II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1901 

To amend Public Law 98–513 to provide for the inheritance of small 

fractional interests within the Lake Traverse Indian Reservation. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 30, 2007 

Mr. THUNE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Indian Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend Public Law 98–513 to provide for the inheritance 

of small fractional interests within the Lake Traverse 

Indian Reservation. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lake Traverse Res5 ervation Heirship Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO LAKE TRAVERSE HEIRSHIP ACT. 

7 Public Law 98–513 is amended by striking section 

8 5 (98 Stat. 2413) and inserting the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 5. INHERITANCE OF SMALL FRACTIONAL INTEREST. 

2 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF SMALL FRACTIONAL INTER3 EST.—In this section, the term ‘small fractional interest’ 

4 means an undivided trust or restricted interest in a parcel 

5 of land within the reservation that— 

6 ‘‘(1) represents less than 5 percent of the entire 

7 undivided ownership of the parcel of land (as re8 flected in the decedent’s estate inventory as of the 

9 date on which the decisionmaker enters the final de10 cision determining heirs); and 

‘‘(2) does not exceed the equivalent of 21 11 ⁄2 acres 

12 if the interest were to be expressed in terms of its 

13 proportionate share of the total acreage of the parcel 

14 of land of which the interest is a part. 

15 ‘‘(b) INTESTATE INHERITANCE IN GENERAL.—Not16 withstanding section 3, no small fractional interest shall 

17 pass by intestate succession under this Act or any other 

18 provision of law except as provided in subsection (c). 

19 ‘‘(c) INHERITANCE BY TRIBE.—If a person dies pos20 sessed of a small fractional interest that has not been de21 vised in accordance with subsection (d) to 1 or more eligi22 ble devisees described in that subsection, the small frac23 tional interest shall pass to the Tribe, with title to the 

24 interest to be held by the United States in trust for the 

25 Tribe. 

26 ‘‘(d) INHERITANCE BY TESTAMENTARY DEVISE.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE DEVISEES.—Notwithstanding 

2 any other provision of this Act, and subject to para3 graph (2), a small fractional interest may be devised 

4 only to the following eligible devisees: 

5 ‘‘(A) The tribe. 

6 ‘‘(B) Any person who is an enrolled mem7 ber of the Tribe prior to entry of the final pro8 bate order. 

9 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) NO SURVIVING SPOUSE.—In any case 

11 in which a surviving spouse of a decedent does 

12 not exist, the small fractional interest of the de13 cedent shall pass only to an heir of the decedent 

14 who is an enrolled member of the Tribe before 

15 the date on which a final probate order relating 

16 to the estate is entered. 

17 ‘‘(B) DEVISES OF SMALL FRACTIONAL IN18 TERESTS.—No devise of a small fractional in19 terest shall be valid as to a devisee unless— 

20 ‘‘(i) the devisee is eligible to receive 

21 the small fractional interest by devise 

22 under paragraph (1); and 

23 ‘‘(ii) the devise is made in a will that 

24 has been approved by the Secretary of the 

25 Interior in accordance with section 2 of the 


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1 Act of June 25, 1910 (36 Stat. 856, chap2 ter 431). 

3 ‘‘(C) DESCENT OF INTEREST.—A small 

4 fractional interest shall pass, in trust or re5 stricted status— 

6 ‘‘(i)(I) to the surviving child of the de7 cedent, if the child is eligible to receive the 

8 interest by devise under paragraph (1); or 

9 ‘‘(II) if 2 or more surviving children 

10 of the decedent are eligible to receive the 

11 interest, to the oldest of the children; 

12 ‘‘(ii)(I) if the interest does not pass 

13 under clause (i), to the surviving grand14 child of the decedent, if the grandchild is 

15 eligible to receive the interest by devise 

16 under paragraph (1); or 

17 ‘‘(II) if 2 or more surviving grand18 children of the decedent are eligible to re19 ceive the interest, to the oldest of the 

20 grandchildren; 

21 ‘‘(iii)(I) if the interest does not pass 

22 under clause (i) or (ii), to the surviving 

23 great-grandchild of the decedent, if the 

24 great-grandchild is eligible to receive the 

25 interest by devise under paragraph (1); or 


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1 ‘‘(II) if 2 or more surviving great2 grandchildren of the decedent are eligible 

3 to receive the interest, to the oldest of the 

4 great-grandchildren; or 

5 ‘‘(iv) if the interest does not pass 

6 under clause (i), (ii), or (iii), to the Tribe. 

