II 

Calendar No. 515

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1721

[Report No. 108–264] 

To amend the Indian Land Consolidation Act to improve provisions relating 

to probate of trust and restricted land, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 14, 2003

Mr. CAMPBELL (for himself and Mr. THOMAS) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs 

MAY 13, 2004

Reported by Mr. CAMPBELL, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL

To amend the Indian Land Consolidation Act to improve 

provisions relating to probate of trust and restricted 

land, and for other purposes.

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 ‘‘American Indian Pro5 bate Reform Act of 2003’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that—

3 (1) the Act of February 8, 1887 (commonly 

4 known as the ‘‘Indian General Allotment Act’’) (25 

5 U.S.C. 331 et seq.), which authorized the allotment 

6 of Indian reservations, did not permit Indian allot7 ment owners to provide for the testamentary disposi8 tion of the land that was allotted to them; 

9 (2) that Act provided that allotments would de10 scend according to State law of intestate succession 

11 based on the location of the allotment; 

12 (3) the reliance of the Federal Government on 

13 the State law of intestate succession with respect to 

14 the descent of allotments has resulted in numerous 

15 problems affecting Indian tribes, members of Indian 

16 tribes, and the Federal Government, including 

17 (A) the increasingly fractionated ownership 

18 of trust and restricted land as that land is in19 herited by successive generations of owners as 

20 tenants in common; 

21 (B) the application of different rules of in22 testate succession to each interest of a decedent 

23 in or to trust or restricted land if that land is 

24 located within the boundaries of more than 1 

25 State, which application—
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1 (i) makes probate planning unneces2 sarily difficult; and 

3 (ii) impedes efforts to provide probate 

4 planning assistance or advice; 

5 (C) the absence of a uniform general pro6 bate code for trust and restricted land, which 

7 makes it difficult for Indian tribes to work co8 operatively to develop tribal probate codes; and 

9 (D) the failure of Federal law to address 

10 or provide for many of the essential elements of 

11 general probate law, either directly or by ref12 erence, which—

13 (i) is unfair to the owners of trust and 

14 restricted land (and heirs and devisees of 

15 owners); and 

16 (ii) makes probate planning more dif17 ficult; and 

18 (4) a uniform Federal probate code would like19 ly—

20 (A) reduce the number of fractionated in21 terests in trust or restricted land; 

22 (B) facilitate efforts to provide probate 

23 planning assistance and advice; 

24 (C) facilitate intertribal efforts to produce 

25 tribal probate codes in accordance with section 
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1 206 of the Indian Land Consolidation Act (25 

2 U.S.C. 2205); and 

3 (D) provide essential elements of general 

4 probate law that are not applicable on the date 

5 of enactment of this Act to interests in trust or 

6 restricted land. 

7 SEC. 3. INDIAN PROBATE REFORM. 

8 (a) TESTAMENTARY DISPOSITION.—Section 207 of 

9 the Indian Land Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2206) is 

10 amended by striking subsection (a) and inserting the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(a) TESTAMENTARY DISPOSITION.—

13 ‘‘(1) GENERAL DEVISE OF AN INTEREST IN

14 TRUST OR RESTRICTED LAND.—

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to any appli16 cable Federal law relating to the devise or de17 scent of trust or restricted land, or a tribal pro18 bate code approved by the Secretary in accord19 ance with section 206, the owner of an interest 

20 in trust or restricted land may devise such an 

21 interest to—

22 ‘‘(i) an Indian tribe with jurisdiction 

23 over the land; or 

24 ‘‘(ii) any Indian; or 
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1 ‘‘(iii) any lineal descendant of the tes2 tator; or 

3 ‘‘(iv) any person who owns a pre4 existing undivided trust or restricted inter5 est in the same parcel of land; 

6 in trust or restricted status. 

7 ‘‘(B) RULE OF INTERPRETATION.—Any 

8 devise of an interest in trust or restricted land 

9 or personal property to a devisee listed in sub10 paragraph (A) shall be considered to be a devise 

11 of the interest in trust or restricted status, un12 less—

13 ‘‘(i) language in the will clearly evi14 dences the testator’s intent that the inter15 est is to vest in the devisee as a fee inter16 est without restrictions; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) the interest devised is a life es18 tate. 

19 ‘‘(2) DEVISE OF TRUST OR RESTRICTED LAND

20 AS A LIFE ESTATE OR IN FEE.—

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

22 under any applicable Federal law, any interest 

23 in trust or restricted land that is not devised in 

24 accordance with paragraph (1) may be devised 

25 only—
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1 ‘‘(i) as a life estate without regard to 

2 waste to any person, with the remainder 

3 being devised only in accordance with sub4 paragraph (B) or paragraph (1); or

5 ‘‘(ii) except as provided in subpara6 graph (B), in fee to any person. 

7 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Any interest in trust 

8 or restricted land that is subject to section 4 of 

9 the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 464), may 

10 be devised only in accordance with—

11 ‘‘(i) that section; 

12 ‘‘(ii) subparagraph (A)(i); or 

13 ‘‘(iii) paragraph (1). 

14 ‘‘(3) GENERAL DEVISE OF AN INTEREST IN

15 TRUST OR RESTRICTED PERSONAL PROPERTY.—

16 ‘‘(A) TRUST OR RESTRICTED PERSONAL

17 PROPERTY DEFINED.—The term ‘Trust or re18 stricted personal property’ as used in this sec19 tion includes—

20 ‘‘(i) all funds and securities of any 

21 kind which are held in trust in an indi22 vidual Indian money account or otherwise 

23 supervised for the decedent by the Sec24 retary; and 
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1 ‘‘(ii) absent clear evidence to the con2 trary, all personal property permanently 

3 affixed to trust or restricted lands. 

4 ‘‘(B) IN GENERAL.—Subject to any appli5 cable Federal law relating to the devise or de6 scent of such trust or restricted personal prop7 erty, or a tribal probate code approved by the 

8 Secretary in accordance with section 206, the 

9 owner of an interest in trust or restricted per10 sonal property may devise such an interest to 

11 any person or entity. 

12 ‘‘(C) MAINTENANCE AS TRUST OR RE13 STRICTED PERSONAL PROPERTY.—Except as 

14 provided in paragraph (1)(B), where an interest 

15 in trust or restricted personal property is de16 vised to a devisee listed in paragraph (1)(A), 

17 the Secretary shall maintain and continue to 

18 manage such interests as trust or restricted 

19 personal property. 

20 ‘‘(D) DIRECT DISBURSEMENT AND DIS21 TRIBUTION.—In the case of a devise of an in22 terest in trust or restricted personal property to 

23 a devisee not listed in paragraph (1)(A), the 

24 Secretary shall directly disburse and distribute 

25 such personal property to the devisee. 
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1 ‘‘(4) INELIGIBLE DEVISEES OF TRUST OR RE2 STRICTED INTEREST; INVALID WILLS.—Any interest 

3 in trust or restricted land or personal property that 

4 is devised as a trust or restricted interest to a devi5 see not listed in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) 

6 shall descend to the devisee as a fee interest. Any in7 terest in trust or restricted land or personal property 

8 that is not disposed of by a valid will shall descend 

9 in accordance with the applicable law of intestate 

10 succession as provided for in subsection (b).’’. 

11 (b) NONTESTAMENTARY DISPOSITION.—Section 207 

12 of the Indian Land Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2206) 

13 is amended by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 

14 following: 

15 ‘‘(b) NONTESTAMENTARY DISPOSITION.—

16 ‘‘(1) RULES OF DESCENT.—Subject to any ap17 plicable Federal law relating to the devise or descent 

18 of trust or restricted property, any interest in trust 

19 or restricted property, including personal property, 

20 that is not disposed of by a valid will—

21 ‘‘(A) shall descend according to a tribal 

22 probate code that is approved in accordance 

23 with section 206; or 
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1 ‘‘(B) in the case of an interest in trust or 

2 restricted property to which such a code does 

3 not apply, shall descend in accordance with—

4 ‘‘(i) paragraphs (2) through (4); and 

5 ‘‘(ii) other applicable Federal law. 

6 ‘‘(2) RULES GOVERNING DESCENT OF ES7 TATE.—

8 ‘‘(A) SURVIVING SPOUSE.—If there is a 

9 surviving spouse of the decedent, such spouse 

10 shall receive trust and restricted property in the 

11 estate as follows: 

12 ‘‘(i) If the decedent is survived by an 

13 heir described in subparagraph (B) (i), (ii), 

14 (iii), or (iv), the surviving spouse shall receive 1 15 ⁄3 of the trust or restricted personal 

16 property of the decedent and a life estate 

17 without regard to waste in the interests in 

18 trust or restricted lands of the decedent. 

19 ‘‘(ii) If there are no heirs described in 

20 subparagraph (B) (i), (ii), (iii), or (iv), the 

21 surviving spouse shall receive all of the 

22 trust or restricted personal property of the 

23 decedent and a life estate without regard 

24 to waste in the trust or restricted lands. 
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1 ‘‘(iii) The remainder shall pass as set 

2 forth in subparagraph (B). 

3 ‘‘(B) INDIAN HEIRS.—Where there is no 

4 surviving spouse of the decedent, or there is a 

5 remainder pursuant to subparagraph (A), the 

6 estate or remainder of the decedent shall, sub7 ject to subparagraph (A), pass as follows: 

8 ‘‘(i) To the Indian children of the de9 cedent (or if 1 or more of those Indian 

10 children do not survive the decedent, the 

11 Indian children of the deceased child of the 

12 decedent, by right of representation, if 

13 such Indian children of the child survive 

14 the decedent) in equal shares. 

15 ‘‘(ii) If the property does not pass 

16 under clause (i), to the surviving Indian 

17 great-grandchildren of the decedent in 

18 equal shares. 

19 ‘‘(iii) If the property does not pass 

20 under clause (i) or (ii), to the surviving In21 dian brothers and sisters who are full sib22 lings of the decedent or who are half-sib23 lings by blood and not by marriage, in 

24 equal shares. 
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1 ‘‘(iv) If the property does not pass 

2 under clause (i), (ii), or (iii), to the Indian 

3 parent or parents of the decedent in equal 

4 shares. 

5 ‘‘(v) If the property does not pass 

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

7 Indian tribe with jurisdiction over the in8 terests in trust or restricted lands;

9 except that notwithstanding clause (v), an In10 dian co-owner (including the Indian tribe re11 ferred to in clause (v)) of a parcel of trust or 

12 restricted land may acquire an interest that 

13 would otherwise descend under that clause by 

14 paying into the estate of the decedent, before 

15 the close of the probate of the estate, the fair 

16 market value of the interest in the land; if more 

17 than 1 Indian co-owner offers to pay for such 

18 interest, the highest bidder shall acquire the in19 terest. 

20 ‘‘(C) NO INDIAN TRIBE.—If there is no In21 dian tribe with jurisdiction over the interests in 

22 trust or restricted lands that would otherwise 

23 descend under subparagraph (B)(v), then such 

24 interests shall be divided equally among co-own25 ers of trust or restricted interests in the parcel; 
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1 if there are no such co-owners, then the Sec2 retary shall accumulate and hold such interests 

3 in trust or restricted status for the Indian tribe 

4 or tribes from which the decedent descended. 

5 ‘‘(3) RIGHT OF REPRESENTATION.—

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara7 graph (B)—

8 ‘‘(i) the interests passing to children 

9 and grandchildren of a decedent under 

10 paragraph (2) shall be divided into as 

11 many equal shares as there are surviving 

12 children of the decedent, deceased children 

13 who have died before the decedent without 

14 issue, and deceased children who have died 

15 before the decedent and have left grand16 children who survive the decedent; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) 1 share shall pass to each sur18 viving child of the decedent and 1 share 

19 shall pass equally divided among the sur20 viving children of a deceased child. 

21 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION FOR HEIRS OF EQUAL

22 CONSANGUINITY.—Notwithstanding subpara23 graph (A), when the persons entitled to take 

24 under subparagraph (B)(i) of paragraph (2) are 
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1 all in the same degree of consanguinity to the 

2 decedent, they shall take in equal shares. 

3 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE RELATING TO SURVIVAL.—

4 In the case of intestate succession under this sub5 section, if an individual fails to survive the decedent 

6 by at least 120 hours, as established by clear and 

7 convincing evidence—

8 ‘‘(A) the individual shall be deemed to have 

9 predeceased the decedent for the purpose of in10 testate succession; and 

11 ‘‘(B) the heirs of the decedent shall be de12 termined in accordance with this section. 

13 ‘‘(5) STATUS OF INHERITED INTERESTS.—A 

14 trust or restricted interest in land or personal prop15 erty that descends under the provisions of this sub16 section (not including any interest in land or per17 sonal property passing to a surviving spouse under 

18 paragraph (2)(A)) shall continue to have the same 

19 trust or restricted status in the hands of the heir as 

20 such interest had immediately prior to the dece21 dent’s death.’’. 

22 (c) Section 207(c) of the Indian Land Consolidation 

23 Act (25 U.S.C. 2206 (c)) is amended by striking all that 

24 follows the heading, ‘‘JOINT TENANCY; RIGHT OF SURVI25 VORSHIP’’, and inserting the following: ‘‘If a testator de-
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1 vises interests in the same parcel of trust or restricted 

2 lands to more than 1 person, in the absence of express 

3 language in the devise to the contrary, the devise shall 

4 be presumed to create joint tenancy with the right of sur5 vivorship in the interests involved.’’. 

6 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Section 207 of the 

7 Indian Land Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2206) is 

8 amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(h) APPLICABLE FEDERAL LAW.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any references in sub11 sections (a) and (b) to applicable Federal law in12 clude—

13 ‘‘(A) Public Law 91–627 (84 Stat. 1874); 

14 ‘‘(B) Public Law 92–377 (86 Stat. 530); 

15 ‘‘(C) Public Law 92–443 (86 Stat. 744); 

16 ‘‘(D) Public Law 96–274 (94 Stat. 537); 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(E) Public Law 98–513 (98 Stat. 2411). 

19 ‘‘(2) NO EFFECT ON LAWS.—Nothing in this 

20 section amends or otherwise affects the application 

21 of any law described in paragraph (1), or any other 

22 Federal law that provides for the devise and descent 

23 of any trust or restricted land located on a specific 

24 Indian reservation or for the devise and descent of 
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1 the allotted lands of a specific tribe or specific 

2 tribes. 

3 ‘‘(i) RULES OF INTERPRETATION.—In the absence of 

4 a contrary intent, and except as otherwise provided under 

5 this Act or a tribal probate code approved by the Secretary 

6 pursuant to section 206, wills shall be construed as to 

7 trust and restricted land and personal property in accord8 ance with the following rules: 

9 ‘‘(1) CONSTRUCTION THAT WILL PASSES ALL

10 PROPERTY.—A will shall be construed to apply to all 

11 trust and restricted land and personal property 

12 which the testator owned at his death, including any 

13 such land or property acquired after the execution of 

14 his will. 

15 ‘‘(2) CLASS GIFTS.—

16 ‘‘(A) Terms of relationship that do not dif17 ferentiate relationships by blood from those by 

18 affinity, such as ‘uncles’, ‘aunts’, ‘nieces’ or 

19 ‘nephews’, are construed to exclude relatives by 

20 affinity. Terms of relationship that do not dif21 ferentiate relationships by the half blood from 

22 those by the whole blood, such as ‘brothers’, 

23 ‘sisters’, ‘nieces’, or ‘nephews’, are construed to 

24 include both types of relationships. 
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1 ‘‘(B) MEANING OF ‘HEIRS’ AND ‘NEXT OF

2 KIN,’ ETC; TIME OF ASCERTAINING CLASS.—A 

3 devise of trust or restricted land or trust funds 

4 to the testator’s or another designated person’s 

5 ‘heirs’, ‘next of kin’, ‘relatives’, or ‘family’ shall 

6 mean those persons, including the spouse, who 

7 would be entitled to take under the provisions

8 of this Act for nontestamentary disposition. The 

9 class is to be ascertained as of the date of the 

10 testator’s death. 

11 ‘‘(C) TIME FOR ASCERTAINING CLASS.—In 

12 construing a devise to a class other than a class 

13 described in subparagraph (B), the class shall 

14 be ascertained as of the time the devise is to 

15 take effect in enjoyment. The surviving issue of 

16 any member of the class who is then dead shall 

17 take by right of representation the share which 

18 their deceased ancestor would have taken. 

19 ‘‘(3) MEANING OF ‘DIE WITHOUT ISSUE’ AND

20 SIMILAR PHRASES.—In any devise under this chap21 ter, the words ‘die without issue’, ‘die without leav22 ing issue’, ‘have no issue’, or words of a similar im23 port shall be construed to mean that an individual 

24 had no lineal descendants in his lifetime or at his 
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1 death, and not that there will be no lineal descend2 ants at some future time. 

3 ‘‘(4) PERSONS BORN OUT OF WEDLOCK.—In 

4 construing provisions of this chapter relating to 

5 lapsed and void devises, and in construing a devise 

6 to a person or persons described by relationship to 

7 the testator or to another, a person born out of wed8 lock shall be considered the child of the natural 

9 mother and also of the natural father. 

10 ‘‘(5) LAPSED AND VOID DEVISES AND LEG11 ACIES; SHARES NOT IN RESIDUE.—Where a devise of 

12 property that is not part of the residuary estate fails 

13 or becomes void because—

14 ‘‘(A) the beneficiary has predeceased the 

15 testator; 

16 ‘‘(B) the devise has been revoked by the 

17 testator; or 

18 ‘‘(C) the devise has been disclaimed by the 

19 beneficiary; 

20 the property shall, if not otherwise expressly pro21 vided for under this Act or a tribal probate code, 

22 pass under the residuary clause, if any, contained in 

23 the will. 

24 ‘‘(6) LAPSED AND VOID DEVISES AND LEG25 ACIES; SHARES IN RESIDUE.—When a devise as de-
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1 scribed in paragraph (7) shall be included in a resid2 uary clause of the will and shall not be available to 

3 the issue of the devisee, and if the disposition shall 

4 not be otherwise expressly provided for by a tribal 

5 probate code, it shall pass to the other residuary 

6 devisees, if any, in proportion to their respective 

7 shares or interests in the residue. 

8 ‘‘(7) FAMILY CEMETERY PLOT.—If a family 

9 cemetery plot owned by the testator at his decease 

10 is not mentioned in the decedent’s will, the owner11 ship of the plot shall descend to his heirs as if he 

12 had died intestate. 

13 ‘‘(8) AFTER-BORN HEIRS.—A child in gestation 

14 at the time of decedent’s death will be treated as 

15 having survived the decedent if the child lives at 

16 least 120 hours after its birth. 

17 ‘‘(9) ADVANCEMENTS OF TRUST OR RE18 STRICTED PERSONAL PROPERTY DURING LIFETIME; 

19 EFFECT ON DISTRIBUTION OF ESTATE.—

20 ‘‘(A) The trust or restricted personal prop21 erty of a decedent who dies intestate as to all 

22 or a portion of his or her estate, given during 

23 the decedent’s lifetime to an heir of the dece24 dent, shall be treated as an advancement 

25 against the heir’s inheritance, but only if the 
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1 decedent declared in a contemporaneous writ2 ing, or the heir acknowledged in writing, that 

3 the gift is an advancement or is to be taken 

4 into account in computing the division and dis5 tribution of the decedent’s intestate estate. 

6 ‘‘(B) For the purposes of this section, 

7 trust or restricted personal property advanced 

8 during the decedent’s lifetime is valued as of 

9 the time the heir came into possession or enjoy10 ment of the property or as of the time of the 

11 decedent’s death, whichever occurs first. 

12 ‘‘(C) If the recipient of the property 

13 predeceases the decedent, the property is not 

14 treated as an advancement or taken into ac15 count in computing the division and distribution 

16 of the decedent’s intestate estate unless the de17 cedent’s contemporaneous writing provides oth18 erwise. 

19 ‘‘(10) HEIRS RELATED TO DECEDENT

20 THROUGH 2 LINES; SINGLE SHARE.—A person who 

21 is related to the decedent through 2 lines of relation22 ship is entitled to only a single share based on the 

23 relationship that would entitle the person to the 

24 larger share. 

25 ‘‘(j) HEIRSHIP BY KILLING.—
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1 ‘‘(1) ‘HEIR BY KILLING’ DEFINED.—As used in 

2 this subsection, ‘heir by killing’ means any person 

3 who participates, either as a principal or as an ac4 cessory before the fact, in the willful and unlawful 

5 killing of the decedent. 

6 ‘‘(2) NO ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY BY KILL7 ING.—Subject to any applicable Federal law relating 

8 to the devise or descent of trust or restricted prop9 erty, no heir by killing shall in any way acquire any 

10 interests in trust or restricted property as the result 

11 of the death of the decedent, but such property shall 

12 pass in accordance with this subsection. 

13 ‘‘(3) DESCENT, DISTRIBUTION, AND RIGHT OF

14 SURVIVORSHIP.—The heir by killing shall be deemed 

15 to have predeceased the decedent as to decedent’s in16 terests in trust or restricted property which would 

17 have passed from the decedent or his estate to the 

18 heir by killing—

19 ‘‘(A) under intestate succession under this 

20 chapter; 

21 ‘‘(B) under a tribal probate code, unless 

22 otherwise provided for; 

23 ‘‘(C) as the surviving spouse; 

24 ‘‘(D) by devise; 

25 ‘‘(E) as a reversion or a vested remainder; 
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1 ‘‘(F) as a survivorship interest; and 

2 ‘‘(G) as a contingent remainder or execu3 tory or other future interest. 

