annulment” means any divorce or annulment, or any dissolution or declaration of invalidity of a marriage, that would exclude the spouse as a surviving spouse within the meaning of AS 13.12.802 ; a decree of separation that does not terminate the status of husband and wife is not a divorce for purposes of this section; (3) “divorced individual” includes an individual whose marriage has been annulled; (4) “governing instrument” means a governing instrument executed by the divorced individual before the divorce or annulment of the divorced individual's marriage to the divorced individual's former spouse; (5) “relative of the divorced individual's former spouse” means an individual who is related to the divorced individual's former spouse by blood, adoption, or affinity and who, after the divorce or annulment, is not related to the divorced individual by blood, adoption, or affinity; (6) “revocable,” with respect to a disposition, appointment, provision, or nomination, means a disposition, appointment, provision, or nomination under which the divorced individual, at the time of the divorce or annulment, was alone empowered, by law or under the governing instrument, to cancel the designation in favor of the divorced individual's former spouse or former spouse's relative, whether or not the divorced individual was then empowered to designate the divorced individual in place of the divorced individual's former spouse or in place of the divorced individual's former spouse's relative and whether or not the divorced individual then had the capacity to exercise the power. Article 10. Miscellaneous Provisions. Sec. 13.12.907. Honorary trusts; trusts for pets. (a) Subject to (c) of this section, a trust may be performed by the trustee for 21 years but not longer, whether or not the terms of the trust contemplate a longer duration, if (1) the trust is for a specific lawful, noncharitable purpose or for a lawful, noncharitable purpose to be selected by the trustee; and (2) there is not a definite or definitely ascertainable beneficiary designated. (b) Except as otherwise provided by this subsection and (c) of this section, a trust for the care of a designated domestic or pet animal is valid. The trust terminates when a living animal is not covered by the trust. A governing instrument shall be liberally construed to bring the transfer within this subsection, to presume against the merely precatory or honorary nature of the disposition, and to carry out the general intent of the transferor. Extrinsic evidence is admissible in determining the transferor's intent. (c) In addition to the provisions of (a) or (b) of this section, a trust covered by either of those subsections is subject to the following provisions: (1) except as expressly provided otherwise in the trust instrument, a portion of the principal or income may not be converted to the use of the trustee or to a use other than for the trust's purposes or for the benefit of a covered animal; (2) upon termination, the trustee shall transfer the unexpended trust property in the following order: (A) as directed in the trust instrument; (B) if the trust was created in a nonresiduary clause in the transferor's will or in a codicil to the transferor's will, under the residuary clause in the transferor's will; and (C) if a taker is not produced by the application of (A) or (B) of this paragraph, to the transferor's heirs under AS 13.12.711 ; (3) for the purposes of AS 13.12.707 , the residuary clause is treated as creating a future interest under the terms of a trust; (4) the intended use of the principal or income may be enforced by an individual designated for that purpose in the trust instrument or, if none, by an individual appointed by a court upon application to the court by an individual; (5) except as ordered by the court or required by the trust instrument, a filing, report, registration, periodic accounting, separate maintenance of funds, appointment, or fee is not required by reason of the existence of the fiduciary relationship of the trustee; (6) a court may reduce the amount of the property transferred, if it determines that amount substantially exceeds the amount required for the intended use; the amount of the reduction, if any, passes as unexpended trust property under (2) of this subsection; (7) if a trustee is not designated or a designated trustee is not willing or able to serve, a court shall name a trustee; a court may order the transfer of the property to another trustee, if required to assure that the intended use is carried out and if a successor trustee is not designated in the trust instrument or if a designated successor trustee does not agree to serve or is unable to serve; a court may also make other orders and determinations as are advisable to carry out the intent of the transferor and the purpose of this section. Sec. 13.12.912. International will; validity. (a) Except as provided by AS 13.06.068 , a will is valid as regards form, irrespective of the place where the will is made, of the location of the assets, and of the nationality, domicile, or residence of the testator, if the will is made in the form of an international will complying with the requirements of AS 13.12.912 — 13.12.921. (b) The invalidity of the will as an international will does not affect its formal validity as a will of another kind. (c) AS 13.12.912 — 13.12.921 do not apply to the form of testamentary dispositions made by two or more persons in one instrument. Sec. 13.12.913. International will; requirements. (a) The international will must be written. The will does not need to be written by the testator. The will may be written in any language, or by hand or other means. (b) The testator shall declare in the presence of two witnesses and of a person authorized to act in connection with international wills that the document is the testator's will and that the testator knows the contents of the will. The testator does not need to inform the witnesses, or the authorized person, of the contents of the will. (c) In the presence of the witnesses, and of the authorized person, the testator shall sign the international will, or, if the testator has previously signed it, shall acknowledge the testator's signature. (d) When the testator is unable to sign, the absence of the testator's signature does not affect the validity of the international will if the testator indicates the reason for the testator's inability to sign and the authorized person makes note of the reason on the will. In these cases, it is permissible for any other person present, including the authorized person or one of the witnesses, at the direction of the testator, to sign