7 ‘‘(3) HOLDING IN TRUST.—Any small fractional 

8 interest devised in accordance with this subsection 

9 shall pass to the devisee or devisees on the death of 

10 the testator, with title to be held by the United 

11 States in trust for the devisee or devisees.’’. 

12 SEC. 3. NOTICE TO LANDOWNERS; CERTIFICATION. 

13 (a) NOTICE.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

14 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior (re15 ferred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall provide no16 tice of the amendment made by section 2 to owners of 

17 trust and restricted interests in land within the Lake Tra18 verse Indian Reservation by— 

19 (1) posting written notice of the amendment at 

20 the administrative headquarters of the Sisseton21 Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation 

22 of North Dakota and South Dakota and at the 

23 Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs located in 

24 Agency Village, South Dakota; 


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1 (2) publishing the notice not fewer than 4 times 

2 in newspapers of general circulation in all counties 

3 in which any part of the Lake Traverse Reservation 

4 is located; and 

5 (3) sending the notice by first class mail to the 

6 last known addresses of Indians with interests in 

7 trust or restricted land within the Lake Traverse 

8 Reservation. 

9 (b) CERTIFICATION.—After providing notice under 

10 subsection (a), the Secretary shall— 

11 (1) certify that notice has been given in accord12 ance with that subsection; and 

13 (2) publish notice of the certification in the 

14 Federal Register. 

15 SEC. 4. ESCHEATMENTS. 

16 (a) DEFINITION OF ESCHEATMENT.—In this section, 

17 the term ‘‘escheatment’’ means an escheatment to the 

18 Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of an interest in land pursuant 

19 to section 5 of Public Law 98–513 (98 Stat. 2411). 

20 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are— 

21 (1) to establish a process for providing com22 pensation for escheatments; and 

23 (2) to ratify the escheatments. 

24 (c) RATIFICATION OF ESCHEATMENTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the requirements 

2 of this section, each escheatment is ratified. 

3 (2) HOLDING IN TRUST.—The title to each in4 terest subject to an escheatment shall be held by the 

5 United States in trust for the Sisseton-Wahpeton 

6 Oyate. 

7 (d) ACTIONS BARRED.—Notwithstanding any other 

8 provision of law, except as provided in subsection 

9 (4)(C)(ii), no court shall have jurisdiction over a claim 

10 challenging— 

11 (1) an escheatment; or 

12 (2) the compensation provided for an 

13 escheatment. 

14 (e) COMPENSATION.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 

16 compensation in an amount described in paragraph 

17 (2) to any individual that, absent an escheatment, 

18 would have inherited land or an interest in land. 

19 (2) AMOUNT.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—In determining the 

21 amount of compensation to be provided under 

22 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall take into 

23 consideration— 

24 (i) any appraisal report prepared with 

25 respect to the probate of the estate of the 


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1 decedent that owned the applicable land or 

2 interest in land on the day before the date 

3 on which the land or interest was subject 

4 to an escheatment; or 

5 (ii) if an appraisal described in clause 

6 (i) is not available, the appraised value of 

7 the land or interest in land as of the date 

8 of probate of the land or interest. 

9 (B) INTEREST.—The amount of compensa10 tion provided under this subsection shall include 

11 interest calculated from the date of probate of 

12 the applicable land or interest in land in accord13 ance with section 3116 of title 40, United 

14 States Code. 

15 (3) REVIEW OF DETERMINATIONS.— 

16 (A) ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.—A deter17 mination by the Secretary of the amount of 

18 compensation provided under this subsection 

19 shall be subject to administrative review in ac20 cordance with regulations of the Secretary con21 tained in chapters I and II of title 25, Code of 

22 Federal Regulations (or successor regulations). 

23 (B) JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 

24 (i) IN GENERAL.—No court shall have 

25 jurisdiction to review a determination by 


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1 the Secretary of the amount of compensa2 tion provided under this subsection until 

3 the date on which a final decision is made 

4 with respect to the administrative review of 

5 the determination. 

6 (ii) DEADLINE.— 

7 (I) IN GENERAL.—An action 

8 seeking judicial review of a determina9 tion by the Secretary under this sub10 section shall be filed by not later than 

11 1 year after the date described in 

12 clause (i). 

13 (II) FAILURE TO MEET DEAD14 LINE.—If the deadline described in 

15 subclause (I) is not met with respect 

16 to a determination of the Secretary, 

17 the determination shall not be subject 

18 to judicial review. 

19 (4) EXCLUSIVE REMEDY.—Compensation pro20 vided under this subsection with respect to an 

21 escheatment shall be the exclusive remedy for the 

22 escheatment. 

23 (f) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall promulgate 

24 such regulations as the Secretary determines to be nec25 essary to carry out this section. 


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1 (g) APPLICABILITY.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—This section shall apply to 

3 escheatments only if— 

4 (A) the amendment made by section 2 is 

5 determined to be invalid for any reason by a 

6 court of competent jurisdiction; and 

7 (B) all appeals of such a determination are 

8 exhausted. 

9 (2) EFFECT OF SUBSECTION.—Nothing in this 

10 subsection invalidates the amendment made by sec11 tion 2. 

12 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

13 (a) EFFECT ON INTERESTS.—The amendment made 

14 by section 2 shall not affect any interest in the estate of 

15 a person who dies before the date that is 1 year after the 

16 date on which the Secretary publishes notice of the certifi17 cation under section 3(b). 

18 (b) EFFECT ON WILLS.—The amendment made by 

19 section 2 shall not affect the validity or effect of any will 

20 executed before the date that is 1 year after the date on 

21 which the Secretary publishes notice of the certification 

22 under section 3(b). 


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