4 ‘‘(4) JOINT TENANTS, JOINT OWNERS, AND

5 JOINT OBLIGEES.—

6 ‘‘(A) Any trust or restricted land or per7 sonal property held by only the heir by killing

8 and the decedent as joint tenants, joint owners, 

9 or joint obligees shall pass upon the death of 

10 the decedent to his or her estate, as if the heir 

11 by killing had predeceased the decedent. 

12 ‘‘(B) As to trust or restricted property 

13 held jointly by 3 or more persons, including 

14 both the heir by killing and the decedent, any 

15 income which would have accrued to the heir by 

16 killing as a result of the death of the decedent 

17 shall pass to the estate of the decedent as if the 

18 heir by killing had predeceased the decedent 

19 and any surviving joint tenants. 

20 ‘‘(C) Notwithstanding any other provision 

21 of this subsection, the decedent’s interest in 

22 trust or restricted property that is held in a 

23 joint tenancy with the right of survivorship 

24 shall be severed from the joint tenancy as 

25 though the property held in the joint tenancy 
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1 were to be severed and distributed equally 

2 among the joint tenants and the decedent’s in3 terest shall pass to his estate; the remainder of 

4 the interests shall remain in joint tenancy with 

5 right of survivorship among the surviving joint 

6 tenants. 

7 ‘‘(5) LIFE ESTATE FOR THE LIFE OF AN8 OTHER.—If the estate is held by a third person 

9 whose possession expires upon the death of the dece10 dent, it shall remain in such person’s hands for the 

11 period of the life expectancy of the decedent. 

12 ‘‘(6) PREADJUDICATION RULE.—

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a person has been 

14 charged, whether by indictment, information, or 

15 otherwise by the United States, a tribe, or any 

16 State, with voluntary manslaughter or homicide 

17 in connection with a decedent’s death, then any 

18 and all trust or restricted land or personal 

19 property that would otherwise pass to that per20 son from the decedent’s estate shall not pass or 

21 be distributed by the Secretary until the 

22 charges have been resolved in accordance with 

23 the provisions of this paragraph. 

24 ‘‘(B) DISMISSAL OR WITHDRAWAL.—Upon 

25 dismissal or withdrawal of the charge, or upon 
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1 a verdict of not guilty, such land and funds 

2 shall pass as if no charge had been filed or 

3 made. 

4 ‘‘(C) CONVICTION.—Upon conviction of 

5 such person, the trust and restricted land and 

6 personal property in the estate shall pass in ac7 cordance with this subsection. 

8 ‘‘(7) BROAD CONSTRUCTION; POLICY OF SUB9 SECTION.—This subsection shall not be considered 

10 penal in nature, but shall be construed broadly in 

11 order to effect the policy that no person shall be al12 lowed to profit by his own wrong, wherever com13 mitted. 

14 ‘‘(k) GENERAL RULES GOVERNING PROBATE.—

15 ‘‘(1) SCOPE.—The provisions of this subsection 

16 shall apply only to estates that are subject to pro17 bate under the provisions of subsections (a) and (b). 

18 ‘‘(2) PRETERMITTED SPOUSES AND CHIL19 DREN.—

20 ‘‘(A) SPOUSES.—

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro22 vided in clause (ii), if the surviving spouse 

23 of a testator married the testator after the 

24 testator executed the will of the testator, 

25 the surviving spouse shall receive the intes-
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1 tate share in trust or restricted land that 

2 the spouse would have received if the tes3 tator had died intestate. 

4 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—Clause (i) shall 

5 not apply to an interest in trust or re6 stricted land where—

7 ‘‘(I) the will of a testator is exe8 cuted before the date of enactment of 

9 this subparagraph; 

10 ‘‘(II)(aa) the spouse of a testator 

11 is a non-Indian; and 

12 ‘‘(bb) the testator devised the in13 terests in trust or restricted land of 

14 the testator to 1 or more Indians; 

15 ‘‘(III) it appears, based on an ex16 amination of the will or other evi17 dence, that the will was made in con18 templation of the marriage of the tes19 tator to the surviving spouse; 

20 ‘‘(IV) the will expresses the in21 tention that the will is to be effective 

22 notwithstanding any subsequent mar23 riage; or 
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1 ‘‘(V)(aa) the testator provided for 

2 the spouse by a transfer of funds or 

3 property outside the will; and 

4 ‘‘(bb) an intent that the transfer 

5 be in lieu of a testamentary provision 

6 is demonstrated by statements of the 

7 testator or through a reasonable infer8 ence based on the amount of the 

9 transfer or other evidence. 

10 ‘‘(iii) SPOUSES MARRIED AT THE TIME

11 OF THE WILL.—Should the surviving 

12 spouse of the testator be omitted from the 

13 will of the testator, the surviving spouse 

14 shall be treated, for purposes of trust or 

15 restricted land or personal property in the 

16 testator’s estate, as though there was no 

17 will under the provisions of section 

18 207(b)(2)(A) if—

19 ‘‘(I) the testator and surviving 

20 spouse were continuously married 

21 without legal separation for the 10-

22 year period preceding the decedent’s 

23 death; 
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1 ‘‘(II) the testator and surviving 

2 spouse have a surviving child who is 

3 the child of the testator; 

4 ‘‘(III) the surviving spouse has 

5 made substantial payments on or im6 provements to the trust or restricted 

7 land in such estate; or

8 ‘‘(IV) the surviving spouse is 

9 under a binding obligation to continue 

10 making loan payments for the trust or 

11 restricted land for a substantial period 

12 of time; 

13 except that if there is evidence that the 

14 testator adequately provided for the sur15 viving spouse and any minor children by a 

16 transfer of funds or property outside of the 

17 will, this clause shall not apply. 

18 ‘‘(iv) DEFINED TERMS.—The terms 

19 ‘substantial payments or improvements’ 

20 and ‘substantial period of time’ as used in 

21 subparagraph (A)(iii) (III) and (IV) shall 

22 have the meanings given to them in the 

23 regulations adopted by the Secretary under 

24 the provisions of this Act. 

25 ‘‘(B) CHILDREN.—
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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If a testator exe2 cuted the will of the testator before the 

3 birth or adoption of 1 or more children of 

4 the testator, and the omission of the chil5 dren from the will is a product of inadvert6 ence rather than an intentional omission, 

7 the children shall share in the intestate in8 terests of the decedent in trust or re9 stricted land as if the decedent had died 

10 intestate. 

11 ‘‘(ii) ADOPTED HEIRS.—Any person 

12 recognized as an heir by virtue of adoption 

13 under the Act of July 8, 1940 (25 U.S.C. 

14 372a), shall be treated as the child of a de15 cedent under this subsection. 

16 ‘‘(iii) ADOPTED-OUT CHILDREN.—

17 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—For purposes 

18 of this Act, an adopted person shall 

19 not be considered the child or issue of 

20 his natural parents, except in distrib21 uting the estate of a natural kin, 

22 other than the natural parent, who 

23 has maintained a family relationship 

24 with the adopted person. If a natural 

25 parent shall have married the adopt-
28

•S 1721 RS 

1 ing parent, the adopted person for 

2 purposes of inheritance by, from and 

3 through him shall also be considered 

4 the issue of such natural parent. 

5 ‘‘(II) ELIGIBLE HEIR PURSUANT

6 TO OTHER FEDERAL LAW OR TRIBAL

7 LAW.—Notwithstanding the provisions 

8 of subparagraph (B)(iii)(I), other 

9 Federal laws and laws of the Indian 

10 tribe with jurisdiction over the trust 

11 or restricted land may otherwise de12 fine the inheritance rights of adopted13 out children. 

14 ‘‘(3) DIVORCE.—

15 ‘‘(A) SURVIVING SPOUSE.—

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—An individual who 

17 is divorced from a decedent, or whose mar18 riage to the decedent has been annulled, 

19 shall not be considered to be a surviving 

20 spouse unless, by virtue of a subsequent 

21 marriage, the individual is married to the 

22 decedent at the time of death of the dece23 dent. 

24 ‘‘(ii) SEPARATION.—A decree of sepa25 ration that does not dissolve a marriage, 
29

•S 1721 RS 

1 and terminate the status of husband and 

2 wife, shall not be considered a divorce for 

3 the purpose of this subsection. 

4 ‘‘(iii) NO EFFECT ON ADJUDICA5 TIONS.—Nothing in clause (i) prevents an 

6 entity responsible for adjudicating an in7 terest in trust or restricted land from giv8 ing effect to a property right settlement if 

9 1 of the parties to the settlement dies be10 fore the issuance of a final decree dis11 solving the marriage of the parties to the 

12 property settlement. 

13 ‘‘(B) EFFECT OF SUBSEQUENT DIVORCE

14 ON A WILL OR DEVISE.—

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If, after executing 

16 a will, a testator is divorced or the mar17 riage of the testator is annulled, as of the 

18 effective date of the divorce or annulment, 

19 any disposition of interests in trust or re20 stricted land made by the will to the 

21 former spouse of the testator shall be con22 sidered to be revoked unless the will ex23 pressly provides otherwise. 

24 ‘‘(ii) PROPERTY.—Property that is 

25 prevented from passing to a former spouse 
30

•S 1721 RS 

1 of a decedent under clause (i) shall pass as 

2 if the former spouse failed to survive the 

3 decedent. 

4 ‘‘(iii) PROVISIONS OF WILLS.—Any 

5 provision of a will that is considered to be 

6 revoked solely by operation of this sub7 paragraph shall be revived by the remar8 riage of a testator to the former spouse of 

9 the testator. 

10 ‘‘(4) NOTICE.—

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To the maximum ex12 tent practicable, the Secretary shall notify each 

13 owner of trust and restricted land of the provi14 sions of this Act. 

15 ‘‘(B) COMBINED NOTICES.—The notice 

16 under subparagraph (A) may, at the discretion 

17 of the Secretary, be provided with the notice re18 quired under section 207(g).’’. 

19 SEC. 4. PARTITION OF HIGHLY FRACTIONATED INDIAN 

20 LANDS. 

21 Section 205 of the Indian Land Consolidation Act 

22 (25 U.S.C. 2204) is amended by adding at the end the 

23 following: 

24 ‘‘(c) PARTITION OF HIGHLY FRACTIONATED INDIAN

25 LANDS.—
31

•S 1721 RS 

1 ‘‘(1) APPLICABILITY.—This subsection shall be 

2 applicable only to parcels of land (including surface 

3 and subsurface interests, except with respect to a 

4 subsurface interest that has been severed from the 

5 surface interest, in which case this subsection shall 

6 apply only to the surface interest) which the Sec7 retary has determined, pursuant to paragraph

8 (2)(B), to be parcels of highly fractionated Indian 

9 land. 

10 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—Subject to section 223 

11 of this Act, but notwithstanding any other provision 

12 of law, the Secretary shall ensure that each partition 

13 action meets the following requirements: 

14 ‘‘(A) REQUEST.—The Secretary shall com15 mence a process for partitioning a parcel of 

16 land by sale in accordance with the provisions 

17 of this subsection upon receipt of an application 

18 by—

19 ‘‘(i) the Indian tribe with jurisdiction 

20 over the subject land that owns an undi21 vided interest in the parcel of land; or 

22 ‘‘(ii) any person owning an undivided 

23 trust or restricted interest in the parcel of 

24 land. 
32

•S 1721 RS 

1 ‘‘(B) DETERMINATION.—Upon receipt of 

2 an application pursuant to subparagraph (A), 

3 the Secretary shall determine whether the sub4 ject parcel meets the requirements set forth in 

5 section 202(6) (25 U.S.C. 2201(6)) to be classi6 fied as a parcel of highly fractionated Indian 

7 land. 

8 ‘‘(C) CONSENT REQUIREMENTS.—A parcel 

9 of land may be partitioned under this sub10 section only with the written consent of—

11 ‘‘(i) the Indian tribe with jurisdiction 

12 over the subject land if such Indian tribe 

13 owns an undivided interest in the parcel; 

14 ‘‘(ii) any owner who, for the 3-year 

15 period immediately preceding the date on 

16 which the Secretary receives the applica17 tion, has—

18 ‘‘(I) continuously maintained a 

19 bona fide residence on the parcel; or 

20 ‘‘(II) continuously operated a 

21 bona fide farm, ranch, or other busi22 ness on the parcel; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) the owners of at least 50 percent 

24 of the undivided interests in the parcel if, 

25 based on the final appraisal prepared pur-
33

•S 1721 RS 

1 suant to subparagraph (F), the Secretary 

2 determines that any person’s undivided 

3 trust or restricted interest in the parcel 

4 has a value in excess of $1,000, except 

5 that the Secretary may consent on behalf 

6 of undetermined heirs, minors, and legal 

7 incompetents having no legal guardian, 

8 and missing owners or owners whose 

9 whereabouts are unknown but only after a 

10 search for such owners has been completed 

11 in accordance with the provisions of this 

12 subsection. 

13 ‘‘(D) PRELIMINARY APPRAISAL.—After the 

14 Secretary has determined that the subject par15 cel is a parcel of highly fractionated Indian land 

16 pursuant to subparagraph (B), the Secretary 

17 shall cause a preliminary appraisal of the sub18 ject parcel to be made. 

19 ‘‘(E) NOTICE TO OWNERS ON COMPLETION

20 OF PRELIMINARY APPRAISAL.—Upon comple21 tion of the preliminary appraisal, the Secretary 

22 shall give written notice of the requested parti23 tion and preliminary appraisal to all owners of 

24 undivided interests in the parcel, in accordance 

25 with the following requirements: 
34

•S 1721 RS 

1 ‘‘(i) CONTENTS OF NOTICE.—The no2 tice required by this subsection shall 

3 state—

4 ‘‘(I) that a proceeding to parti5 tion the parcel of land by sale has 

6 been commenced; 

7 ‘‘(II) the legal description of the 

8 subject parcel; 

9 ‘‘(III) the owner’s ownership in10 terest in the subject parcel; 

11 ‘‘(IV) the results of the prelimi12 nary appraisal; 

13 ‘‘(V) the owner’s right to request 

14 a copy of the preliminary appraisal; 

15 ‘‘(VI) the owner’s right to com16 ment on the proposed partition and 

17 the preliminary appraisal; 

18 ‘‘(VII) the date by which the 

19 owner’s comments must be received, 

20 which shall not be less than 60 days 

21 after the date that the notice is 

22 mailed or published under paragraph 

23 (2); and 
35

•S 1721 RS 

1 ‘‘(VIII) the address for request2 ing copies of the preliminary appraisal 

3 and for submitting written comments. 

4 ‘‘(ii) MANNER OF SERVICE.—

5 ‘‘(I) SERVICE BY MAIL.—The 

6 Secretary shall attempt to provide all 

7 owners of interests in the subject par8 cel with actual notice of the partition 

9 proceeding by mailing a copy of the 

10 written notice described in clause (i) 

11 by first class mail to each such owner 

12 at the owner’s last known address. In 

13 the event the written notice to an 

14 owner is returned undelivered, the 

15 Secretary shall, in accordance with 

16 regulations adopted to implement the 

17 provisions of this section, attempt to 

18 obtain a current address for such 

19 owner by inquiring with—

20 ‘‘(aa) the owner’s relatives, 

21 if any are known; 

22 ‘‘(bb) the Indian tribe of 

23 which the owner is a member; 

24 and 
36

•S 1721 RS 

1 ‘‘(cc) the Indian tribe with 

2 jurisdiction over the subject par3 cel. 

4 ‘‘(II) SERVICE BY PUBLICA5 TION.—In the event that the Sec6 retary is unable to serve the notice by 

7 mail pursuant to subclause (II), the 

8 notice shall be served by publishing 

9 the notice 2 times in a newspaper of

10 general circulation in the county or 

11 counties where the subject parcel of 

12 land is located. 

13 ‘‘(F) FINAL APPRAISAL.—After reviewing 

14 and considering comments or information sub15 mitted by any owner of an interest in the parcel 

16 in response to the notice required under sub17 paragraph (E), the Secretary may—

18 ‘‘(i) modify the preliminary appraisal 

19 and, as modified, determine it to be the 

20 final appraisal for the parcel; or 

21 ‘‘(ii) determine that preliminary ap22 praisal should be the final appraisal for the 

23 parcel, without modifications. 

24 ‘‘(G) NOTICE TO OWNERS ON DETERMINA25 TION OF FINAL APPRAISAL.—Upon making the 
37

•S 1721 RS 

1 determination under subparagraph (F) the Sec2 retary shall provide to each owner of the parcel 

3 of land and the Indian tribe with jurisdiction 

4 over the subject land, written notice served in 

5 accordance with subparagraph (E)(ii) stating—

6 ‘‘(i) the results of the final appraisal; 

7 ‘‘(ii) the owner’s right to review a 

8 copy of the appraisal upon request; and 

9 ‘‘(iii) that the land will be sold in ac10 cordance with subparagraph (G) for not 

11 less than the final appraised value subject 

12 to the consent requirements under para13 graph (2)(C). 

14 ‘‘(H) SALE.—Subject to the requirements 

15 of paragraph (2)(C), the Secretary shall—

16 ‘‘(i) provide every owner of the parcel 

17 of land and the Indian tribe with jurisdic18 tion over the subject land with notice 

19 that—

20 ‘‘(I) the decision to partition by 

21 sale is final; and 

22 ‘‘(II) each owner has the right to 

23 appeal the determination of the Sec24 retary to partition the parcel of land 
38

•S 1721 RS 

1 by sale, including the right to appeal 

2 the final appraisal; 

3 ‘‘(ii) after providing public notice of 

4 the sale pursuant to regulations adopted 

5 by the Secretary to implement this sub6 section, offer to sell the land by competi7 tive bid for not less than the final ap8 praised value to the highest bidder from 

9 among the following eligible bidders: 

10 ‘‘(I) any owner of a trust or re11 stricted interest in the parcel being 

12 sold; 

13 ‘‘(II) the Indian tribe, if any, 

14 with jurisdiction over the parcel being 

15 sold; and 

16 ‘‘(III) any member of the Indian 

17 tribe described in subclause (II); and 

18 ‘‘(iii) if no bidder described in clause 

19 (ii) presents a bid that equals or exceeds 

20 the appraised value, provide notice to the 

21 owners of the parcel of land and terminate 

22 the partition process. 

23 ‘‘(I) DECISION NOT TO SELL.—If the re24 quired owners do not consent to the partition 

25 by sale of the parcel of land, in accordance with 
39

•S 1721 RS 

1 paragraph (2)(C), by a date established by the 

2 Secretary, the Secretary shall provide each In3 dian tribe with jurisdiction over the subject 

4 land and each owner notice of that fact. 

5 ‘‘(3) ENFORCEMENT.—

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a partition is ap7 proved under this subsection and an owner of 

8 an interest in the parcel of land refuses to sur9 render possession in accordance with the parti10 tion decision, or refuses to execute any convey11 ance necessary to implement the partition, then 

12 any affected owner or the United States may—

13 ‘‘(i) commence a civil action in the 

14 United States district court for the district 

15 in which the parcel of land is located; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) request that the court issue an 

17 appropriate order for the partition of the 

18 land in kind or by sale. 

19 ‘‘(B) FEDERAL ROLE.—With respect to 

20 any civil action brought under subparagraph 

21 (A)—

22 ‘‘(i) the United States—

23 ‘‘(I) shall receive notice of the 

24 civil action; and
40

•S 1721 RS 

1 ‘‘(II) may be a party to the civil 

2 action; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) the civil action shall not be dis4 missed, and no relief requested shall be de5 nied, on the ground that the civil action is 

6 1 against the United States or that the 

7 United States is an indispensable party. 

8 ‘‘(4) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary is author9 ized to adopt such regulations as may be necessary 

10 to implement the provisions of this subsection.’’. 

11 SEC. 5. OWNER-MANAGED INTERESTS. 

12 The Indian Land Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2201 

13 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 221. OWNER-MANAGED INTERESTS. 

15 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to 

16 provide a means for the co-owners of trust or restricted 

17 interests in a parcel of land to enter into surface leases 

18 of such parcel without approval of the Secretary. 

19 ‘‘(b) MINERAL INTERESTS.—Nothing in this section 

20 shall be construed to limit or otherwise affect the applica21 tion of any Federal law requiring the Secretary to approve 

22 mineral leases or other agreements for the development 

23 of the mineral interest in trust or restricted land. 

24 ‘‘(c) OWNER MANAGEMENT.—
41

•S 1721 RS 

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any provi2 sion of Federal law requiring the Secretary to ap3 prove individual Indian leases or mortgages of indi4 vidual Indian trust or restricted land, where the 

5 owners of all of the undivided trust or restricted in6 terests in a parcel of land have submitted applica7 tions to the Secretary pursuant to subsection (a), 

8 and the Secretary has approved such applications 

9 under subsection (d), such owners may, without fur10 ther approval by the Secretary, do either of the fol11 lowing with respect to their interest in such parcel:

12 ‘‘(A) Enter into a lease of the parcel for 

13 any purpose authorized by section 1 of the Act 

14 of August 9, 1955 (25 U.S.C. 415(a)), for an 

15 initial term not to exceed 25 years. 

16 ‘‘(B) Renew any lease described in para17 graph (1) for 1 renewal term not to exceed 25 

18 years. 

19 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—No such lease 

20 or renewal of a lease shall be effective until the own21 ers of all undivided trust or restricted interests in 

22 the parcel have executed such lease or renewal. 

23 ‘‘(d) APPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS FOR OWNER MAN24 AGEMENT.—
42

•S 1721 RS 

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the provisions of 

2 paragraph (2), the Secretary shall approve an appli3 cation for owner management submitted by a quali4 fied applicant pursuant to this section unless the 

5 Secretary has reason to believe that the applicant is 

6 submitting the application as the result of fraud or 

7 undue influence. 