the testator's name for the testator, if the authorized person makes note of this also on the will, but it is not required that a person sign the testator's name for the testator. (e) The witnesses and the authorized person shall there and then attest the international will by signing in the presence of the testator. Sec. 13.12.914. International will; other points of form. (a) The signatures shall be placed at the end of the international will. If the will consists of several sheets, each sheet shall be signed by the testator or, if the testator is unable to sign, by the person signing on the testator's behalf or, if a person is not signing on the testator's behalf, by the authorized person. In addition, each sheet shall be numbered. (b) The date of the international will is the date of its signature by the authorized person. That date shall be noted at the end of the will by the authorized person. (c) The authorized person shall ask the testator whether the testator wishes to make a declaration concerning the safekeeping of the will. If so and at the express request of the testator the place where the testator intends to have the will kept shall be mentioned in the certificate provided for in AS 13.12.915 . (d) An international will executed in compliance with AS 13.12.913 is not invalid merely because it does not comply with this section. Sec. 13.12.915. International will; certificate. The authorized person shall attach to the international will a certificate to be signed by the authorized person establishing that the requirements of AS 13.12.912 — 13.12.921 for valid execution of an international will have been complied with. The authorized person shall keep a copy of the certificate and deliver another to the testator. The certificate shall be substantially in the following form: CERTIFICATE(Convention of October 26, 1973)1. I, _____________________________________ (name, address, and capacity), a person authorized to act in connection with international wills2. certify that on __________ (date) at __________________________________ (place)3. (testator) _____________________________________ (name, address, date, and place of birth) in my presence and that of the witnesses4. (a) _____________________________________ (name, address, date, and place of birth)(b) _____________________________________ (name, address, date, and place of birth) has declared that the attached document is the testator's will and that the testator knows the contents of the will;5. I furthermore certify that:6. (a) in my presence and in that of the witnesses(1) the testator has signed the will or has acknowledged the testator's signature previously affixed.* (2) following a declaration of the testator stating that the testator was unable to sign the testator's will for the following reason _____________________________________________________, I have mentioned this declaration on the will*and the signature has been affixed by _____________________________________ (name and address)7. (b) the witnesses and I have signed the will;8. * (c) each page of the will has been signed by __________________________________ and numbered;9. (d) I have satisfied myself as to the identity of the testator and of the witnesses as designated above;10. (e) the witnesses met the conditions requisite to act as witnesses according to the law under which I am acting;11. * (f) the testator has requested me to include the following statement concerning the safekeeping of the testator's will:______________________________________12. PLACE OF EXECUTION13. DATE14. SIGNATURE and, if necessary, SEAL* to be completed if appropriate. Sec. 13.12.916. International will; effect of certificate. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, the certificate of the authorized person is conclusive of the formal validity of the instrument as an international will under AS 13.12.912 — 13.12.921. The absence or irregularity of a certificate does not affect the formal validity of a will under AS 13.12.912 — 13.12.921. Sec. 13.12.917. International will; revocation. An international will is subject to the ordinary rules of revocation of wills. Sec. 13.12.918. Source and construction. AS 13.12.912 — 13.12.917 and 13.12.921 derive from the Annex to Convention of October 26, 1973, Providing a Uniform Law on the Form of an International Will. In interpreting and applying AS 13.12.912 — 13.12.921, regard shall be had to its international origin and to the need for uniformity in its interpretation. Sec. 13.12.919. Persons authorized to act in relation to international will; eligibility; recognition by authorizing agency. Individuals who are licensed to practice law in this state and who are in good standing as active law practitioners in this state, are hereby declared to be authorized persons in relation to international wills. Sec. 13.12.920. International will information registration. The Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development shall establish a registry system by which authorized persons may register in a central information center information regarding the execution of international wills, keeping that information in strictest confidence until the death of the maker and then making it available to any person desiring information about any will who presents a death certificate or other satisfactory evidence of the testator's death to the center. Information that may be received, preserved in confidence until death, and reported as indicated is limited to the testator's name, social security, or other individual identifying number established by law, address, and date and place of birth, and the intended place of deposit or safekeeping of the instrument pending the death of the maker.

The Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development, at the request of the authorized person, may cause the information it receives about execution of an international will to be transmitted to the registry system of another jurisdiction as identified by the testator, if that other system adheres to rules protecting the confidentiality of the information similar to those established in this state. Sec. 13.12.921. Definitions for AS 13.12.912 — 13.12.921. In AS 13.12.912 — 13.12.921, (1) “authorized person” and “person authorized to act in connection with international wills” mean a person who by AS 13.12.919 , or by the laws of the United States, including members of the diplomatic and consular service of the United States designated by federal regulations, is empowered to supervise the execution of international wills; (2) “international will” means a will executed in conformity with AS 13.12.912 — 13.12.915.