8 ‘‘(2) COMMENCEMENT OF OWNER-MANAGEMENT

9 STATUS.—Notwithstanding the approval of 1 or 

10 more applications pursuant to paragraph (1), no in11 terest in a parcel of trust or restricted land shall 

12 have owner-management status until applications for 

13 all of the trust or restricted interests in such parcel 

14 have been submitted and approved by the Secretary 

15 pursuant to this section and in accordance with reg16 ulations adopted pursuant to subsection (l). 

17 ‘‘(e) VALIDITY OF LEASES.—A lease of trust or re18 stricted interests in a parcel of land that is owner-man19 aged under this section that violates any requirement or 

20 limitation set forth in subsection (c) shall be null and void 

21 and unenforceable against the owners of such interests, 

22 or against the land, the interest or the United States. 

23 ‘‘(f) LEASE REVENUES.—The Secretary shall not be 

24 responsible for the collection of, or accounting for, any 

25 lease revenues accruing to any interests subject to this sec-
43

•S 1721 RS 

1 tion while such interest is in owner-management status 

2 under the provisions of this section. 

3 ‘‘(g) JURISDICTION.—

4 ‘‘(1) JURISDICTION UNAFFECTED BY STATUS.—

5 The Indian tribe with jurisdiction over an interest in 

6 trust or restricted land that becomes owner-managed 

7 in accordance with this section shall continue to 

8 have jurisdiction over the interest in trust or re9 stricted land to the same extent and in all respects 

10 the tribe had prior to the interest acquiring owner 

11 managed status. 

12 ‘‘(2) PERSONS USING LAND.—Any person hold13 ing, leasing, or otherwise using such interest in land 

14 shall be considered to consent to the jurisdiction of 

15 the Indian tribe with jurisdiction over the interest, 

16 including such tribe’s laws and regulations, if any, 

17 relating to the use, and any effects associated with 

18 the use, of the interest. 

19 ‘‘(h) CONTINUATION OF OWNER-MANAGED STATUS; 

20 REVOCATION.—

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the provisions of 

22 paragraph (2), after the applications of the owners 

23 of all of the trust or restricted interests in a parcel 

24 of land have been approved by the Secretary pursu25 ant to subsection (d), each such interest shall con-
44

•S 1721 RS 

1 tinue in owner-managed status under this section 

2 notwithstanding any subsequent conveyance of the 

3 interest in trust or restricted status to another per4 son or the subsequent descent of the interest in trust 

5 or restricted status by testate or intestate succession 

6 to 1 or more heirs. 

7 ‘‘(2) REVOCATION.—Owner-managed status of 

8 an interest may be revoked upon written request of 

9 owners (including the parents or legal guardians of 

10 minors or incompetent owners) of all trust or re11 stricted interests in the parcel, submitted to the Sec12 retary in accordance with regulations adopted under 

13 subsection (l). The revocation shall become effective 

14 as of the date on which the last of all such requests 

15 have been delivered to the Secretary. 

16 ‘‘(3) EFFECT OF REVOCATION.—Revocation of 

17 owner-managed status under paragraph (2) shall not 

18 affect the validity of any lease made in accordance 

19 with the provisions of this section prior to the effec20 tive date of the revocation, provided that, after such 

21 revocation becomes effective, the Secretary shall be 

22 responsible for the collection of, and accounting for, 

23 all future lease revenues accruing to the trust or re24 stricted interests in the parcel from and after such 

25 effective date. 
45

•S 1721 RS 

1 ‘‘(i) DEFINED TERMS.—

2 ‘‘(1) For purposes of subsection (d)(1), the 

3 term ‘qualified applicant’ means—

4 ‘‘(A) a person over the age of 18 who owns 

5 a trust or restricted interest in a parcel of land; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(B) the parent or legal guardian of a 

8 minor or incompetent person who owns a trust 

9 or restricted interest in a parcel of land. 

10 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this section, the term 

11 ‘owner-managed status’ means, with respect to a 

12 trust or restricted interest, that the interest—

13 ‘‘(A) is a trust or restricted interest in a 

14 parcel of land for which applications covering 

15 all trust or restricted interests in such parcel 

16 have been submitted to and approved by the 

17 Secretary pursuant to subsection (d); 

18 ‘‘(B) may be leased without approval of the 

19 Secretary pursuant to, and in a manner that is 

20 consistent with the requirements of, this sec21 tion; and 

22 ‘‘(C) no revocation has occurred under 

23 subsection (h)(2). 

24 ‘‘(j) SECRETARIAL APPROVAL OF OTHER TRANS25 ACTIONS.—Except with respect to the specific lease trans-
46

•S 1721 RS 

1 actions described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection 

2 (c), interests held in owner-managed status under the pro3 visions of this section shall continue to be subject to all 

4 Federal laws requiring the Secretary to approve trans5 actions involving trust or restricted land that would other6 wise apply to such interests. 

7 ‘‘(k) EFFECT OF SECTION.—Subject to subsections 

8 (c), (f), and (h), nothing in this section limits or otherwise

9 affects any authority or responsibility of the Secretary 

10 with respect to an interest in trust or restricted land. 

11 ‘‘(l) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall promulgate 

12 such regulations as are necessary to carry out this sec13 tion.’’. 

14 SEC. 6. ADDITIONAL AMENDMENTS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Indian Land Consolidation 

16 Act (25 U.S.C. 2201 et seq.) is amended—

17 (1) in the second sentence of section 205(a) (25 

18 U.S.C. 2204(a)), by striking ‘‘over 50 per centum of 

19 the undivided interests’’ and inserting ‘‘undivided in20 terests equal to at least 50 percent of the undivided 

21 interest’’; 

22 (2) in section 205 (25 U.S.C. 2204), by adding 

23 subsection (c) as follows: 

24 ‘‘(c) PURCHASE OPTION AT PROBATE.—
47

•S 1721 RS 

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to section 

2 207(b)(2)(A) of this Act (25 U.S.C. 2206(b)(2)(A)), 

3 interests in a parcel of trust or restricted land in the 

4 decedent’s estate may be purchased at probate in ac5 cordance with the provisions of this subsection. 

6 ‘‘(2) SALE OF INTEREST AT MINIMUM FAIR

7 MARKET VALUE.—Subject to paragraph (3), the Sec8 retary is authorized to sell trust or restricted inter9 ests subject to this subsection at no less than fair 

10 market value to the highest bidder from among the 

11 following eligible bidders: 

12 ‘‘(A) The heirs taking by intestate succes13 sion or the devisees listed in section 

14 207(a)(1)(A). 

15 ‘‘(B) All persons who own undivided trust 

16 or restricted interests in the same parcel of 

17 land involved in the probate proceeding. 

18 ‘‘(C) The Indian tribe with jurisdiction 

19 over the interest, or the Secretary on behalf of 

20 such Indian tribe. 

21 ‘‘(3) REQUEST FOR AUCTION.—No auction and 

22 sale of an interest in probate shall occur under this 

23 subsection unless—
48

•S 1721 RS 

1 ‘‘(A) except as provided in paragraph (6), 

2 the heirs or devises of such interest consent to 

3 the sale; and 

4 ‘‘(B) a person or the Indian tribe eligible 

5 to bid on the interest under paragraph (2) sub6 mits a request for the auction prior to the dis7 tribution of the interest to heirs or devisees of 

8 the decedent and in accordance with any regu9 lations of the Secretary. 

10 ‘‘(4) APPRAISAL AND NOTICE.—Prior to the 

11 sale of an interest pursuant to this subsection, the 

12 Secretary shall—

13 ‘‘(A) appraise the interest; and 

14 ‘‘(B) publish notice of the time and place 

15 of the auction (or the time and place for sub16 mitting sealed bids), a description, and the ap17 praised value, of the interest to be sold. 

18 ‘‘(5) RIGHTS OF SURVIVING SPOUSE.—Nothing 

19 in this subsection shall be construed to diminish or 

20 otherwise affect the rights of a surviving spouse 

21 under section 207(b)(2)(A). 

22 ‘‘(6) HIGHLY FRACTIONATED INDIAN LANDS.—

23 Notwithstanding paragraph (3)(A), the consent of 

24 an heir shall not be required for the auction and sale 

25 of an interest at probate under this subsection if—
49

•S 1721 RS 

1 ‘‘(A) the interest is passing by intestate 

2 succession; and 

3 ‘‘(B) prior to the auction the Secretary de4 termines that the interest involved is an interest 

5 in a parcel of highly fractionated Indian land. 

6 ‘‘(7) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall pro7 mulgate regulations to implement the provisions of 

8 this subsection.’’; 

9 (3) in section 206 (25 U.S.C. 2205)—

10 (A) in subsection (a), by striking para11 graph (3) and inserting the following: 

12 ‘‘(3) TRIBAL PROBATE CODES.—Except as pro13 vided in any applicable Federal law, the Secretary 

14 shall not approve a tribal probate code, or an 

15 amendment to such a code, that prohibits the devise 

16 of an interest in trust or restricted land by—

17 ‘‘(A) an Indian lineal descendant of the 

18 original allottee; or 

19 ‘‘(B) an Indian who is not a member of the 

20 Indian tribe with jurisdiction over such an in21 terest; 

22 unless the code provides for—

23 ‘‘(i) the renouncing of interests to eligible devi24 sees in accordance with the code; 
50

•S 1721 RS 

1 ‘‘(ii) the opportunity for a devisee who is the 

2 spouse or lineal descendant of a testator to reserve 

3 a life estate without regard to waste; and 

4 ‘‘(iii) payment of fair market value in the man5 ner prescribed under subsection (c)(2).’’; and 

6 (B) in subsection (c)—

7 (i) in paragraph (1)—

8 (I) by striking the paragraph 

9 heading and inserting the following: 

10 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—’’; 

12 (II) in the first sentence of sub13 paragraph (A) (as redesignated by 

14 clause (i)), by striking ‘‘section 

15 207(a)(6)(A) of this title’’ and insert16 ing ‘‘section 207(a)(2)(A)(ii) of this 

17 title’’; and 

18 (III) by striking the last sentence 

19 and inserting the following: 

20 ‘‘(B) TRANSFER.—The Secretary shall 

21 transfer payments received under subparagraph 

22 (A) to any person or persons who would have 

23 received an interest in land if the interest had 

24 not been acquired by the Indian tribe in accord25 ance with this paragraph.’’; and 
51

•S 1721 RS 

1 (ii) in paragraph (2)—

2 (I) in subparagraph (A)—

3 (aa) by striking the subpara4 graph heading and all that fol5 lows through ‘‘Paragraph (1) 

6 shall not apply’’ and inserting the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(A) INAPPLICABILITY TO CERTAIN INTER9 ESTS.—

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) 

11 shall not apply’’; 

12 (bb) in clause (i) (as redes13 ignated by item (aa)), by striking 

14 ‘‘if, while’’ and inserting the fol15 lowing: ‘‘if—

16 ‘‘(I) while’’; 

17 (cc) by striking the period at 

18 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

19 (dd) by adding at the end 

20 the following: 

21 ‘‘(II)—

22 ‘‘(aa) the interest is part of 

23 a family farm that is devised to 

24 a member of the family of the de25 cedent; and 
52

•S 1721 RS 

1 ‘‘(bb) the devisee agrees that 

2 the Indian tribe with jurisdiction 

3 over the land will have the oppor4 tunity to acquire the interest for 

5 fair market value if the interest 

6 is offered for sale to an entity 

7 that is not a member of the fam8 ily of the owner of the land. 

9 ‘‘(ii) RECORDING OF INTEREST.—On 

10 request by an Indian tribe described in 

11 clause (i)(II)(bb), a restriction relating to 

12 the acquisition by the Indian tribe of an 

13 interest in a family farm involved shall be 

14 recorded as part of the deed relating to the 

15 interest involved. 

16 ‘‘(iii) MORTGAGE AND FORE17 CLOSURE.—Nothing in clause (i)(II) pre18 vents or limits the ability of an owner of 

19 land to which that clause applies to mort20 gage the land or limit the right of the enti21 ty holding such a mortgage to foreclose or 

22 otherwise enforce such a mortgage agree23 ment in accordance with applicable law. 

24 ‘‘(iv) DEFINITION OF ‘MEMBER OF

25 THE FAMILY’.—In this paragraph, the 
53

•S 1721 RS 

1 term ‘member of the family’, with respect 

2 to a decedent or landowner, means—

3 ‘‘(I) a lineal descendant of a de4 cedent or landowner; 

5 ‘‘(II) a lineal descendant of the 

6 grandparent of a decedent or land7 owner; 

8 ‘‘(III) the spouse of a descendant 

9 or landowner described in subclause 

10 (I) or (II); and 

11 ‘‘(IV) the spouse of a decedent or 

12 landowner.’’; 

13 (4) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘subpara14 graph (A)’’ and all that follows through 

15 ‘‘207(a)(6)(B) of this title’’ and inserting ‘‘para16 graph (1)’’; 

17 (5) in section 207 (25 U.S.C. 2206), subsection 

18 (g)(5), by striking ‘‘this section’’ and inserting ‘‘sub19 sections (a) and (b)’’; 

20 (6) in section 213 (25 U.S.C. 2212)—

21 (A) by striking the section heading and in22 serting the following: 

23 ‘‘SEC. 2212. FRACTIONAL INTEREST ACQUISITION PRO24 GRAM.’’; 

25 (B) in subsection (a)—
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1 (i) by striking ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY OF

2 SECRETARY.—’’ and all that follows 

3 through ‘‘the Secretary shall submit’’ and 

4 inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.—The Sec6 retary shall submit’’; and 

7 (ii) by striking ‘‘whether the program 

8 to acquire fractional interests should be ex9 tended or altered to make resources’’ and 

10 inserting ‘‘how the fractional interest ac11 quisition program should be enhanced to 

12 increase the resources made’’; 

13 (C) in subsection (b), by striking para14 graph (4) and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(4) shall minimize the administrative costs as16 sociated with the land acquisition program through 

17 the use of policies and procedures designed to ac18 commodate the voluntary sale of interests under the 

19 pilot program under this section, notwithstanding 

20 the existence of any otherwise applicable policy, pro21 cedure, or regulation, through the elimination of du22 plicate—

23 ‘‘(A) conveyance documents; 

24 ‘‘(B) administrative proceedings; and 

25 ‘‘(C) transactions.’’. 
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1 (D) in subsection (c)—

2 (i) in paragraph (1)—

3 (I) in subparagraph (A), by strik4 ing ‘‘at least 5 percent of the’’ and in5 serting in its place ‘‘an’’; 

6 (II) in subparagraph (A), by in7 serting ‘‘in such parcel’’ following 

8 ‘‘the Secretary shall convey an inter9 est’’; 

10 (III) in subparagraph (A), by 

11 striking ‘‘landowner upon payment’’ 

12 and all that follows and inserting the 

13 following: ‘‘landowner—

14 ‘‘(i) on payment by the Indian land15 owner of the amount paid for the interest 

16 by the Secretary; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) if—

18 ‘‘(I) the Indian referred to in this 

19 subparagraph provides assurances 

20 that the purchase price will be paid by 

21 pledging revenue from any source, in22 cluding trust resources; and 

23 ‘‘(II) the Secretary determines 

24 that the purchase price will be paid in 

25 a timely and efficient manner.’’; and 
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1 (IV) in subparagraph (B), by in2 serting before the period at the end 

3 the following: ‘‘unless the interest is 

4 subject to a foreclosure of a mortgage

5 in accordance with the Act of March 

6 29, 1956 (25 U.S.C. 483a)’’; and 

7 (ii) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘10 

8 percent or more of the undivided interests’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘an undivided interest’’; 

10 (7) in section 214 (25 U.S.C. 2213), by striking 

11 subsection (b) and inserting the following: 

12 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION OF REVENUE FROM ACQUIRED

13 INTERESTS TO LAND CONSOLIDATION PROGRAM.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall have a 

15 lien on any revenue accruing to an interest described 

16 in subsection (a) until the Secretary provides for the 

17 removal of the lien under paragraph (3), (4), or (5). 

18 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Until the Secretary 

20 removes a lien from an interest in land under 

21 paragraph (1)—

22 ‘‘(i) any lease, resource sale contract, 

23 right-of-way, or other document evidencing 

24 a transaction affecting the interest shall 

25 contain a clause providing that all revenue 
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1 derived from the interest shall be paid to 

2 the Secretary; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) any revenue derived from any in4 terest acquired by the Secretary in accord5 ance with section 213 shall be deposited in 

6 the fund created under section 216. 

7 ‘‘(B) APPROVAL OF TRANSACTIONS.—Not8 withstanding section 16 of the Act of June 18, 

9 1934 (commonly known as the ‘Indian Reorga10 nization Act’) (25 U.S.C. 476), or any other 

11 provision of law, until the Secretary removes a 

12 lien from an interest in land under paragraph 

13 (1), the Secretary may approve a transaction 

14 covered under this section on behalf of an In15 dian tribe. 

16 ‘‘(3) REMOVAL OF LIENS AFTER FINDINGS.—

17 The Secretary may remove a lien referred to in 

18 paragraph (1) if the Secretary makes a finding 

19 that—

20 ‘‘(A) the costs of administering the interest 

21 from which revenue accrues under the lien will 

22 equal or exceed the projected revenues for the 

23 parcel of land involved; 

24 ‘‘(B) in the discretion of the Secretary, it 

25 will take an unreasonable period of time for the 
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1 parcel of land to generate revenue that equals 

2 the purchase price paid for the interest; or 

3 ‘‘(C) a subsequent decrease in the value of 

4 land or commodities associated with the parcel 

5 of land make it likely that the interest will be 

6 unable to generate revenue that equals the pur7 chase price paid for the interest in a reasonable 

8 time. 

9 ‘‘(4) REMOVAL OF LIENS UPON PAYMENT INTO

10 THE ACQUISITION FUND.—The Secretary shall re11 move a lien referred to in paragraph (1) upon pay12 ment of an amount equal to the purchase price of 

13 that interest in land into the Acquisition Fund cre14 ated under section 2215 of this title, except where 

15 the tribe with jurisdiction over such interest in land 

16 authorizes the Secretary to continue the lien in order 

17 to generate additional acquisition funds. 

18 ‘‘(5) OTHER REMOVAL OF LIENS.—In accord19 ance with regulations to be promulgated by the Sec20 retary, and in consultation with tribal governments 

21 and other entities described in section 213(b)(3), the 

22 Secretary shall periodically remove liens referred to 

23 in paragraph (1) from interests in land acquired by 

24 the Secretary.’’; 

25 (8) in section 216 (25 U.S.C. 2215)—
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1 (A) in subsection (a), by striking para2 graph (2) and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(2) collect all revenues received from the lease, 

4 permit, or sale of resources from interests acquired 

5 under section 213 or paid by Indian landowners 

6 under section 213.’’; and 

7 (B) in subsection (b)—

8 (i) in paragraph (1)—

9 (I) in the matter preceding sub10 paragraph (A), by striking ‘‘Subject 

11 to paragraph (2), all’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘All’’; 

13 (II) in subparagraph (A), by 

14 striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

15 (III) in subparagraph (B), by 

16 striking the period at the end and in17 serting ‘‘; and’’; and 

18 (IV) by adding at the end the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(C) be used to acquire undivided interests 

21 on the reservation from which the income was 

22 derived.’’; and 

23 (ii) by striking paragraph (2) and in24 serting the following: 
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1 ‘‘(2) USE OF FUNDS.—The Secretary may use 

2 the revenue deposited in the Acquisition Fund under 

3 paragraph (1) to acquire some or all of the undi4 vided interests in any parcels of land in accordance 

5 with section 205.’’; 

6 (9) in section 217 (25 U.S.C. 2216)—

7 (A) in subsection (b)(1) by striking sub8 paragraph (B) and inserting a new subpara9 graph (B) as follows—

10 ‘‘(B) WAIVER OF REQUIREMENT.—The re11 quirement for an estimate of value under sub12 paragraph (A) may be waived in writing by an 

13 owner of an interest in trust or restricted land 

14 either selling, exchanging, or conveying by gift 

15 deed for no or nominal consideration such inter16 est—

17 ‘‘(i) to an Indian person who is the 

18 owner’s spouse, brother, sister, lineal an19 cestor, lineal descendant, or collateral heir; 

20 or 

21 ‘‘(ii) to an Indian co-owner or to a 

22 tribe with jurisdiction over the subject par23 cel of land, where the grantor owns a frac24 tional interest that represents 5 percent or 

25 less of the parcel.’’. 
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1 (B) in subsection (e), by striking the mat2 ter preceding paragraph (1), and inserting 

3 ‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

4 the names and mailing addresses of the owners 

5 of any interest in trust or restricted lands, and

6 information on the location of the parcel and 

7 the percentage of undivided interest owned by 

8 each individual shall, upon written request, be 

9 made available to—’’; 

10 (C) in subsection (e)(1), by striking ‘‘In11 dian’’; 

12 (D) in subsection (e)(3), by striking ‘‘pro13 spective applicants for the leasing, use, or con14 solidation of’’ and insert ‘‘any person that is 

15 leasing, using, or consolidating, or is applying 

16 to lease, use, or consolidate,’’; and 

17 (E) by striking subsection (f) and inserting 

18 the following: 

19 ‘‘(f) PURCHASE OF LAND BY INDIAN TRIBE.—

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para21 graph (2), before the Secretary approves an applica22 tion to terminate the trust status or remove the re23 strictions on alienation from a parcel of trust or re24 stricted land, the Indian tribe with jurisdiction over 

25 the parcel shall have the opportunity—
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1 ‘‘(A) to match any offer contained in the 

2 application; or 

3 ‘‘(B) in a case in which there is no pur4 chase price offered, to acquire the interest in 

5 the parcel by paying the fair market value of 

6 the interest. 

7 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR FAMILY FARMS.—

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) shall 

9 not apply to a parcel of trust or restricted land 

10 that is part of a family farm that is conveyed 

11 to a member of the family of a landowner (as 

12 defined in section 206(c)(2)(A)(iv)) if the con13 veyance requires that in the event that the in14 terest is offered for sale to an entity that is not 

15 a member of the family of the landowner, the 

16 Indian tribe with jurisdiction over the land shall 

17 be afforded the opportunity to purchase the in18 terest pursuant to paragraph (1). 

19 ‘‘(B) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER PROVI20 SION.—Section 206(c)(2)(A) shall apply with 

21 respect to the recording and mortgaging of any 

22 trust or restricted land referred to in subpara23 graph (A).’’; and 
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1 (10) in section 219(b)(1)(A) (25 U.S.C. 

2 2218(b)(1)(A)), by striking ‘‘100’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘90’’. 

4 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 202 of the Indian Land 

5 Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2201) is amended—

6 (1) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(2) ‘Indian’ means—

9 ‘‘(A) any person who is a member of any 

10 Indian tribe, is eligible to become a member of 

11 any Indian tribe, or is an owner (as of the date 

12 of enactment of the American Indian Probate 

13 Reform Act of 2003) of an interest in trust or 

14 restricted land; 

15 ‘‘(B) any person meeting the definition of 

16 Indian under the Indian Reorganization Act (25 

17 U.S.C. 479) and the regulations promulgated 

18 thereunder; 

19 ‘‘(C) any person not included in subpara20 graph (A) or (B) who is a lineal descendant 

21 within 3 degrees of a person described in sub22 paragraph (A); 

23 ‘‘(D) an owner of a trust or restricted in24 terest in a parcel of land for purposes of inher-
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1 iting another trust or restricted interest in such 

2 parcel; and 

3 ‘‘(E) with respect to the ownership, devise, 

4 or descent of trust or restricted land in the 

5 State of California, any person who meets the 

6 definition of ‘Indians of California’ contained in 

7 the first section of the Act of May 18, 1928 (25 

8 U.S.C. 651), until otherwise provided by Con9 gress in accordance with section 809(b) of the 

10 Indian Health Care Improvement Act (25 

11 U.S.C. 1679)(b)).’’; and 

12 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(6) ‘Parcel of highly fractionated Indian land’ 

14 means a parcel of land that the Secretary, pursuant 

15 to authority under a provision of this Act, deter16 mines to have at the time of the determination—

17 ‘‘(A)(i) 100 or more but less than 200 co18 owners of undivided trust or restricted inter19 ests; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) no undivided trust or restricted inter21 est owned by any 1 person which represents 

22 more than 2 percent of the total undivided own23 ership of the parcel; or 
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1 ‘‘(B)(i) 200 or more but less than 350 co2 owners of undivided trust or restricted inter3 ests; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) no undivided trust or restricted inter5 est owned by any 1 person which represents 

6 more than 5 percent of the total undivided own7 ership of the parcel; or 

8 ‘‘(C) 350 or more co-owners of undivided 

9 trust or restricted interests. 

10 ‘‘(7) ‘Person’ means a natural person.’’. 

11 (c) ISSUANCE OF PATENTS.—Section 5 of the Act of 

12 February 8, 1887 (25 U.S.C. 348), is amended by striking 

13 the second proviso and inserting the following: ‘Provided, 

14 That the rules of intestate succession under the Indian 

15 Land Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2201 et seq.) (includ16 ing a tribal probate code approved under that Act or regu17 lations promulgated under that Act) shall apply to that 

18 land for which patents have been executed and delivered:’’. 

19 (d) TRANSFERS OF RESTRICTED INDIAN LAND.—

20 Section 4 of the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 464), 

21 is amended in the first proviso by—

22 (1) striking ‘‘, in accordance with’’ and all that 

23 follows through ‘‘or in which the subject matter of 

24 the corporation is located,’’; 
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1 (2) striking ‘‘, except as provided by the Indian 

2 Land Consolidation Act’’ and all that follows 

3 through the colon; and 

4 (3) inserting ‘‘in accordance with the Indian 

5 Land Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2201 et seq.) 

6 (including a tribal probate code approved under that 

7 Act or regulations promulgated under that Act):’’. 

8 (e) ESTATE PLANNING.—

9 (1) CONDUCT OF ACTIVITIES.—Section 

10 207(f)(1) of the Indian Land Consolidation Act (25 

11 U.S.C. 2206) is amended by striking paragraph (1) 

12 and inserting the following—

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—

14 ‘‘(A) The activities conducted under this 

15 subsection shall be conducted in accordance 

16 with any applicable—

17 ‘‘(i) tribal probate code; or 

18 ‘‘(ii) tribal land consolidation plan. 

19 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall provide estate 

20 planning assistance in accordance with this sub21 section, to the extent amounts are appropriated 

22 for such purpose.’’. 

23 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—Section 207(f) of the In24 dian Land Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2206(f)) is 

25 amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara-
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1 graph (A), redesignating subparagraph (B) as sub2 paragraph (D), and adding the following—

3 ‘‘(B) dramatically increase the use of wills 

4 and other methods of devise among Indian 

5 landowners; 

6 ‘‘(C) substantially reduce the quantity and 

7 complexity of Indian estates that pass intestate 

8 through the probate process, while protecting 

9 the rights and interests of Indian landowners; 

10 and’’; and 

11 (3) by striking ‘‘(3) CONTRACTS.—’’ and insert12 ing the following—

13 ‘‘(3) INDIAN CIVIL LEGAL ASSISTANCE

14 GRANTS.—In carrying out this section, the Secretary 

15 shall award grants to nonprofit entities, as defined 

16 under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 

17 Code of 1986, which provide legal assistance services 

18 for Indian tribes, individual owners of interests in 

19 trust or restricted lands, or Indian organizations 

20 pursuant to Federal poverty guidelines which submit 

21 an application to the Secretary, in such form and 

22 manner as the Secretary may prescribe, for the pro23 vision of civil legal assistance to such Indian tribes, 

24 individual owners, and Indian organizations for the 

25 development of tribal probate codes, for estate plan-
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1 ning services or for other purposes consistent with 

2 the services they provide to Indians and Indian 

3 tribes.’’; and 

4 (4) by adding at the end of section 207 (25 

5 U.S.C. 2206) the following: 

6 ‘‘(k) NOTIFICATION TO LANDOWNERS.—

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 

8 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec9 retary shall provide to each Indian landowner a re10 port that lists, with respect to each tract of trust or 

11 restricted land in which the Indian landowner has an 

12 interest—

13 ‘‘(A) the location of the tract of land in14 volved; 

15 ‘‘(B) the identity of each other co-owner of 

16 interests in the parcel of land; and 

17 ‘‘(C) the percentage of ownership of each 

18 owner of an interest in the tract. 

19 ‘‘(2) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

20 this subsection shall preclude any individual Indian 

21 from obtaining from the Secretary, upon the request 

22 of that individual, any information specified in para23 graph (1) before the expiration of the 2-year period 

24 specified in paragraph (1). 
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1 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS FOR NOTIFICATION.—

2 Each notification made under paragraph (1) shall 

3 include information concerning estate planning and 

4 land consolidation options under the provisions of 

5 this Act and other applicable Federal law, including 

6 information concerning—

7 ‘‘(A) the preparation and execution of 

8 wills; 

9 ‘‘(B) negotiated sales; 

10 ‘‘(C) gift deeds; 

11 ‘‘(D) exchanges; and 

12 ‘‘(E) life estates without regard to waste. 

13 ‘‘(4) PROHIBITION.—No individual Indian may 

14 be denied access to information relating to land in 

15 which that individual has an interest described in 

16 this section on the basis of section 552a of title 5, 

17 United States Code (commonly referred to as the 

18 ‘Privacy Act’). 

19 ‘‘(l) PRIVATE AND FAMILY TRUSTS PILOT

20 PROJECT.—

21 ‘‘(1) DEVELOPMENT PILOT PROJECT.—

22 ‘‘(A) The Secretary shall consult with 

23 tribes, individual landowner organizations, In24 dian advocacy organizations, and other inter25 ested parties to—
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1 ‘‘(i) develop a pilot project for the cre2 ation and management of private and fam3 ily trusts for interests in trust or restricted 

4 lands; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) develop proposed rules, regula6 tions, and guidelines to implement the pilot 

7 project. 

8 ‘‘(B) The pilot project shall commence on 

9 the date of enactment of the American Indian 

10 Probate Reform Act of 2003 and shall continue 

11 for 3 years after the date of enactment of this 

12 subsection. 

13 ‘‘(2) CHARACTERISTICS OF PRIVATE AND FAM14 ILY TRUSTS.—For purposes of this subsection and 

15 any proposed rules, regulations, or guidelines devel16 oped under this subsection—

17 ‘‘(A) the terms ‘private trust’ and ‘family 

18 trust’ shall both mean trusts created pursuant 

19 to this subsection for the management and ad20 ministration of interests in trust or restricted 

21 land, held by 1 or more persons, which com22 prise the corpus of a trust, by a private trustee 

23 subject to the approval of the Secretary; 

24 ‘‘(B) private and family trusts shall be cre25 ated and managed in furtherance of the pur-
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1 poses of the Indian Land Consolidation Act (25 

2 U.S.C. 2201 et seq.); and 

3 ‘‘(C) private and family trusts shall not be 

4 construed to impair, impede, replace, abrogate, 

5 or modify in any respect the trust duties or re6 sponsibilities of the Secretary, nor shall any7 thing in this subsection or in any rules, regula8 tions, or guidelines developed under this sub9 section enable any private or family trustee of

10 interests in trust or restricted lands to exercise 

11 any powers over such interests greater than 

12 that held by the Secretary with respect to such 

13 interests. 

14 ‘‘(3) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Prior to the expi15 ration of the pilot project provided for under this 

16 subsection, the Secretary shall submit a report to 

17 Congress stating—

18 ‘‘(A) a description of the Secretary’s con19 sultation with Indian tribes, individual land20 owner associations, Indian advocacy organiza21 tions, and other parties consulted with regard22 ing the development of rules, regulations, and/

23 or guidelines for the creation and management 

24 of private and family trusts over interests in 

25 trust and restricted lands; 
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1 ‘‘(B) the feasibility of accurately tracking 

2 such private and family trusts; 

3 ‘‘(C) the impact that private and family 

4 trusts would have with respect to the accom5 plishment of the goals of the Indian Land Con6 solidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2201 et seq.); and 

7 ‘‘(D) a final recommendation regarding 

8 whether to adopt the creation of a permanent 

9 private and family trust program as a manage10 ment and consolidation measure for interests in 

11 trust or restricted lands.’’. 

12 SEC. 7. UNCLAIMED AND ABANDONED PROPERTY. 

13 The Indian Land Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2201 

14 et seq.) (as amended by section 5) is amended by adding 

15 at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 222. UNCLAIMED AND ABANDONED PROPERTY. 

17 ‘‘(a) INTERESTS PRESUMED ABANDONED.—An undi18 vided trust or restricted interest in a parcel of land owned 

19 by a person shall be presumed abandoned and subject to 

20 the provisions of this section if the Secretary makes a de21 termination that—

22 ‘‘(1) a period of 6 consecutive years next pre23 ceding such determination has passed during which 

24 the person owning such interest has not made any 
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1 indication or expression of interest in the trust or 

2 restricted interest as set forth in subsection (b); 

3 ‘‘(2) the person owning the trust or restricted 

4 interest was, at all times during the 6-year period 

5 described in paragraph (1), over the age of 18; and 

6 ‘‘(3) as of the expiration of the 6-year period 

7 described in paragraph (1), such parcel was a parcel 

8 of highly fractionated Indian land. 

9 ‘‘(b) INDICATORS OF OWNER INTEREST.—For pur10 poses of subsection (a), an indication or expression of an 

11 owner’s interest in the property shall mean the owner or 

12 any person acting on behalf of the owner—

13 ‘‘(1) making a deposit to, withdrawal from, or 

14 inquiry into an individual Indian money account as15 sociated with such interest; 

16 ‘‘(2) negotiating a Treasury check derived from 

17 such interest or account; 

18 ‘‘(3) providing the Secretary with a valid ad19 dress; or 

20 ‘‘(4) communicating with the Secretary regard21 ing such interest or account. 

22 ‘‘(c) RELATED PROPERTY.—At the time that prop23 erty is presumed to be abandoned under this section, any 

24 other property right accrued or accruing to the owner as 

25 a result of the interest, including funds in an associated 
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1 individual Indian money account, that has not previously 

2 been presumed abandoned under this section, also shall 

3 be presumed abandoned. 

4 ‘‘(d) ANNUAL LIST OF PROPERTY; NOTICE TO OWN5 ERS.—No later than the first day of November of each 

6 year, the Secretary shall prepare and distribute a list of 

7 names of persons owning property presumed abandoned 

8 under this section during the preceding fiscal year and 

9 provide notice to such persons in accordance with the fol10 lowing requirements: 

11 ‘‘(1) CONTENTS OF ANNUAL LIST.—The list 

12 shall set forth—

13 ‘‘(A) the names of all persons owning in14 terests in land and property presumed to be 

15 abandoned under this section; 

16 ‘‘(B) with respect to each person named on 

17 the list, the reservation, if any, and the county 

18 and State in which the person’s interest in land 

19 is located; 

20 ‘‘(C) the reservation, if any, the city or 

21 town, county and State of the person’s last 

22 known address; and 

23 ‘‘(D) the name, address, and telephone 

24 number of the official or officials within the De25 partment of the Interior to contact for purposes 
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1 of identifying persons or lands included on the 

2 list. 

3 ‘‘(2) DISTRIBUTION OF LIST.—The list shall be 

4 distributed to all regional offices and agencies of the 

5 Bureau of Indian Affairs and to all reservations 

6 where land described on this list is located and shall 

7 cause the list to be published in the Federal Register 

8 within 15 days after the list is prepared. 

9 ‘‘(3) NOTICE BY MAIL.—In addition to pub10 lishing and distributing the list described in para11 graph (1), the Secretary shall attempt to provide the 

12 persons owning such trust or restricted interests 

13 with actual written notice that the interest and any 

14 associated funds or property is presumed abandoned 

15 under the provisions of this section. Such notice 

16 shall be sent by first class mail to the owner at the 

17 owner’s last known address and shall include the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(A) A legal description of the parcel of 

20 which the interest is a part. 

21 ‘‘(B) A description of the owner’s interest. 

22 ‘‘(C) A statement that the owner has not 

23 indicated or expressed an interest in the trust 

24 or restricted interest for a period of 6 consecu25 tive years and that such interest, and any funds 
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1 in an associated individual Indian money ac2 count, is presumed abandoned. 

3 ‘‘(D) A statement that the interest will be 

4 appraised and sold for its appraised value un5 less the owner responds to the notice within 60 

6 days after the notice is mailed or published. 

7 ‘‘(E) A statement that in the event the 

8 owner fails to respond and the notice and the 

9 property is sold, the proceeds of such sale and 

10 any funds in any associated individual Indian

11 money account will be deposited in an un12 claimed property account. 

13 ‘‘(4) SEARCH FOR WHEREABOUTS OF OWNER.—

14 If the notice described in paragraph (3) is returned 

15 undelivered, the Secretary shall attempt to locate the 

16 owner by—

17 ‘‘(A) searching publicly available records 

18 and Federal records, including telephone and 

19 address directories and using electronic search 

20 methods; 

21 ‘‘(B) inquiring with—

22 ‘‘(i) the owner’s relatives, if any are 

23 known; 

24 ‘‘(ii) any Indian tribe of which the 

25 owner is a member; and 
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1 ‘‘(iii) the Indian tribe, if any, with ju2 risdiction over the interest; and 

3 ‘‘(C) if the value of the interest and any 

4 funds in an associated individual Indian money 

5 account exceeds $1,000, engaging an inde6 pendent search firm to perform a missing per7 son search. 

8 ‘‘(5) NOTICE BY PUBLICATION.—In the event 

9 that the Secretary is unable to locate the owner pur10 suant to paragraph (4), the Secretary shall publish 

11 a notice not later than November 30 following the 

12 fiscal year in which the property was presumed to be 

13 abandoned under this section. The notice shall in14 clude the same information required for the notice 

15 described in paragraph (3) and shall be—

16 ‘‘(A) published in a newspaper of general 

17 circulation on or near the apparent owner’s 

18 home reservation and near the last known ad19 dress of the owner; and 

20 ‘‘(B) in a form that is likely to attract the 

21 attention of the apparent owner of the property. 

22 ‘‘(e) CONVERSION OF ABANDONED INTERESTS.—If, 

23 after 2 years from the date the notice is published under 

24 subsection (d)(3), any such real property or interest there25 in remains unclaimed, the Secretary shall appraise such 
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1 property in a manner consistent with section 215 of the 

2 Indian Land Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2214) and shall 

3 purchase the property at its appraised value, or sell the 

4 property to an Indian tribe with jurisdiction over such 

5 property or a person who owns an undivided trust or re6 stricted interest in such property, by competitive bid for 

7 not less than the appraised value. The Secretary shall then 

8 transfer any monetary interest that the Secretary holds 

9 for the previous apparent owner to the unclaimed property 

10 account described in subsection (f). 

11 ‘‘(f) UNCLAIMED PROPERTY ACCOUNT.—

12 ‘‘(1) Except as otherwise provided by this sec13 tion, the Secretary shall promptly deposit in a spe14 cial unclaimed property account all funds received 

15 under this section. The Secretary shall pay all claims 

16 under subsection (g) from this account. The Sec17 retary shall record the name and last known address 

18 of each person appearing to be entitled to the prop19 erty. 

20 ‘‘(2) The Secretary is authorized to use interest 

21 earned on the special unclaimed property account to 

22 pay—

23 ‘‘(A) the administrative costs of conversion 

24 of real property under subsection (g); and 
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1 ‘‘(B) costs of mailing and publication in 

2 connection with abandoned property. 

3 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall retain a sufficient bal4 ance in the account at all times from which to pay 

5 claims duly allowed. All other funds shall be avail6 able to the Secretary to use for the purposes of land 

7 consolidation pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 2212. 

8 ‘‘(g) CLAIMS.—

9 ‘‘(1) FILING OF CLAIM.—An individual, or the 

10 heirs of an individual, may file a claim to recover 

11 property or the proceeds of the conversion of the 

12 property on a form prescribed by the Secretary. 

13 ‘‘(2) ALLOWANCE OR DENIAL OF CLAIM.—Not 

14 more than 180 days after a claim is filed, the Sec15 retary shall allow or deny the claim and give written 

16 notice of the decision to the claimant. If the claim 

17 is denied, the Secretary shall inform the claimant of 

18 the reasons for the denial and specify what addi19 tional evidence is required before the claim will be 

20 allowed. The claimant may then file a new claim 

21 with the Secretary or maintain an action under this 

22 subsection. 

23 ‘‘(3) PAYMENT OF ALLOWED CLAIM.—Not more 

24 than 60 days after a claim is allowed, the property 

25 or the net proceeds of the conversion of the property 
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1 shall be delivered or paid by the Secretary to the 

2 claimant, together with any interest, or other incre3 ment to which the claimant is entitled under this 

4 section. 

5 ‘‘(4) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—An individual ag6 grieved by a decision of the Secretary under this 

7 subsection or whose claim has not been acted upon 

8 within 180 days may, after exhausting administra9 tive remedies, seek—

10 ‘‘(A) judicial review or other appropriate 

11 relief against the Secretary in a United States 

12 district court, which may include an order 

13 quieting beneficial title in the name of peti14 tioner whose property was sold by the Secretary 

15 in violation of this section; and 

16 ‘‘(B) recover reasonable attorneys fees if 

17 he is the prevailing party. 

18 ‘‘(h) VOLUNTARY ABANDONMENT.—Any person who 

19 is an owner of an interest subject to this section may, with 

20 the Secretary’s approval, voluntarily abandon that interest 

21 to the benefit of the tribe with jurisdiction over the parcel 

22 of land or a co-owner of a trust or restricted interest in 

23 the same parcel of land in accordance with regulations 

24 adopted pursuant to subsection (j). 
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1 ‘‘(i) TRANSFER OF ABANDONED INTERESTS IN

2 LAND.—

3 ‘‘(1) Any interest in land acquired under sub4 section (e) or (h) over which an Indian tribe has ju5 risdiction shall be held in trust by the Secretary for 

6 the benefit of that tribe, provided that the tribe may 

7 decline any such property in its discretion, and pro8 vided that if the tribe declines or does not currently 

9 own any interest within that parcel a co-owner with

10 a majority interest shall have the first right of pur11 chase of the property at the appraised price. 

12 ‘‘(2) Any interest in real property acquired 

13 under subsection (e) or (h) that is not subject to the 

14 jurisdiction of an Indian tribe shall be held in trust 

15 by the Secretary for all of the other co-owners of un16 divided trust or restricted interests in the parcel in 

17 proportion to their respective interests in the prop18 erty, provided that any owner may decline to accept 

19 such interest, in which case that interest shall be al20 located proportionately among such other co-owners 

21 who do not decline. 

22 ‘‘(3) The Indian tribe or other subsequent 

23 owner described in paragraph (2) takes such interest 

24 free of all claims by the owner who abandoned the 
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1 interest and of all persons claiming through or 

2 under such owner. 

3 ‘‘(j) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary is authorized to 

4 adopt such regulations as may be necessary to implement 

5 the provisions of this section.’’. 

6 SEC. 8. MISSING HEIRS. 

7 Section 207 of the Indian Land Consolidation Act 

8 (25 U.S.C. 2206) is amended by adding the following: 

9 ‘‘(m) NOTICE.—Prior to holding a hearing to deter10 mine the heirs to trust or restricted property, or making 

11 a decision determining such heirs, the Secretary shall seek 

12 to provide actual written notice of the proceedings to all 

13 heirs, including notice of the provisions of this subsection 

14 and of section 207(n) of this Act. Such efforts shall in15 clude—

16 ‘‘(1) a search of publicly available records and 

17 Federal records, including telephone and address di18 rectories and including electronic search methods; 

19 ‘‘(2) an inquiry with family members and co20 heirs of the property; 

21 ‘‘(3) an inquiry with the tribal government of 

22 which the owner is a member, and the tribal govern23 ment with jurisdiction over the property, if any; and 
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1 ‘‘(4) if the property is of a value greater than 

2 $1,000, an independent firm shall be contracted to 

3 conduct a missing persons search. 

4 ‘‘(n) MISSING HEIRS.—

5 ‘‘(1) For purposes of this subsection and sub6 section (m), an heir will be presumed missing if his 

7 whereabouts remain unknown 60 days after comple8 tion of notice efforts under subsection (m) and they 

9 have had no contact with other heirs or the Depart10 ment for 6 years prior to a hearing or decision to 

11 ascertain heirs. 

12 ‘‘(2) Before the date for declaring an heir miss13 ing, any person may request an extension of time to 

14 locate an heir. An extension may be granted for 

15 good cause. 

16 ‘‘(3) An heir shall be declared missing only 

17 after a review of the efforts made and a finding that 

18 this section has been complied with. 

19 ‘‘(4) A missing heir shall be presumed to have 

20 predeceased the decedent for purposes of descent 

21 and devise.’’. 
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1 SEC. 9. ANNUAL NOTICE AND FILING REQUIREMENT FOR 

2 OWNERS OF INTERESTS IN TRUST OR RE3 STRICTED LANDS. 

4 The Indian Land Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2201 

5 et seq.) (as amended by section 7) is amended by adding 

6 at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 222. ANNUAL NOTICE AND FILING; CURRENT WHERE8 ABOUTS OF INTEREST OWNERS. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—On an annual basis, the Sec10 retary shall send a notice, response form, and a change 

11 of name and address form to each owner of an interest 

12 in trust or restricted land. The notice shall inform owners 

13 of their interest and obligation to provide the Secretary 

14 with a notice of any change in their name or address im15 mediately upon such change. The response form should 

16 include a section in which the owner may confirm or up17 date his name and address. The change of name and ad18 dress form may be used by the owner at any time when 

19 his name or address changes subsequent to his annual fil20 ing of the response form. 

21 ‘‘(b) OWNER RESPONSE.—The owner of an interest 

22 in trust or restricted land shall file the response form upon 

23 receipt to confirm or update his name and address on an 

24 annual basis. 

25 ‘‘(c) NO RESPONSE; INITIATION OF SEARCH.—In the 

26 event that an owner does not file the response form or
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1 provide the Secretary with a confirmation or update of his 

2 name and address through other means, the Secretary 

3 shall initiate a search in order to ascertain the where4 abouts and status of the owner.’’. 

5 SEC. 10. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

6 The amendments made by this Act shall not apply 

7 to the estate of an individual who dies before the later 

8 of—

9 (1) the date that is 1 year after the date of en10 actment of this Act; or 

11 (2) the date specified in section 207(g)(5) of 

12 the Indian Land Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 

13 2206(g)(5)).

14 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

15 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Indian Pro16 bate Reform Act of 2004’’. 

17 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

18 Congress finds that—

19 (1) the Act of February 8, 1887 (commonly 

20 known as the ‘‘Indian General Allotment Act’’) (25 

21 U.S.C. 331 et seq.), which authorized the allotment of 

22 Indian reservations, did not permit Indian allotment 

23 owners to provide for the testamentary disposition of 

24 the land that was allotted to them; 
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1 (2) that Act provided that allotments would de2 scend according to State law of intestate succession 

3 based on the location of the allotment; 

4 (3) the reliance of the Federal Government on the 

5 State law of intestate succession with respect to the 

6 descent of allotments has resulted in numerous prob7 lems affecting Indian tribes, members of Indian 

8 tribes, and the Federal Government, including—

9 (A) the increasingly fractionated ownership 

10 of trust and restricted land as that land is inher11 ited by successive generations of owners as ten12 ants in common; 

13 (B) the application of different rules of in14 testate succession to each interest of a decedent 

15 in or to trust or restricted land if that land is 

16 located within the boundaries of more than 1 

17 State, which application—

18 (i) makes probate planning unneces19 sarily difficult; and 

20 (ii) impedes efforts to provide probate 

21 planning assistance or advice; 

22 (C) the absence of a uniform general pro23 bate code for trust and restricted land, which 

24 makes it difficult for Indian tribes to work coop25 eratively to develop tribal probate codes; and 
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1 (D) the failure of Federal law to address or 

2 provide for many of the essential elements of gen3 eral probate law, either directly or by reference, 

4 which—

5 (i) is unfair to the owners of trust and 

6 restricted land (and heirs and devisees of 

7 owners); and 

8 (ii) makes probate planning more dif9 ficult; 

10 (4) a uniform Federal probate code would like11 ly—

12 (A) reduce the number of fractionated inter13 ests in trust or restricted land; 

14 (B) facilitate efforts to provide probate 

15 planning assistance and advice and create incen16 tives for owners of trust and restricted land to 

17 engage in estate planning; 

18 (C) facilitate intertribal efforts to produce 

19 tribal probate codes in accordance with section 

20 206 of the Indian Land Consolidation Act (25 

21 U.S.C. 2205); and 

22 (D) provide essential elements of general 

23 probate law that are not applicable on the date 

24 of enactment of this Act to interests in trust or 

25 restricted land; and 
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1 (5) the provisions of a uniform Federal probate 

2 code and other forth in this Act should operate to fur3 ther the policy of the United States as stated in the 

4 Indian Land Consolidated Act Amendments of 2000, 

5 Public Law 106–462, 102, November 7, 2000, 114 

6 Stat. 1992. 

7 SEC. 3. INDIAN PROBATE REFORM. 

8 (a) NONTESTAMENTARY DISPOSITION.—Section 207 of 

9 the Indian Land Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2206) is 

10 amended by striking subsection (a) and inserting the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(a) NONTESTAMENTARY DISPOSITION.—

13 ‘‘(1) RULES OF DESCENT.—Subject to any appli14 cable Federal law relating to the devise or descent of 

15 trust or restricted property, any trust or restricted in16 terest in land or interest in trust personalty that is 

17 not disposed of by a valid will—

18 ‘‘(A) shall descend according to an applica19 ble tribal probate code approved in accordance 

20 with section 206; or 

21 ‘‘(B) in the case of a trust or restricted in22 terest in land or interest in trust personalty to 

23 which a tribal probate code does not apply, shall 

24 descend in accordance with—

25 ‘‘(i) paragraphs (2) through (5); and 
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1 ‘‘(ii) other applicable Federal law. 

2 ‘‘(2) RULES GOVERNING DESCENT OF ESTATE.—

3 ‘‘(A) SURVIVING SPOUSE.—If there is a sur4 viving spouse of the decedent, such spouse shall 

5 receive trust and restricted land and trust per6 sonalty in the estate as follows: 

7 ‘‘(i) If the decedent is survived by 1 or 

8 more eligible heirs described in subpara9 graph (B) (i), (ii), (iii), or (iv), the surviving spouse shall receive 1 10 ⁄3 of the trust 

11 personalty of the decedent and a life estate 

12 without regard to waste in the interests in 

13 trust or restricted lands of the decedent. 

14 ‘‘(ii) If there are no eligible heirs de15 scribed in subparagraph (B) (i), (ii), (iii), 

16 or (iv), the surviving spouse shall receive all 

17 of the trust personalty of the decedent and 

18 a life estate without regard to waste in the 

19 trust or restricted lands of the decedent. 

20 ‘‘(iii) The remainder shall pass as set 

21 forth in subparagraph (B). 

22 ‘‘(iv) Trust personalty passing to a 

23 surviving spouse under the provisions of 

24 this subparagraph shall be maintained by 
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1 the Secretary in an account as trust person2 alty, but only if such spouse is Indian. 

3 ‘‘(B) INDIVIDUAL AND TRIBAL HEIRS.—

4 Where there is no surviving spouse of the dece5 dent, or there is a remainder interest pursuant 

6 to subparagraph (A), the trust or restricted es7 tate or such remainder shall, subject to subpara8 graphs (A) and (D), pass as follows: 

9 ‘‘(i) To those of the decedent’s children 

10 who are eligible heirs (or if 1 or more of 

11 such children do not survive the decedent, 

12 the children of any such deceased child who 

13 are eligible heirs, by right of representation, 

14 but only if such children of the deceased 

15 child survive the decedent) in equal shares. 

16 ‘‘(ii) If the property does not pass 

17 under clause (i), to those of the decedent’s 

18 surviving great-grandchildren who are eligi19 ble heirs, in equal shares. 

20 ‘‘(iii) If the property does not pass 

21 under clause (i) or (ii), to the decedent’s 

22 surviving parent who is an eligible heir, 

23 and if both parents survive the decedent and 

24 are both eligible heirs, to both parents in 

25 equal shares.
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1 ‘‘(iv) If the property does not pass 

2 under clause (i), (ii), or (iii), to those of the 

3 decedent’s surviving siblings who are eligi4 ble heirs, in equal shares. 

5 ‘‘(v) If the property does not pass 

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

7 Indian tribe with jurisdiction over the in8 terests in trust or restricted lands; 

9 except that notwithstanding clause (v), an In10 dian co-owner (including the Indian tribe re11 ferred to in clause (v)) of a parcel of trust or re12 stricted land may acquire an interest that would 

13 otherwise descend under that clause by paying 

14 into the estate of the decedent, before the close of 

15 the probate of the estate, the fair market value of 

16 the interest in the land; if more than 1 Indian 

17 co-owner offers to pay for such interest, the high18 est bidder shall acquire the interest. 

19 ‘‘(C) NO INDIAN TRIBE.—

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If there is no In21 dian tribe with jurisdiction over the inter22 ests in trust or restricted lands that would 

23 otherwise descend under subparagraph 

24 (B)(v), then such interests shall be divided 

25 equally among co-owners of trust or re-
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1 stricted interests in the parcel; if there are 

2 no such co-owners, then to the United 

3 States, provided that any such interests in 

4 land passing to the United States under 

5 this subparagraph shall be sold by the Sec6 retary and the proceeds from such sale de7 posited into the land acquisition fund estab8 lished under section 216 (25 U.S.C. 2215) 

9 and used for the purposes described in sub10 section (b) of that section. 

11 ‘‘(ii) CONTIGUOUS PARCEL.—If the in12 terests passing to the United States under 

13 this subparagraph are in a parcel of land 

14 that is contiguous to another parcel of trust 

15 or restricted land, the Secretary shall give 

16 the owner or owners of the trust or re17 stricted interest in the contiguous parcel the 

18 first opportunity to purchase the interest at 

19 not less than fair market value determined 

20 in accordance with this Act. If more than 1 

21 such owner in the contiguous parcel request 

22 to purchase the parcel, the Secretary shall 

23 sell the parcel by public auction or sealed 

24 bid (as determined by the Secretary) at not 

25 less than fair market value to the owner of 
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1 a trust or restricted interest in the contig2 uous parcel submitting the highest bid. 

3 ‘‘(D) INTESTATE DESCENT OF SMALL FRAC4 TIONAL INTERESTS IN LAND.—

5 ‘‘(i) GENERAL RULE.—Notwith6 standing subparagraphs (A) and (B), and 

7 subject to any applicable Federal law, any 

8 trust or restricted interest in land in the de9 cedent’s estate that is not disposed of by a 

10 valid will and represents less than 5 percent 

11 of the entire undivided ownership of the 

12 parcel of land of which such interest is a 

13 part, as evidenced by the decedent’s estate 

14 inventory at the time of the heirship deter15 mination, shall descend in accordance with 

16 clauses (ii) through (iv). 

17 ‘‘(ii) SURVIVING SPOUSE.—If there is a 

18 surviving spouse, and such spouse was re19 siding on a parcel of land described in 

20 clause (i) at the time of the decedent’s death, 

21 the spouse shall receive a life estate without 

22 regard to waste in the decedent’s trust or re23 stricted interest in only such parcel, and the 

24 remainder interest in that parcel shall pass 

25 in accordance with clause (iii). 
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1 ‘‘(iii) SINGLE HEIR RULE.—Where 

2 there is no life estate created under clause 

3 (ii) or there is a remainder interest under 

4 that clause, the trust or restricted interest or 

5 remainder interest that is subject to this 

6 subparagraph shall descend, in trust or re7 stricted status, to—

8 ‘‘(I) the decedent’s surviving child, 

9 but only if such child is an eligible 

10 heir; and if 2 or more surviving chil11 dren are eligible heirs, then to the old12 est of such children; 

13 ‘‘(II) if the interest does not pass 

14 under subclause (I), the decedent’s sur15 viving grandchild, but only if such 

16 grandchild is an eligible heir; and if 2 

17 or more surviving grandchildren are 

18 eligible heirs, then to the oldest of such 

19 grandchildren; 

20 ‘‘(III) if the interest does not pass 

21 under subclause (I) or (II), the dece22 dent’s surviving great grandchild, but 

23 only if such great grandchild is an eli24 gible heir; and if 2 or more surviving 

25 great grandchildren are eligible heirs, 
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1 then to the oldest of such great grand2 children; 

3 ‘‘(IV) if the interest does not pass 

4 under subclause (I), (II), or (III), the 

5 Indian tribe with jurisdiction over the 

6 interest; or 

7 ‘‘(V) if the interest does not pass 

8 under subclause (I), (II), or (III), and 

9 there is no such Indian tribe to inherit 

10 the property under subclause (IV), the 

11 interest shall be divided equally among 

12 co-owners of trust or restricted interests 

13 in the parcel; and if there are no such 

14 co-owners, then to the United States, to 

15 be sold, and the proceeds from sale 

16 used, in the same manner provided in 

17 subparagraph (C). 

18 The determination of which person is the oldest 

19 eligible heir for inheritance purposes under this 

20 clause shall be made by the Secretary in the de21 cedent’s probate proceeding and shall be con22 sistent with the provisions of this Act. 

23 ‘‘(iv) EXCEPTIONS.—Notwithstanding 

24 clause (iii)—
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1 ‘‘(I)(aa) the heir of an interest 

2 under clause (iii), unless the heir is a 

3 minor or incompetent person, may 

4 agree in writing entered into the record 

5 of the decedent’s probate proceeding to 

6 renounce such interest, in trust or re7 stricted status, in favor of—

8 ‘‘(AA) any other eligible heir 

9 or Indian person related to the 

10 heir by blood, but in any case 

11 never in favor of more than 1 

12 such heir or person; 

13 ‘‘(BB) any co-owner of an14 other trust or restricted interest in 

15 such parcel of land; or 

16 ‘‘(CC) the Indian tribe with 

17 jurisdiction over the interest, if 

18 any; and 

19 ‘‘(bb) the Secretary shall give ef20 fect to such agreement in the distribu21 tion of the interest in the probate pro22 ceeding; and 

23 ‘‘(II) the governing body of the In24 dian tribe with jurisdiction over an in25 terest in trust or restricted land that is
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1 subject to the provisions of this sub2 paragraph may adopt a rule of intes3 tate descent applicable to such interest 

4 that differs from the order of decedent 

5 set forth in clause (iii). The Secretary 

6 shall apply such rule to the interest in 

7 distributing the decedent’s estate, but 

8 only if—

9 ‘‘(aa) a copy of the tribal 

10 rule is delivered to the official des11 ignated by the Secretary to receive 

12 copies of tribal rules for the pur13 poses of this clause; 

14 ‘‘(bb) the tribal rule provides 

15 for the intestate inheritance of 

16 such interest by no more than 1 

17 heir, so that the interest does not 

18 further fractionate; 

19 ‘‘(cc) the tribal rule does not 

20 apply to any interest disposed of 

21 by a valid will; 

22 ‘‘(dd) the decedent died on or 

23 after the date described in sub24 section (b) of section 8 of the 

25 American Indian Probate Act of 
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1 2004, or on or after the date on 

2 which a copy of the tribal rule 

3 was delivered to the Secretary 

4 pursuant to item (aa), whichever 

5 is later; and 

6 ‘‘(ee) the Secretary does not 

7 make a determination within 90 

8 days after a copy of the tribal rule 

9 is delivered pursuant to item (aa) 

10 that the rule would be unreason11 ably difficult to administer or 

12 does not conform with the require13 ments in item (bb) or (cc). 

14 ‘‘(v) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—This 

15 subparagraph shall not be construed to 

16 limit a person’s right to devise any trust or 

17 restricted interest by way of a valid will in 

18 accordance with subsection (b). 

19 ‘‘(3) RIGHT OF REPRESENTATION.—If, under 

20 this subsection, all or any part of the estate of a dece21 dent is to pass to children of a deceased child by right 

22 of representation, that part is to be divided into as 

23 many equal shares as there are living children of the 

24 decedent and pre-deceased children who left issue who 

25 survive the decedent. Each living child of the dece-
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1 dent, if any, shall receive 1 share, and the share of 

2 each pre-deceased child shall be divided equally 

3 among the pre-deceased child’s children. 

4 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE RELATING TO SURVIVAL.—In 

5 the case of intestate succession under this subsection, 

6 if an individual fails to survive the decedent by at 

7 least 120 hours, as established by clear and con8 vincing evidence—

9 ‘‘(A) the individual shall be deemed to have 

10 predeceased the decedent for the purpose of intes11 tate succession; and 

12 ‘‘(B) the heirs of the decedent shall be deter13 mined in accordance with this section. 

14 ‘‘(5) STATUS OF INHERITED INTERESTS.—Ex15 cept as provided in paragraphs (2) (A) and (D) re16 garding the life estate of a surviving spouse, a trust 

17 or restricted interest in land or trust personalty that 

18 descends under the provisions of this subsection shall 

19 vest in the heir in the same trust or restricted status 

20 as such interest was held immediately prior to the de21 cedent’s death.’’. 

22 (b) TESTAMENTARY DISPOSITION.—Section 207 of the 

23 Indian Land Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2206) is amend24 ed by striking subsection (b) and inserting the following: 

25 ‘‘(b) TESTAMENTARY DISPOSITION.—
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1 ‘‘(1) GENERAL DEVISE OF AN INTEREST IN

2 TRUST OR RESTRICTED LAND.—

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to any applica4 ble Federal law relating to the devise or descent 

5 of trust or restricted land, or a tribal probate 

6 code approved by the Secretary in accordance 

7 with section 206, the owner of a trust or re8 stricted interest in land may devise such interest 

9 to—

10 ‘‘(i) any lineal descendant of the tes11 tator; 

12 ‘‘(ii) any person who owns a pre13 existing undivided trust or restricted inter14 est in the same parcel of land; 

15 ‘‘(iii) the Indian tribe with jurisdic16 tion over the interest in land; or 

17 ‘‘(iv) any Indian; 

18 in trust or restricted status. 

19 ‘‘(B) RULES OF INTERPRETATION.—Any de20 vise of a trust or restricted interest in land pur21 suant to subparagraph (A) to an Indian or the 

22 Indian tribe with jurisdiction over the interest 

23 shall be deemed to be a devise of the interest in 

24 trust or restricted status. Any devise of a trust 

25 or restricted interest in land to a person who is 
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1 only eligible to be a devisee under clause (i) or 

2 (ii) of subparagraph (A) shall be presumed to be 

3 a devise of the interest in trust or restricted sta4 tus unless language in such devise clearly evi5 dences an intent on the part of the testator that 

6 the interest is to pass as a life estate or fee inter7 est in accordance with paragraph (2)(A). 

8 ‘‘(2) DEVISE OF TRUST OR RESTRICTED LAND AS

9 A LIFE ESTATE OR IN FEE.—

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

11 under any applicable Federal law, any trust or 

12 restricted interest in land that is not devised in 

13 accordance with paragraph (1)(A) may be de14 vised only—

15 ‘‘(i) as a life estate to any person, with 

16 the remainder being devised only in accord17 ance with subparagraph (B) or paragraph 

18 (1); or 

19 ‘‘(ii) except as provided in subpara20 graph (B), as a fee interest without Federal 

21 restrictions against alienation to any per22 son who is not eligible to be a devisee under 

23 clause (iv) of paragraph (1)(A). 

24 ‘‘(B) INDIAN REORGANIZATION ACT

25 LANDS.—Any interest in trust or restricted land
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1 that is subject to section 4 of the Act of June 

2 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 464), may be devised only 

3 in accordance with—

4 ‘‘(i) that section; 

5 ‘‘(ii) subparagraph (A)(i); or 

6 ‘‘(iii) paragraph (1)(A); 

7 provided that nothing in this section or in sec8 tion 4 of the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 

9 464), shall be construed to authorize the devise of 

10 any interest in trust or restricted land that is 

11 subject to section 4 of that Act to any person as 

12 a fee interest under subparagraph (A)(ii). 

13 ‘‘(3) GENERAL DEVISE OF AN INTEREST IN

14 TRUST PERSONALTY.—

15 ‘‘(A) TRUSTPERSONALITY DEFINED.—The 

16 term ‘trust personalty’ as used in this section in17 cludes all funds and securities of any kind which 

18 are held in trust in an individual Indian money 

19 account or otherwise supervised by the Secretary. 

20 ‘‘(B) IN GENERAL.—Subject to any applica21 ble Federal law relating to the devise or descent 

22 of such trust personalty, or a tribal probate code 

23 approved by the Secretary in accordance with 

24 section 206, the owner of an interest in trust per-
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1 sonalty may devise such an interest to any per2 son or entity. 

3 ‘‘(C) MAINTENANCE AS TRUST PERSON4 ALTY.—In the case of a devise of an interest in 

5 trust personalty to a person or Indian tribe eli6 gible to be a devisee under paragraph (1)(A), the 

7 Secretary shall maintain and continue to man8 age such interests as trust personalty. 

9 ‘‘(D) DIRECTDISBURSEMENTAND DIS10 TRIBUTION.—In the case of a devise of an inter11 est in trust personalty to a person or Indian 

12 tribe not eligible to be a devisee under paragraph 

13 (1)(A), the Secretary shall directly disburse and 

14 distribute such personalty to the devisee. 

15 ‘‘(4) INVALID DEVISES AND WILLS.—

16 ‘‘(A) LAND.—Any trust or restricted inter17 est in land that is not devised in accordance 

18 with paragraph (1) or (2) or that is not disposed 

19 of by a valid will shall descend in accordance 

20 with the applicable law of intestate succession as 

21 provided for in subsection (a). 

22 ‘‘(B) PERSONALTY.—Any trust personalty 

23 that is not disposed of by a valid will shall de24 scend in accordance with the applicable law of 
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1 intestate succession as provided for in subsection 

2 (a).’’. 

3 (c) JOINT TENANCY; RIGHTOF SURVIVORSHIP.—Sec4 tion 207(c) of the Indian Land Consolidation Act (25 

5 U.S.C. 2206(c)) is amended by striking all that follows the 

6 heading, ‘‘Joint Tenancy; Right of Survivorship’’, and in7 serting the following: 

8 ‘‘(1) PRESUMPTION OF JOINT TENANCY.—If a 

9 testator devises trust or restricted interests in the 

10 same parcel of land to more than 1 person, in the ab11 sence of clear and express language in the devise stat12 ing that the interest is to pass to the devisees as ten13 ants in common, the devise shall be presumed to cre14 ate a joint tenancy with the right of survivorship in 

15 the interests involved. 

16 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

17 apply to any devise of an interest in trust or re18 stricted land where the will in which such devise is 

19 made was executed prior to the date that is 1 year 

20 after the date on which the Secretary publishes the 

21 certification required by section 8(a)(4) of the Amer22 ican Indian Probate Reform Act of 2004.’’. 

23 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Section 207 of the In24 dian Land Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2206) is amended 

25 by adding at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘(h) APPLICABLE FEDERAL LAW.—

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any references in subsections 

3 (a) and (b) to applicable Federal law include—

4 ‘‘(A) Public Law 91–627 (84 Stat. 1874); 

5 ‘‘(B) Public Law 92–377 (86 Stat. 530); 

6 ‘‘(C) Public Law 92–443 (86 Stat. 744); 

7 ‘‘(D) Public Law 96–274 (94 Stat. 537); 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(E) Public Law 98–513 (98 Stat. 2411). 

10 ‘‘(2) NO EFFECTON LAWS.—Nothing in this Act 

11 amends or otherwise affects the application of any 

12 law described in paragraph (1), or any other Federal 

13 law that pertains to—

14 ‘‘(A) trust or restricted land located on 1 or 

15 more specific Indian reservations that are ex16 pressly identified in such law; or 

17 ‘‘(B) the allotted lands of 1 or more specific 

18 Indian tribes that are expressly identified in 

19 such law. 

20 ‘‘(i) RULES OF INTERPRETATION.—In the absence of 

21 a contrary intent, and except as otherwise provided under 

22 this Act, applicable Federal law, or a tribal probate code 

23 approved by the Secretary pursuant to section 206, wills 

24 shall be construed as to trust and restricted land and trust 

25 personalty in accordance with the following rules: 
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1 ‘‘(1) CONSTRUCTION THAT WILL PASSES ALL

2 PROPERTY.—A will shall be construed to apply to all 

3 trust and restricted land and trust personalty which 

4 the testator owned at his death, including any such 

5 land or personalty acquired after the execution of his 

6 will. 

7 ‘‘(2) CLASS GIFTS.—

8 ‘‘(A) NO DIFFERENTIATION BETWEEN RELA9 TIONSHIP BY BLOOD AND RELATIONSHIP BY AF10 FINITY.—Terms of relationship that do not dif11 ferentiate relationships by blood from those by 

12 affinity, such as ‘uncles’, ‘aunts’, ‘nieces’, or 

13 ‘nephews’, are construed to exclude relatives by 

14 affinity. Terms of relationship that do not dif15 ferentiate relationships by the half blood from 

16 those by the whole blood, such as ‘brothers’, ‘sis17 ters’, ‘nieces’, or ‘nephews’, are construed to in18 clude both types of relationships. 

19 ‘‘(B) MEANING OF ‘HEIRS’ AND ‘NEXTOF

20 KIN’, ETC.; TIME OF ASCERTAINING CLASS.—A 

21 devise of trust or restricted interest in land or an 

22 interest in trust personalty to the testator’s or 

23 another designated person’s ‘heirs’, ‘next of kin’, 

24 ‘relatives’, or ‘family’ shall mean those persons, 

25 including the spouse, who would be entitled to
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1 take under the provisions of this Act for non2 testamentary disposition. The class is to be 

3 ascertained as of the date of the testator’s death. 

4 ‘‘(C) TIME FOR ASCERTAINING CLASS.—In 

5 construing a devise to a class other than a class 

6 described in subparagraph (B), the class shall be 

7 ascertained as of the time the devise is to take 

8 effect in enjoyment. The surviving issue of any 

9 member of the class who is then dead shall take 

10 by right of representation the share which their 

11 deceased ancestor would have taken. 

12 ‘‘(3) MEANING OF ‘DIE WITHOUT ISSUE’ AND

13 SIMILAR PHRASES.—In any devise under this chapter, 

14 the words ‘die without issue’, ‘die without leaving 

15 issue’, ‘have no issue’, or words of a similar import 

16 shall be construed to mean that an individual had no 

17 lineal descendants in his lifetime or at his death, and 

18 not that there will be no lineal descendants at some 

19 future time. 

20 ‘‘(4) PERSONS BORN OUTOF WEDLOCK.—In con21 struing provisions of this chapter relating to lapsed 

22 and void devises, and in construing a devise to a per23 son or persons described by relationship to the testator 

24 or to another, a person born out of wedlock shall be 
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1 considered the child of the natural mother and also of 

2 the natural father. 

3 ‘‘(5) LAPSED DEVISES.—Subject to the provi4 sions of subsection (b), where the testator devises or 

5 bequeaths a trust or restricted interest in land or 

6 trust personalty to the testator’s grandparents or to 

7 the lineal descendent of a grandparent, and the devi8 see or legatee dies before the testator leaving lineal de9 scendents, such descendents shall take the interest so 

10 devised or bequeathed per stirpes. 

11 ‘‘(6) VOID DEVISES.—Except as provided in 

12 paragraph (5), and if the disposition shall not be oth13 erwise expressly provided for by a tribal probate code 

14 approved under section 206 (25 U.S.C. 2205), if a de15 vise other than a residuary devise of a trust or re16 stricted interest in land or trust personalty fails for 

17 any reason, such interest shall become part of the res18 idue and pass, subject to the provisions of subsection 

19 (b), to the other residuary devisees, if any, in propor20 tion to their respective shares or interests in the res21 idue. 

22 ‘‘(7) FAMILY CEMETERY PLOT.—If a family cem23 etery plot owned by the testator at his decease is not 

24 mentioned in the decedent’s will, the ownership of the 
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1 plot shall descend to his heirs as if he had died intes2 tate. 

3 ‘‘(j) HEIRSHIP BY KILLING.—

4 ‘‘(1) HEIR BY KILLING DEFINED.—As used in 

5 this subsection, ‘heir by killing’ means any person 

6 who knowingly participates, either as a principal or 

7 as an accessory before the fact, in the willful and un8 lawful killing of the decedent. 

9 ‘‘(2) NO ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY BY KILL10 ING.—Subject to any applicable Federal law relating 

11 to the devise or descent of trust or restricted land, no 

12 heir by killing shall in any way acquire any trust or 

13 restricted interests in land or interests in trust per14 sonalty as the result of the death of the decedent, but 

15 such property shall pass in accordance with this sub16 section. 

17 ‘‘(3) DESCENT, DISTRIBUTION, AND RIGHTOF

18 SURVIVORSHIP.—The heir by killing shall be deemed 

19 to have predeceased the decedent as to decedent’s trust 

20 or restricted interests in land or trust personalty 

21 which would have passed from the decedent or his es22 tate to such heir—

23 ‘‘(A) under intestate succession under this 

24 section; 
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1 ‘‘(B) under a tribal probate code, unless 

2 otherwise provided for; 

3 ‘‘(C) as the surviving spouse; 

4 ‘‘(D) by devise; 

5 ‘‘(E) as a reversion or a vested remainder; 

6 ‘‘(F) as a survivorship interest; and 

7 ‘‘(G) as a contingent remainder or execu8 tory or other future interest. 

9 ‘‘(4) JOINT TENANTS, JOINTOWNERS, AND JOINT

10 OBLIGEES.—

11 ‘‘(A) Any trust or restricted land or trust 

12 personalty held by only the heir by killing and 

13 the decedent as joint tenants, joint owners, or 

14 joint obligees shall pass upon the death of the de15 cedent to his or her estate, as if the heir by kill16 ing had predeceased the decedent. 

17 ‘‘(B) As to trust or restricted land or trust 

18 personalty held jointly by 3 or more persons, in19 cluding both the heir by killing and the decedent, 

20 any income which would have accrued to the heir 

21 by killing as a result of the death of the decedent 

22 shall pass to the estate of the decedent as if the 

23 heir by killing had predeceased the decedent and 

24 any surviving joint tenants. 
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1 ‘‘(C) Notwithstanding any other provision 

2 of this subsection, the decedent’s trust or re3 stricted interest land or trust personalty that is 

4 held in a joint tenancy with the right of survi5 vorship shall be severed from the joint tenancy as 

6 though the property held in the joint tenancy 

7 were to be severed and distributed equally among 

8 the joint tenants and the decedent’s interest shall 

9 pass to his estate; the remainder of the interests 

10 shall remain in joint tenancy with right of sur11 vivorship among the surviving joint tenants. 

12 ‘‘(5) LIFE ESTATE FOR THE LIFE OF AN13 OTHER.—If the estate is held by a third person whose 

14 possession expires upon the death of the decedent, it 

15 shall remain in such person’s hands for the period of 

16 time following the decedent’s death equal to the life 

17 expectancy of the decedent but for the killing. 

18 ‘‘(6) PREADJUDICATION RULE.—

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a person has been 

20 charged, whether by indictment, information, or 

21 otherwise by the United States, a tribe, or any 

22 State, with voluntary manslaughter or homicide 

23 in connection with a decedent’s death, then any 

24 and all trust or restricted land or trust person25 alty that would otherwise pass to that person
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1 from the decedent’s estate shall not pass or be 

2 distributed by the Secretary until the charges 

3 have been resolved in accordance with the provi4 sions of this paragraph. 

5 ‘‘(B) DISMISSAL OR WITHDRAWAL.—Upon 

6 dismissal or withdrawal of the charge, or upon 

7 a verdict of not guilty, such land and personalty 

8 shall pass as if no charge had been filed or made. 

9 ‘‘(C) CONVICTION.—Upon conviction of such 

10 person, and the exhaustion of all appeals, if any, 

11 the trust and restricted land and trust person12 alty in the estate shall pass in accordance with 

13 this subsection. 

14 ‘‘(7) BROAD CONSTRUCTION; POLICY OF SUB15 SECTION.—This subsection shall not be considered 

16 penal in nature, but shall be construed broadly in 

17 order to effect the policy that no person shall be al18 lowed to profit by his own wrong, wherever com19 mitted. 

20 ‘‘(k) GENERAL RULES GOVERNING PROBATE.—

21 ‘‘(1) SCOPE.—Except as provided under applica22 ble Federal law or a tribal probate code approved 

23 under section 206, the provisions of this subsection 

24 shall govern the probate of estates containing trust 

25 and restricted interests in land or trust personalty. 
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1 ‘‘(2) PRETERMITTED SPOUSES AND CHILDREN.—

2 ‘‘(A) SPOUSES.—

3 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

4 in clause (ii), if the surviving spouse of a 

5 testator married the testator after the tes6 tator executed the will of the testator, the 

7 surviving spouse shall receive the intestate 

8 share in the decedent’s trust or restricted 

9 land and trust personalty that the spouse 

10 would have received if the testator had died 

11 intestate. 

12 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—Clause (i) shall not 

13 apply to a trust or restricted interest land 

14 where—

15 ‘‘(I) the will of a testator is exe16 cuted before the date of enactment of 

17 this subparagraph; 

18 ‘‘(II)(aa) the spouse of a testator 

19 is a non-Indian; and 

20 ‘‘(bb) the testator devised the in21 terests in trust or restricted land of the 

22 testator to 1 or more Indians; 

23 ‘‘(III) it appears, based on an ex24 amination of the will or other evidence, 

25 that the will was made in contempla-
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1 tion of the marriage of the testator to 

2 the surviving spouse; 

3 ‘‘(IV) the will expresses the inten4 tion that the will is to be effective not5 withstanding any subsequent marriage; 

6 or 

7 ‘‘(V)(aa) the testator provided for 

8 the spouse by a transfer of funds or 

9 property outside the will; and 

10 ‘‘(bb) an intent that the transfer 

11 be in lieu of a testamentary provision 

12 is demonstrated by statements of the 

13 testator or through a reasonable infer14 ence based on the amount of the trans15 fer or other evidence. 

16 ‘‘(iii) SPOUSES MARRIED AT THE TIME

17 OF THE WILL.—Should the surviving spouse 

18 of the testator be omitted from the will of 

19 the testator, the surviving spouse shall be 

20 treated, for purposes of trust or restricted 

21 land or trust personalty in the testator’s es22 tate, in accordance with the provisions of 

23 section 207(a)(2)(A), as though there was no 

24 will but only if—
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1 ‘‘(I) the testator and surviving 

2 spouse were continuously married 

3 without legal separation for the 5-year 

4 period preceding the decedent’s death; 

5 ‘‘(II) the testator and surviving 

6 spouse have a surviving child who is 

7 the child of the testator; 

8 ‘‘(III) the surviving spouse has 

9 made substantial payments toward the 

10 purchase of, or improvements to, the 

11 trust or restricted land in such estate; 

12 or 

13 ‘‘(IV) the surviving spouse is 

14 under a binding obligation to continue 

15 making loan payments for the trust or 

16 restricted land for a substantial period 

17 of time; 

18 except that, if there is evidence that the tes19 tator adequately provided for the surviving 

20 spouse and any minor children by a trans21 fer of funds or property outside of the will, 

22 this clause shall not apply. 

23 ‘‘(B) CHILDREN.—

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If a testator exe25 cuted the will of the testator before the birth 
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1 or adoption of 1 or more children of the tes2 tator, and the omission of the children from 

3 the will is a product of inadvertence rather 

4 than an intentional omission, the children 

5 shall share in the trust or restricted inter6 ests in land and trust personalty as if the 

7 decedent had died intestate. 

8 ‘‘(ii) ADOPTED HEIRS.—Any person 

9 recognized as an heir by virtue of adoption 

10 under the Act of July 8, 1940 (25 U.S.C. 

11 372a), shall be treated as the child of a de12 cedent under this subsection. 

13 ‘‘(iii) ADOPTED-OUTCHILDREN.—

14 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—For purposes 

15 of this Act, an adopted person shall not 

16 be considered the child or issue of his 

17 natural parents, except in distributing 

18 the estate of a natural kin, other than 

19 the natural parent, who has main20 tained a family relationship with the 

21 adopted person. If a natural parent 

22 shall have married the adopting par23 ent, the adopted person for purposes of 

24 inheritance by, from and through him 
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1 shall also be considered the issue of 

2 such natural parent. 

3 ‘‘(II) ELIGIBLE HEIR PURSUANT

4 TO OTHER FEDERAL LAW OR TRIBAL

5 LAW.—Notwithstanding the provisions 

6 of subparagraph (B)(iii)(I), other Fed7 eral laws and laws of the Indian tribe 

8 with jurisdiction over the trust or re9 stricted interest in land may otherwise 

10 define the inheritance rights of adopt11 ed-out children. 

12 ‘‘(3) DIVORCE.—

13 ‘‘(A) SURVIVING SPOUSE.—

14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—An individual who 

15 is divorced from a decedent, or whose mar16 riage to the decedent has been annulled, 

17 shall not be considered to be a surviving 

18 spouse unless, by virtue of a subsequent 

19 marriage, the individual is married to the 

20 decedent at the time of death of the dece21 dent. 

22 ‘‘(ii) SEPARATION.—A decree of sepa23 ration that does not dissolve a marriage, 

24 and terminate the status of husband and
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1 wife, shall not be considered a divorce for 

2 the purpose of this subsection. 

3 ‘‘(iii) NO EFFECTON ADJUDICA4 TIONS.—Nothing in clause (i) shall prevent 

5 the Secretary from giving effect to a prop6 erty right settlement relating to a trust or 

7 restricted interest in land or an interest in 

8 trust personalty if 1 of the parties to the 

9 settlement dies before the issuance of a final 

10 decree dissolving the marriage of the parties 

11 to the property settlement. 

12 ‘‘(B) EFFECTOF SUBSEQUENTDIVORCE ON

13 A WILL OR DEVISE.—

14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If, after executing a 

15 will, a testator is divorced or the marriage 

16 of the testator is annulled, as of the effective 

17 date of the divorce or annulment, any dis18 position of trust or restricted interests in 

19 land or of trust personalty made by the will 

20 to the former spouse of the testator shall be 

21 considered to be revoked unless the will ex22 pressly provides otherwise. 

23 ‘‘(ii) PROPERTY.—Property that is 

24 prevented from passing to a former spouse 

25 of a decedent under clause (i) shall pass as 
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1 if the former spouse failed to survive the de2 cedent. 

3 ‘‘(iii) PROVISIONS OF WILLS.—Any 

4 provision of a will that is considered to be 

5 revoked solely by operation of this subpara6 graph shall be revived by the remarriage of 

7 a testator to the former spouse of the tes8 tator. 

9 ‘‘(4) AFTER-BORN HEIRS.—A child in gestation 

10 at the time of decedent’s death will be treated as hav11 ing survived the decedent if the child lives at least 120 

12 hours after its birth. 

13 ‘‘(5) ADVANCEMENTS OF TRUST PERSONALTY

14 DURING LIFETIME; EFFECT ON DISTRIBUTION OF ES15 TATE.—

16 ‘‘(A) The trust personalty of a decedent who 

17 dies intestate as to all or a portion of his or her 

18 estate, given during the decedent’s lifetime to a 

19 person eligible to be an heir of the decedent 

20 under subsection (b)(2)(B), shall be treated as an 

21 advancement against the heir’s inheritance, but 

22 only if the decedent declared in a contempora23 neous writing, or the heir acknowledged in writ24 ing, that the gift is an advancement or is to be 
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1 taken into account in computing the division 

2 and distribution of the decedent’s intestate estate. 

3 ‘‘(B) For the purposes of this section, trust 

4 personalty advanced during the decedent’s life5 time is valued as of the time the heir came into 

6 possession or enjoyment of the property or as of 

7 the time of the decedent’s death, whichever occurs 

8 first. 

9 ‘‘(C) If the recipient of the trust personalty 

10 predeceases the decedent, the property shall not 

11 be treated as an advancement or taken into ac12 count in computing the division and distribution 

13 of the decedent’s intestate estate unless the dece14 dent’s contemporaneous writing provides other15 wise. 

16 ‘‘(6) HEIRS RELATED TO DECEDENT THROUGH 2

17 LINES; SINGLE SHARE.—A person who is related to 

18 the decedent through 2 lines of relationship is entitled 

19 to only a single share of the trust or restricted land 

20 or trust personalty in the decedent’s estate based on 

21 the relationship that would entitle such person to the 

22 larger share. 

23 ‘‘(7) NOTICE.—

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To the maximum ex25 tent practicable, the Secretary shall notify each 
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1 owner of trust and restricted land of the provi2 sions of this Act. 

3 ‘‘(B) COMBINED NOTICES.—The notice 

4 under subparagraph (A) may, at the discretion 

5 of the Secretary, be provided with the notice re6 quired under subsection (a) of section 8 of the 

7 American Indian Probate Reform Act of 2004. 

8 ‘‘(8) RENUNCIATION OR DISCLAIMER OF INTER9 ESTS.—

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any person 18 years of 

11 age or older may renounce or disclaim an inher12 itance of a trust or restricted interest in land or 

13 in trust personalty through intestate succession 

14 or devise, either in full or subject to the reserva15 tion of a life estate (where the interest is an in16 terest in land), in accordance with subparagraph 

17 (B), by filing a signed and acknowledged dec18 laration with the probate decisionmaker prior to 

19 entry of a final probate order. No interest so re20 nounced or disclaimed shall be considered to 

21 have vested in the renouncing or disclaiming 

22 heir or devisee, and the renunciation or dis23 claimer shall not be considered to be a transfer 

24 or gift of the renounced or disclaimed interest. 
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1 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS OF RENOUNCED

2 OR DISCLAIMED INTERESTS; NOTICE TO RECIPI3 ENTS.—

4 ‘‘(i) INTERESTS IN LAND.—A trust or 

5 restricted interest in land may be renounced 

6 or disclaimed only in favor of—

7 ‘‘(I) an eligible heir; 

8 ‘‘(II) any person who would have 

9 been eligible to be a devisee of the in10 terest in question pursuant to sub11 section (b)(1)(A) (but only in cases 

12 where the renouncing person is a devi13 see of the interest under a valid will); 

14 or 

15 ‘‘(III) the Indian tribe with juris16 diction over the interest in question; 

17 and the interest so renounced shall pass to 

18 its recipient in trust or restricted status. 

19 ‘‘(ii) TRUSTPERSONALTY.—An interest 

20 in trust personalty may be renounced or 

21 disclaimed in favor of any person who 

22 would be eligible to be a devisee of such an 

23 interest under subsection (b)(3) and shall 

24 pass to the recipient in accordance with the 

25 provisions of that subsection. 
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1 ‘‘(iii) UNAUTHORIZED RENUNCIATIONS

2 AND DISCLAIMERS.—Unless renounced or 

3 disclaimed in favor of a person or Indian 

4 tribe eligible to receive the interest in ac5 cordance with the provisions of this sub6 paragraph, a renounced or disclaimed in7 terest shall pass as if the renunciation or 

8 disclaimer had not been made. 

9 ‘‘(C) ACCEPTANCE OF INTEREST.—A renun10 ciation or disclaimer of an interest filed in ac11 cordance with this paragraph shall be considered 

12 accepted when implemented in a final order by 

13 a decisionmaker, and shall thereafter be irrev14 ocable. No renunciation or disclaimer of an in15 terest shall be included in such order unless the 

16 recipient of the interest has been given notice of 

17 the renunciation or disclaimer and has not re18 fused to accept the interest. All disclaimers and 

19 renunciations filed and implemented in probate 

20 orders made effective prior to the date of enact21 ment of the American Indian Probate Reform 

22 Act of 2004 are hereby ratified. 

23 ‘‘(D) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

24 this paragraph shall be construed to allow the re25 nunciation of an interest that is subject to the
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1 provisions of section 207(a)(2)(D) (25 U.S.C. 

2 2206(a)(2)(D)) in favor of more than 1 person. 

3 ‘‘(9) CONSOLIDATION AGREEMENTS.—

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—During the pendency of 

5 probate, the decisionmaker is authorized to ap6 prove written consolidation agreements effecting 

7 exchanges or gifts voluntarily entered into be8 tween the decedent’s eligible heirs or devisees, to 

9 consolidate interests in any tract of land in10 cluded in the decedent’s trust inventory. Such 

11 agreements may provide for the conveyance of 

12 interests already owned by such heirs or devisees 

13 in such tracts, without having to comply with 

14 the Secretary’s rules and requirements otherwise 

15 applicable to conveyances by deed of trust or re16 stricted interests in land. 

17 ‘‘(B) EFFECTIVE.—An agreement approved 

18 under subparagraph (A) shall be considered final 

19 when implemented in an order by a decision20 maker. The final probate order shall direct any 

21 changes necessary to the Secretary’s land records, 

22 to reflect and implement the terms of the ap23 proved agreement. 

24 ‘‘(C) EFFECTON PURCHASE OPTION AT

25 PROBATE.—Any interest in trust or restricted 
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1 land that is subject to a consolidation agreement 

2 under this paragraph or section 207(e) (25 

3 U.S.C. 2206(e)) shall not be available for pur4 chase under section 207(p) (25 U.S.C. 2206(p)) 

5 unless the decisionmaker determines that the 

6 agreement should not be approved.’’. 

7 SEC. 4. PARTITION OF HIGHLY FRACTIONATED INDIAN 

8 LANDS. 

9 Section 205 of the Indian Land Consolidation Act (25 

10 U.S.C. 2204) (as amended by section 6(a)(2)) is amended 

11 by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(d) PARTITION OF HIGHLY FRACTIONATED INDIAN

13 LANDS.—

14 ‘‘(1) APPLICABILITY.—This subsection shall be 

15 applicable only to parcels of land (including surface 

16 and subsurface interests, except with respect to a sub17 surface interest that has been severed from the surface 

18 interest, in which case this subsection shall apply 

19 only to the surface interest) which the Secretary has 

20 determined, pursuant to paragraph (2)(B), to be par21 cels of highly fractionated Indian land. 

22 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—Each partition action 

23 under this subsection shall be conducted by the Sec24 retary in accordance with the following requirements: 
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1 ‘‘(A) APPLICATION.—Upon receipt of any 

2 payment or bond required under subparagraph 

3 (B), the Secretary shall commence a process for 

4 partitioning a parcel of land by sale in accord5 ance with the provisions of this subsection upon 

6 receipt of an application by—

7 ‘‘(i) the Indian tribe with jurisdiction 

8 over the subject land that owns an undi9 vided interest in the parcel of land; or 

10 ‘‘(ii) any person owning an undivided 

11 interest in the parcel of land who is eligible 

12 to bid at the sale of the parcel pursuant to 

13 subclause (II), (III), or (IV) of subpara14 graph (I)(i); 

15 provided that no such application shall be valid 

16 or considered if it is received by the Secretary 

17 prior to the date that is 1 year after the date on 

18 which notice is published pursuant to section 

19 8(a)(4) of the American Indian Probate Reform 

20 Act of 2004. 

21 ‘‘(B) COSTS OF SERVING NOTICE AND PUB22 LICATION.—The costs of serving and publishing 

23 notice under subparagraph (F) shall be borne by 

24 the applicant. Upon receiving written notice 

25 from the Secretary, the applicant must pay to 
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1 the Secretary an amount determined by the Sec2 retary to be the estimated costs of such service of 

3 notice and publication, or furnish a sufficient 

4 bond for such estimated costs within the time 

5 stated in the notice, failing which, unless an ex6 tension is granted by the Secretary, the Sec7 retary shall not be required to commence the 

8 partition process under subparagraph (A) and 

9 may deny the application. The Secretary shall 

10 have the discretion and authority in any case to 

11 waive either the payment or the bond (or any 

12 portion of such payment or bond) otherwise re13 quired by this subparagraph, upon making a de14 termination that such waiver will further the 

15 policies of this Act. 

16 ‘‘(C) DETERMINATION.—Upon receipt of an 

17 application pursuant to subparagraph (A), the 

18 Secretary shall determine whether the subject 

19 parcel meets the requirements set forth in section 

20 202(6) (25 U.S.C. 2201(6)) to be classified as a 

21 parcel of highly fractionated Indian land. 

22 ‘‘(D) CONSENTREQUIREMENTS.—

23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A parcel of land 

24 may be partitioned under this subsection 
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1 only if the applicant obtains the written 

2 consent of—

3 ‘‘(I) the Indian tribe with juris4 diction over the subject land if such In5 dian tribe owns an undivided interest 

6 in the parcel; 

7 ‘‘(II) any owner who, for the 3-

8 year period immediately preceding the 

9 date on which the Secretary receives 

10 the application, has 

11 ‘‘(aa) continuously main12 tained a bona fide residence on 

13 the parcel; or 

14 ‘‘(bb) operated a bona fide 

15 farm, ranch, or other business on 

16 the parcel; and 

17 ‘‘(III) the owners (including par18 ents of minor owners and legal guard19 ians of incompetent owners) of at least 

20 50 percent of the undivided interests in 

21 the parcel, but only in cases where the 

22 Secretary determines that, based on the 

23 final appraisal prepared pursuant to 

24 subparagraph (F), any 1 owner’s total 

25 undivided interest in the parcel (not 
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1 including the interest of an Indian 

2 tribe or that of the owner requesting 

3 the partition) has a value in excess of 

4 $1,500. 

5 Any consent required by this clause must be 

6 in writing and acknowledged before a no7 tary public (or other official authorized to 

8 make acknowledgments), and shall be ap9 proved by Secretary unless the Secretary 

10 has reason to believe that the consent was 

11 obtained as a result of fraud or undue in12 fluence. 

13 ‘‘(ii) CONSENT BY THE SECRETARY ON

14 BEHALF OF CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS.—For the 

15 purposes of clause (i)(III), the Secretary 

16 may consent on behalf of—

17 ‘‘(I) undetermined heirs of trust 

18 or restricted interests and owners of 

19 such interests who are minors and 

20 legal incompetents having no parents 

21 or legal guardian; and 

22 ‘‘(II) missing owners or owners of 

23 trust or restricted interests whose 

24 whereabouts are unknown, but only 

25 after a search for such owners has been
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1 completed in accordance with the pro2 visions of this subsection. 

3 ‘‘(E) APPRAISAL.—After the Secretary has 

4 determined that the subject parcel is a parcel of 

5 highly fractionated Indian land pursuant to sub6 paragraph (C), the Secretary shall cause to be 

7 made, in accordance with the provisions of this 

8 Act for establishing fair market value, an ap9 praisal of the fair market value of the subject 

10 parcel. 

11 ‘‘(F) NOTICE TO OWNERS ON COMPLETION

12 OF APPRAISAL.—Upon completion of the ap13 praisal, the Secretary shall give notice of the re14 quested partition and appraisal to all owners of 

15 undivided interests in the parcel, in accordance 

16 with principles of due process. Such notice shall 

17 include the following requirements: 

18 ‘‘(i) WRITTEN NOTICE.—The Secretary 

19 shall attempt to give each owner written no20 tice of the partition action stating the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(I) That a proceeding to parti23 tion the parcel of land by sale has been 

24 commenced. 
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1 ‘‘(II) The legal description of the 

2 subject parcel. 

3 ‘‘(III) The owner’s ownership in4 terest in the subject parcel as evidenced 

5 by the Secretary’s records as of the 

6 date that owners are determined in ac7 cordance with clause (ii). 

8 ‘‘(IV) The results of the appraisal. 

9 ‘‘(V) The owner’s right to receive 

10 a copy of the appraisal upon written 

11 request. 

12 ‘‘(VI) The owner’s right to com13 ment on or object to the proposed par14 tition and the appraisal. 

15 ‘‘(VII) That the owner must time16 ly comment on or object in writing to 

17 the proposed partition or the ap18 praisal, in order to receive notice of 

19 approval of the appraisal and right to 

20 appeal. 

21 ‘‘(VIII) The date by which the 

22 owner’s written comments or objections 

23 must be received, which shall not be 

24 less than 90 days after the date that 
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1 the notice is mailed under this clause 

2 or last published under clause (ii)(II). 

3 ‘‘(IX) The address for requesting 

4 copies of the appraisal and for submit5 ting written comments or objections. 

6 ‘‘(X) The name and telephone 

7 number of the official to be contacted 

8 for purposes of obtaining information 

9 regarding the proceeding, including the 

10 time and date of the auction of the 

11 land or the date for submitting sealed 

12 bids. 

13 ‘‘(XI) Any other information the 

14 Secretary deems to be appropriate. 

15 ‘‘(ii) MANNER OF SERVICE.—

16 ‘‘(I) SERVICE BY CERTIFIED

17 MAIL.—The Secretary shall use due 

18 diligence to provide all owners of inter19 ests in the subject parcel, as evidenced 

20 by the Secretary’s records at the time 

21 of the determination under subpara22 graph (C), with actual notice of the 

23 partition proceedings by mailing a 

24 copy of the written notice described in 

25 clause (i) by certified mail, restricted 
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1 delivery, to each such owner at the 

2 owner’s last known address. For pur3 poses of this subsection, owners shall be 

4 determined from the Secretary’s land 

5 title records as of the date of the deter6 mination under subparagraph (C) or a 

7 date that is not more than 90 days 

8 prior to the date of mailing under this 

9 clause, whichever is later. In the event 

10 the written notice to an owner is re11 turned undelivered, the Secretary shall 

12 attempt to obtain a current address for 

13 such owner by conducting a reasonable 

14 search (including a reasonable search 

15 of records maintained by local, state, 

16 Federal and tribal governments and 

17 agencies) and by inquiring with the 

18 Indian tribe with jurisdiction over the 

19 subject parcel, and, if different from 

20 that tribe, the Indian tribe of which 

21 the owner is a member, and, if success22 ful in locating any such owner, send 

23 written notice by certified mail in ac24 cordance with this subclause. 
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1 ‘‘(II) NOTICE BY PUBLICATION.—

2 The Secretary shall give notice by pub3 lication of the partition proceedings to 

4 all owners that the Secretary was un5 able to serve pursuant to subclause (I), 

6 and to unknown heirs and assigns 

7 by—

8 ‘‘(aa) publishing the notice 

9 described in clause (i) at least 2 

10 times in a newspaper of general 

11 circulation in the county or coun12 ties where the subject parcel of 

13 land is located or, if there is an 

14 Indian tribe with jurisdiction 

15 over the parcel of land and that 

16 tribe publishes a tribal newspaper 

17 or newsletter at least once every 

18 month, 1 time in such newspaper 

19 of general circulation and 1 time 

20 in such tribal newspaper or news21 letter; 

22 ‘‘(bb) posting such notice in 

23 a conspicuous place in the tribal 

24 headquarters or administration 

25 building (or such other tribal 
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•S 1721 RS 

1 building determined by the Sec2 retary to be most appropriate for 

3 giving public notice) of the Indian 

4 tribe with jurisdiction over the 

5 parcel of land, if any; and 

6 ‘‘(cc) in addition to the fore7 going, in the Secretary’s discre8 tion, publishing notice in any 

9 other place or means that the Sec10 retary determines to be appro11 priate. 

12 ‘‘(G) REVIEW OF COMMENTS ON AP13 PRAISAL.—

14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—After reviewing 

15 and considering comments or information 

16 timely submitted by any owner of an inter17 est in the parcel in response to the notice re18 quired under subparagraph (F), the Sec19 retary may, consistent with the provisions 

20 of this Act for establishing fair market 

21 value—

22 ‘‘(I) order a new appraisal; or 

23 ‘‘(II) approve the appraisal;
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•S 1721 RS 

1 provided that if the Secretary orders a new ap2 praisal under subclause (I), notice of the new ap3 praisal shall be given as specified in clause (ii). 

4 ‘‘(ii) NOTICE.—Notice shall be given—

5 ‘‘(I) in accordance with subpara6 graph (H), where the new appraisal 

7 results in a higher valuation of the 

8 land; or 

9 ‘‘(II) in accordance with subpara10 graph (F)(ii), where the new appraisal 

11 results in a lower valuation of the 

12 land. 

13 ‘‘(H) NOTICE TO OWNERS OF APPROVAL OF

14 APPRAISAL AND RIGHTTO APPEAL.—Upon mak15 ing the determination under subparagraph (G), 

16 the Secretary shall provide to the Indian tribe 

17 with jurisdiction over the subject land and to all 

18 persons who submitted written comments on or 

19 objections to the proposed partition or appraisal, 

20 a written notice to be served on such tribe and 

21 persons by certified mail. Such notice shall 

22 state—

23 ‘‘(i) the results of the appraisal; 

24 ‘‘(ii) that the owner has the right to re25 view a copy of the appraisal upon request; 
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•S 1721 RS 

1 ‘‘(iii) that the land will be sold for not 

2 less than the appraised value, subject to the 

3 consent requirements under paragraph 

4 (2)(D); 

5 ‘‘(iv) the time of the sale or for submit6 ting bids under subparagraph (I); 

7 ‘‘(v) that the owner has the right, 

8 under the Secretary’s regulations governing 

9 administrative appeals, to pursue an ad10 ministrative appeal from—

11 ‘‘(I) the determination that the 

12 land may be partitioned by sale under 

13 the provisions of this section; and 

14 ‘‘(II) the Secretary’s order ap15 proving the appraisal; 

16 ‘‘(vi) the date by which an administra17 tive appeal must be taken, a citation to the 

18 provisions of the Secretary’s regulations 

19 that will govern the owner’s appeal, and 

20 any other information required by such reg21 ulations to be given to parties affected by 

22 adverse decisions of the Secretary; 

23 ‘‘(vii) in cases where the Secretary de24 termines that any person’s undivided trust 

25 or restricted interest in the parcel exceeds 
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1 $1,500 pursuant to paragraph (2)(D)(iii), 

2 that the Secretary has authority to consent 

3 to the partition on behalf of undetermined 

4 heirs of trust or restricted interests in the 

5 parcel and owners of such interests whose 

6 whereabouts are unknown; and 

7 ‘‘(viii) any other information the Sec8 retary deems to be appropriate. 

9 ‘‘(I) SALE TO ELIGIBLE PURCHASER.—

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clauses 

11 (ii) and (iii) and the consent requirements 

12 of paragraph (2)(D), the Secretary shall, 

13 after providing notice to owners under sub14 paragraph (H), including the time and 

15 place of sale or for receiving sealed bids, at 

16 public auction or by sealed bid (whichever 

17 of such methods of sale the Secretary deter18 mines to be more appropriate under the cir19 cumstances) sell the parcel of land by com20 petitive bid for not less than the final ap21 praised fair market value to the highest bid22 der from among the following eligible bid23 ders: 

24 ‘‘(I) The Indian tribe, if any, 

25 with jurisdiction over the trust or re-
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•S 1721 RS 

1 stricted interests in the parcel being 

2 sold. 

3 ‘‘(II) Any person who is a mem4 ber, or is eligible to be a member, of the 

5 Indian tribe described in subclause (I). 

6 ‘‘(III) Any person who is a mem7 ber, or is eligible to be a member, of an 

8 Indian tribe but not of the tribe de9 scribed in subclause (I), but only if 

10 such person already owns an undi11 vided interest in the parcel at the time 

12 of sale. 

13 ‘‘(IV) Any lineal descendent of the 

14 original allottee of the parcel who is a 

15 member or is eligible to be a member 

16 of an Indian tribe or, with respect to 

17 a parcel located in the State of Cali18 fornia that is not within an Indian 

19 tribe’s reservation or not otherwise sub20 ject to the jurisdiction of an Indian 

21 tribe, who is a member, or eligible to 

22 be a member, of an Indian tribe or 

23 owns a trust or restricted interest in 

24 the parcel. 
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1 ‘‘(ii) RIGHT TO MATCH HIGHEST

2 BID.—If the highest bidder is a person who 

3 is only eligible to bid under clause (i)(III), 

4 the Indian tribe that has jurisdiction over 

5 the parcel, if any, shall have the right to 

6 match the highest bid and acquire the par7 cel, but only if—

8 ‘‘(I) prior to the date of the sale, 

9 the governing body of such tribe has 

10 adopted a tribal law or resolution re11 serving its right to match the bids of 

12 such nonmember bidders in partition 

13 sales under this subsection and deliv14 ered a copy of such law or resolution 

15 to the Secretary; and 

16 ‘‘(II) the parcel is not acquired 

17 under clause (iii). 

18 ‘‘(iii) RIGHTTO PURCHASE.—Any per19 son who is a member, or eligible to be a 

20 member, of the Indian tribe with jurisdic21 tion over the trust or restricted interests in 

22 the parcel being sold and is, as of the time 

23 of sale under this subparagraph, the owner 

24 of the largest undivided interest in the par25 cel shall have a right to purchase the parcel 
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•S 1721 RS 

1 by tendering to the Secretary an amount 

2 equal to the highest sufficient bid submitted 

3 at the sale, less that amount of the bid at4 tributable to such owner’s share, but only 

5 if—

6 ‘‘(I) the owner submitted a suffi7 cient bid at the sale; 

8 ‘‘(II) the owner’s total undivided 

9 interest in the parcel immediately 

10 prior to the sale was—

11 ‘‘(aa) greater than the undi12 vided interest held by any other 

13 co-owners, except where there are 

14 2 or more co-owners whose inter15 ests are of equal size but larger 

16 than the interests of all other co17 owners and such owners of the 

18 largest interests have agreed in 

19 writing that 1 of them may exer20 cise the right of purchase under 

21 this clause; and 

22 ‘‘(bb) equal to or greater than 

23 20 percent of the entire undivided 

24 ownership of the parcel;
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•S 1721 RS 

1 ‘‘(III) within 3 days following the 

2 date of the auction or for receiving 

3 sealed bids, and in accordance with the 

4 regulations adopted to implement this 

5 section, the owner delivers to the Sec6 retary a written notice of intent to ex7 ercise the owner’s rights under this 

8 clause; and 

9 ‘‘(IV) such owner tenders the 

10 amount of the purchase price required 

11 under this clause—

12 ‘‘(aa) not less than 30 days 

13 after the date of the auction or 

14 time for receiving sealed bids; and 

15 ‘‘(bb) in accordance with any 

16 requirements of the regulations 

17 promulgated to implement this 

18 section. 

19 ‘‘(iv) INTEREST ACQUIRED.—A pur20 chaser of a parcel of land under this sub21 paragraph shall acquire title to the parcel 

22 in trust or restricted status, free and clear 

23 of any and all claims of title or ownership 

24 of all persons or entities (not including the 

25 United States) owning or claiming to own 
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•S 1721 RS 

1 an interest in such parcel prior to the time 

2 of sale. 

3 ‘‘(J) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—

4 ‘‘(i) Subject to clauses (ii) and (iii), 

5 the Secretary shall distribute the proceeds of 

6 sale of a parcel of land under the provisions 

7 of this section to the owners of interests in 

8 such parcel in proportion to their respective 

9 ownership interests. 

10 ‘‘(ii) Proceeds attributable to the sale 

11 of trust or restricted interests shall be main12 tained in accounts as trust personalty. 

13 ‘‘(iii) Proceeds attributable to the sale 

14 of interests of owners whose whereabouts are 

15 unknown, of undetermined heirs, and of 

16 other persons whose ownership interests 

17 have not been recorded shall be held by the 

18 Secretary until such owners, heirs, or other 

19 persons have been determined, at which 

20 time such proceeds shall be distributed in 

21 accordance with clauses (i) and (ii). 

22 ‘‘(K) LACK OF BIDS OR CONSENT.—

23 ‘‘(i) LACK OF BIDS.—If no bidder de24 scribed in subparagraph (I) presents a bid 
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•S 1721 RS 

1 that equals or exceeds the final appraised 

2 value, the Secretary may either—

3 ‘‘(I) purchase the parcel of land 

4 for its appraised fair market value on 

5 behalf of the Indian tribe with jurisdic6 tion over the land, subject to the lien 

7 and procedures provided under section 

8 214(b) (25 U.S.C. 2213(b)); or 

9 ‘‘(II) terminate the partition 

10 process. 

11 ‘‘(ii) LACK OF CONSENT.—If an appli12 cant fails to obtain any applicable consent 

13 required under the provisions of subpara14 graph (D) by the date established by the 

15 Secretary prior to the proposed sale, the 

16 Secretary may either extend the time for ob17 taining any such consent or deny the re18 quest for partition. 

19 ‘‘(3) ENFORCEMENT.—

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a partition is ap21 proved under this subsection and an owner of an 

22 interest in the parcel of land refuses to surrender 

23 possession in accordance with the partition deci24 sion, or refuses to execute any conveyance nec-
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•S 1721 RS 

1 essary to implement the partition, then any af2 fected owner or the United States may—

3 ‘‘(i) commence a civil action in the 

4 United States district court for the district 

5 in which the parcel of land is located; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) request that the court issue an 

7 order for ejectment or any other appropriate 

8 remedy necessary for the partition of the 

9 land by sale. 

10 ‘‘(B) FEDERAL ROLE.—With respect to any 

11 civil action brought under subparagraph (A)—

12 ‘‘(i) the United States—

13 ‘‘(I) shall receive notice of the 

14 civil action; and 

15 ‘‘(II) may be a party to the civil 

16 action; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) the civil action shall not be dis18 missed, and no relief requested shall be de19 nied, on the ground that the civil action is 

20 against the United States or that the 

21 United States is a necessary and indispen22 sable party. 

23 ‘‘(4) GRANTS AND LOANS.—The Secretary may 

24 provide grants and low interest loans to successful 
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•S 1721 RS 

1 bidders at sales authorized by this subsection, pro2 vided that—

3 ‘‘(A) the total amount of such assistance in 

4 any such sale shall not exceed 20 percent of the 

5 appraised value of the parcel of land sold; and 

6 ‘‘(B) the grant or loan funds provided shall 

7 only be applied toward the purchase price of the 

8 parcel of land sold. 

9 ‘‘(5) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary is author10 ized to adopt such regulations as may be necessary to 

11 implement the provisions of this subsection. Such reg12 ulations shall include provisions for giving notice of 

13 sales to prospective purchasers eligible to submit bids 

14 at sales conducted under paragraph (2)(I).’’. 

15 SEC. 5. OWNER-MANAGED INTERESTS. 

16 The Indian Land Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2201 

17 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 221. OWNER-MANAGED INTERESTS. 

19 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to pro20 vide a means for the co-owners of trust or restricted interests 

21 in a parcel of land to enter into surface leases of such parcel 

22 for certain purposes without approval of the Secretary. 

23 ‘‘(b) MINERAL INTERESTS.—Nothing in this section 

24 shall be construed to limit or otherwise affect the applica25 tion of any Federal law requiring the Secretary to approve
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•S 1721 RS 

1 mineral leases or other agreements for the development of 

2 the mineral interest in trust or restricted land. 

3 ‘‘(c) OWNER MANAGEMENT.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any provi5 sion of Federal law requiring the Secretary to ap6 prove individual Indian leases of individual Indian 

7 trust or restricted land, where the owners of all of the 

8 undivided trust or restricted interests in a parcel of 

9 land have submitted applications to the Secretary 

10 pursuant to subsection (a), and the Secretary has ap11 proved such applications under subsection (d), such 

12 owners may, without further approval by the Sec13 retary, enter into a lease of the parcel for agricultural 

14 purposes for a term not to exceed 10 years. 

15 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—No such lease 

16 shall be effective until it has been executed by the 

17 owners of all undivided trust or restricted interests in 

18 the parcel. 

19 ‘‘(d) APPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS FOR OWNER MAN20 AGEMENT.—

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the provisions of 

22 paragraph (2), the Secretary shall approve an appli23 cation for owner management submitted by a quali24 fied applicant pursuant to this section unless the Sec25 retary has reason to believe that the applicant is sub-
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•S 1721 RS 

1 mitting the application as the result of fraud or 

2 undue influence. No such application shall be valid or 

3 considered if it is received by the Secretary prior to 

4 the date that is 1 year after the date on which notice 

5 is published pursuant to section 8(a)(4) of the Amer6 ican Indian Probate Reform Act of 2004. 

7 ‘‘(2) COMMENCEMENTOF OWNER-MANAGED STA8 TUS.—Notwithstanding the approval of 1 or more ap9 plications pursuant to paragraph (1), no trust or re10 stricted interest in a parcel of land shall acquire 

11 owner-managed status until applications for all of the 

12 trust or restricted interests in such parcel of land 

13 have been submitted to and approved by the Secretary 

14 pursuant to this section. 

15 ‘‘(e) VALIDITY OF LEASES.—No lease of trust or re16 stricted interests in a parcel of land that is owner-managed 

17 under this section shall be valid or enforceable against the 

18 owners of such interests, or against the land, the interest 

19 or the United States, unless such lease—

20 ‘‘(1) is consistent with, and entered into in ac21 cordance with, the requirements of this section; or 

22 ‘‘(2) has been approved by the Secretary in ac23 cordance with other Federal laws applicable to the 

24 leasing of trust or restricted land. 
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•S 1721 RS 

1 ‘‘(f) LEASE REVENUES.—The Secretary shall not be re2 sponsible for the collection of, or accounting for, any lease 

3 revenues accruing to any interests under a lease authorized 

4 by subsection (e), so long as such interest is in owner-man5 aged status under the provisions of this section. 

6 ‘‘(g) JURISDICTION.—

7 ‘‘(1) JURISDICTION UNAFFECTED BY STATUS.—

8 The Indian tribe with jurisdiction over an interest in 

9 trust or restricted land that becomes owner-managed 

10 pursuant to this section shall continue to have juris11 diction over the interest to the same extent and in all 

12 respects that such tribe had prior to the interest ac13 quiring owner-managed status. 

14 ‘‘(2) PERSONS USING LAND.—Any person hold15 ing, leasing, or otherwise using such interest in land 

16 shall be considered to consent to the jurisdiction of the 

17 Indian tribe referred to in paragraph (1), including 

18 such tribe’s laws and regulations, if any, relating to 

19 the use, and any effects associated with the use, of the 

20 interest. 

21 ‘‘(h) CONTINUATION OF OWNER-MANAGED STATUS; 

22 REVOCATION.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the provisions of 

24 paragraph (2), after the applications of the owners of 

25 all of the trust or restricted interests in a parcel of 
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•S 1721 RS 

1 land have been approved by the Secretary pursuant 

2 to subsection (d), each such interest shall continue in 

3 owner-managed status under this section notwith4 standing any subsequent conveyance of the interest in 

5 trust or restricted status to another person or the sub6 sequent descent of the interest in trust or restricted 

7 status by testate or intestate succession to 1 or more 

8 heirs. 

9 ‘‘(2) REVOCATION.—Owner-managed status of an 

10 interest may be revoked upon written request of the 

11 owners (including the parents or legal guardians of 

12 minors or incompetent owners) of all trust or re13 stricted interests in the parcel, submitted to the Sec14 retary in accordance with regulations adopted under 

15 subsection (l). The revocation shall become effective as 

16 of the date on which the last of all such requests has 

17 been delivered to the Secretary. 

18 ‘‘(3) EFFECTOF REVOCATION.—Revocation of 

19 owner-managed status under paragraph (2) shall not 

20 affect the validity of any lease made in accordance 

21 with the provisions of this section prior to the effective 

22 date of the revocation, provided that, after such rev23 ocation becomes effective, the Secretary shall be re24 sponsible for the collection of, and accounting for, all 

25 future lease revenues accruing to the trust or re-
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•S 1721 RS 

1 stricted interests in the parcel from and after such ef2 fective date. 

3 ‘‘(i) DEFINED TERMS.—

4 ‘‘(1) For purposes of subsection (d)(1), the term 

5 ‘qualified applicant’ means—

6 ‘‘(A) a person over the age of 18 who owns 

7 a trust or restricted interest in a parcel of land; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(B) the parent or legal guardian of a 

10 minor or incompetent person who owns a trust 

11 or restricted interest in a parcel of land. 

12 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this section, the term 

13 ‘owner-managed status’ means, with respect to a trust 

14 or restricted interest, that—

15 ‘‘(A) the interest is a trust or restricted in16 terest in a parcel of land for which applications 

17 covering all trust or restricted interests in such 

18 parcel have been submitted to and approved by 

19 the Secretary pursuant to subsection (d); 

20 ‘‘(B) the interest may be leased without ap21 proval of the Secretary pursuant to, and in a 

22 manner that is consistent with, the requirements 

23 of this section; and 

24 ‘‘(C) no revocation has occurred under sub25 section (h)(2).
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1 ‘‘(j) SECRETARIAL APPROVAL OF OTHER TRANS2 ACTIONS.—Except with respect to the specific lease trans3 action described in paragraph (1) of subsection (c), interests 

4 that acquire owner-managed status under the provisions of 

5 this section shall continue to be subject to all Federal laws 

6 requiring the Secretary to approve transactions involving 

7 trust or restricted land (including leases with terms of a 

8 duration in excess of 10 years) that would otherwise apply 

9 to such interests if the interests had not acquired owner10 managed status under this section. 

11 ‘‘(k) EFFECTOF SECTION.—Subject to subsections (c), 

12 (f), and (h), nothing in this section diminishes or otherwise 

13 affects any authority or responsibility of the Secretary with 

14 respect to an interest in trust or restricted land.’’. 

15 SEC. 6. ADDITIONAL AMENDMENTS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Indian Land Consolidation 

17 Act (25 U.S.C. 2201 et seq.) is amended—

18 (1) in the second sentence of section 205(a) (25 

19 U.S.C. 2204(a)), by striking ‘‘over 50 per centum of 

20 the undivided interests’’ and inserting ‘‘undivided in21 terests equal to at least 50 percent of the undivided 

22 interest’’; 

23 (2) in section 207 (25 U.S.C. 2206), by adding 

24 a subsection at the end as follows: 

25 ‘‘(p) PURCHASE OPTION AT PROBATE.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The trust or restricted inter2 ests in a parcel of land in the decedent’s estate may 

3 be purchased at probate in accordance with the provi4 sions of this subsection. 

5 ‘‘(2) SALE OF INTERESTATFAIR MARKET

6 VALUE.—Subject to paragraph (3), the Secretary is 

7 authorized to sell trust or restricted interests in land 

8 subject to this subsection, including the interest that 

9 a surviving spouse would otherwise receive under sec10 tion 207(a)(2) (A) or (D), at no less than fair market 

11 value, as determined in accordance with the provi12 sions of this Act, to any of the following eligible pur13 chasers: 

14 ‘‘(A) Any other eligible heir taking an inter15 est in the same parcel of land by intestate succes16 sion or the decedent’s other devisees of interests 

17 in the same parcel who are eligible to receive a 

18 devise under section 207(b)(1)(A). 

19 ‘‘(B) All persons who own undivided trust 

20 or restricted interests in the same parcel of land 

21 involved in the probate proceeding. 

22 ‘‘(C) The Indian tribe with jurisdiction over 

23 the interest, or the Secretary on behalf of such 

24 Indian tribe. 
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•S 1721 RS 

1 ‘‘(3) REQUESTTO PURCHASE; AUCTION; CONSENT

2 REQUIREMENTS.—No sale of an interest in probate 

3 shall occur under this subsection unless—

4 ‘‘(A) an eligible purchaser described in 

5 paragraph (2) submits a written request to pur6 chase prior to the distribution of the interest to 

7 heirs or devisees of the decedent and in accord8 ance with any regulations of the Secretary; and 

9 ‘‘(B) except as provided in paragraph (5), 

10 the heirs or devisees of such interest, and the de11 cedent’s surviving spouse, if any, receiving a life 

12 estate under section 207(a)(2) (A) or (D) consent 

13 to the sale. 

14 If the Secretary receives more than 1 request to pur15 chase the same interest, the Secretary shall sell the in16 terest by public auction or sealed bid (as determined 

17 by the Secretary) at not less than the appraised fair 

18 market value to the eligible purchaser submitting the 

19 highest bid. 

20 ‘‘(4) APPRAISAL AND NOTICE.—Prior to the sale 

21 of an interest pursuant to this subsection, the Sec22 retary shall—

23 ‘‘(A) appraise the interest at its fair market 

24 value in accordance with this Act; 
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•S 1721 RS 

1 ‘‘(B) provide eligible heirs, other devisees, 

2 and the Indian tribe with jurisdiction over the 

3 interest with written notice, sent by first class 

4 mail, that the interest is available for purchase 

5 in accordance with this subsection; and 

6 ‘‘(C) if the Secretary receives more than 1 

7 request to purchase the interest by a person de8 scribed in subparagraph (B), provide notice of 

9 the manner (auction or sealed bid), time and 

10 place of the sale, a description, and the ap11 praised fair market value, of the interest to be 

12 sold—

13 ‘‘(i) to the heirs or other devisees and 

14 the Indian tribe with jurisdiction over the 

15 interest, by first class mail; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) to all other eligible purchasers, by 

17 posting written notice in at least 5 con18 spicuous places in the vicinity of the place 

19 of hearing. 

20 ‘‘(5) SMALL UNDIVIDED INTERESTS IN INDIAN

21 LANDS.—

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara23 graph (B), the consent of a person who is an heir 

24 otherwise required under paragraph (3)(B) shall 
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•S 1721 RS 

1 not be required for the auction and sale of an in2 terest at probate under this subsection if—

3 ‘‘(i) the interest is passing by intestate 

4 succession; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) prior to the auction the Secretary 

6 determines in the probate proceeding that 

7 the interest passing to such heir represents 

8 less than 5 percent of the entire undivided 

9 ownership of the parcel of land as evidenced 

10 by the Secretary’s records as of the time the 

11 determination is made. 

12 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding sub13 paragraph (A), the consent of such heir shall be 

14 required for the sale at probate of the heir’s in15 terest if, at the time of the decedent’s death, the 

16 heir was residing on the parcel of land of which 

17 the interest to be sold was a part. 

18 ‘‘(6) DISTRIBUTION OF PROCEEDS.—Proceeds 

19 from the sale of interests under this subsection shall 

20 be distributed to the heirs, devisees, or spouse whose 

21 interest was sold in accordance with the values of 

22 their respective interests. The proceeds attributable to 

23 an heir or devisee shall be held in an account as trust 

24 personalty if the interest sold would have otherwise
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1 passed to the heir or devisee in trust or restricted sta2 tus.’’; 

3 (3) in section 206 (25 U.S.C. 2205)—

4 (A) in subsection (a), by striking paragraph 

5 (3) and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(3) TRIBAL PROBATE CODES.—Except as pro7 vided in any applicable Federal law, the Secretary 

8 shall not approve a tribal probate code, or an amend9 ment to such a code, that prohibits the devise of an 

10 interest in trust or restricted land to—

11 ‘‘(A) an Indian lineal descendant of the 

12 original allottee; or 

13 ‘‘(B) an Indian who is not a member of the 

14 Indian tribe with jurisdiction over such an in15 terest; 

16 unless the code provides for—

17 ‘‘(i) the renouncing of interests to eligi18 ble devisees in accordance with the code; 

19 ‘‘(ii) the opportunity for a devisee who 

20 is the spouse or lineal descendant of a tes21 tator to reserve a life estate without regard 

22 to waste; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) payment of fair market value in 

24 the manner prescribed under subsection 

25 (c)(2).’’; and 
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1 (B) in subsection (c)—

2 (i) in paragraph (1)—

3 (I) by striking the paragraph 

4 heading and inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—’’; 

7 (II) in the first sentence of sub8 paragraph (A) (as redesignated by 

9 clause (i)), by striking ‘‘section 

10 207(a)(6)(A) of this title’’ and insert11 ing ‘‘section 207(b)(2)(A)(ii) of this 

12 title’’; and 

13 (III) by striking the last sentence 

14 and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(B) TRANSFER.—The Secretary shall 

16 transfer payments received under subparagraph 

17 (A) to any person or persons who would have re18 ceived an interest in land if the interest had not 

19 been acquired by the Indian tribe in accordance 

20 with this paragraph.’’; and 

21 (ii) in paragraph (2)—

22 (I) in subparagraph (A)—

23 (aa) by striking the subpara24 graph heading and all that follows 

25 through ‘‘Paragraph (1) shall not 
159

•S 1721 RS 

1 apply’’ and inserting the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(A) INAPPLICABILITY TO CERTAIN INTER4 ESTS.—

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) 

6 shall not apply’’; 

7 (bb) in clause (i) (as redesig8 nated by item (aa)), by striking 

9 ‘‘if, while’’ and inserting the fol10 lowing: ‘‘if—

11 ‘‘(I) while’’; 

12 (cc) by striking the period at 

13 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

14 (dd) by adding at the end the 

15 following: 

16 ‘‘(II)(aa) the interest is part of a 

17 family farm that is devised to a mem18 ber of the family of the decedent; and 

19 ‘‘(bb) the devisee agrees that the 

20 Indian tribe with jurisdiction over the 

21 land will have the opportunity to ac22 quire the interest for fair market value 

23 if the interest is offered for sale to a 

24 person or entity that is not a member 

25 of the family of the owner of the land. 
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1 ‘‘(ii) RECORDING OF INTEREST.—On 

2 request by the Indian tribe described in 

3 clause (i)(II)(bb), a restriction relating to 

4 the acquisition by the Indian tribe of an in5 terest in a family farm involved shall be re6 corded as part of the deed relating to the in7 terest involved. 

8 ‘‘(iii) MORTGAGE AND FORE9 CLOSURE.—Nothing in clause (i)(II) lim10 its—

11 ‘‘(I) the ability of an owner of 

12 land to which that clause applies to 

13 mortgage the land; or 

14 ‘‘(II) the right of the entity hold15 ing such a mortgage to foreclose or oth16 erwise enforce such a mortgage agree17 ment in accordance with applicable 

18 law. 

19 ‘‘(iv) DEFINITION OF ‘MEMBER OF THE

20 FAMILY’.—In this paragraph, the term 

21 ‘member of the family’, with respect to a de22 cedent or landowner, means—

23 ‘‘(I) a lineal descendant of a dece24 dent or landowner; 
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1 ‘‘(II) a lineal descendant of the 

2 grandparent of a decedent or land3 owner; 

4 ‘‘(III) the spouse of a descendant 

5 or landowner described in subclause (I) 

6 or (II); and 

7 ‘‘(IV) the spouse of a decedent or 

8 landowner.’’; and 

9 (II) in subparagraph (B), by 

10 striking ‘‘subparagraph (A)’’ and all 

11 that follows through ‘‘207(a)(6)(B) of 

12 this title’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph 

13 (1)’’; 

14 (4) in section 207 (25 U.S.C. 2206), by striking 

15 subsection (g); 

16 (5) in section 213 (25 U.S.C. 2212)—

17 (A) by striking the section heading and in18 serting the following: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 2212. FRACTIONAL INTEREST ACQUISITION PRO20 GRAM.’’; 

21 (B) in subsection (a), by—

22 (i) adding in paragraph (1) ‘‘or from 

23 an heir during probate in accordance with 

24 section 207(p) (25 U.S.C. 2206(p))’’ after 

25 ‘‘owner,’’; and 
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1 (ii) striking ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY OF SEC2 RETARY.—’’ and all that follows through 

3 ‘‘the Secretary shall submit’’ and inserting 

4 the following: 

5 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.—The Secretary 

6 shall submit’’; and 

7 (iii) by striking ‘‘whether the program 

8 to acquire fractional interests should be ex9 tended or altered to make resources’’ and in10 serting ‘‘how the fractional interest acquisi11 tion program should be enhanced to in12 crease the resources made’’; 

13 (C) in subsection (b), by striking paragraph 

14 (4) and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(4) shall minimize the administrative costs as16 sociated with the land acquisition program through 

17 the use of policies and procedures designed to accom18 modate the voluntary sale of interests under this sec19 tion, notwithstanding the existence of any otherwise 

20 applicable policy, procedure, or regulation, through 

21 the elimination of duplicate—

22 ‘‘(A) conveyance documents; 

23 ‘‘(B) administrative proceedings; and 

24 ‘‘(C) transactions.’’; 

25 (D) in subsection (c)—
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•S 1721 RS 

1 (i) in paragraph (1)—

2 (I) in subparagraph (A), by strik3 ing ‘‘at least 5 percent of the’’ and in4 serting in its place ‘‘an’’; 

5 (II) in subparagraph (A), by in6 serting ‘‘in such parcel’’ following ‘‘the 

7 Secretary shall convey an interest’’; 

8 (III) in subparagraph (A), by 

9 striking ‘‘landowner upon payment’’ 

10 and all that follows and inserting the 

11 following: ‘‘landowner—

12 ‘‘(i) on payment by the Indian land13 owner of the amount paid for the interest by 

14 the Secretary; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) if—

16 ‘‘(I) the Indian referred to in this 

17 subparagraph provides assurances that 

18 the purchase price will be paid by 

19 pledging revenue from any source, in20 cluding trust resources; and 

21 ‘‘(II) the Secretary determines 

22 that the purchase price will be paid in 

23 a timely and efficient manner.’’; and 

24 (IV) in subparagraph (B), by in25 serting before the period at the end the 
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1 following: ‘‘unless the interest is subject 

2 to a foreclosure of a mortgage in ac3 cordance with the Act of March 29, 

4 1956 (25 U.S.C. 483a)’’; and 

5 (ii) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘10 

6 percent or more of the undivided interests’’ 

7 and inserting ‘‘an undivided interest’’; and 

8 (E) by adding at the end of the section: 

9 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

10 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

11 $75,000,000 for fiscal year 2005, $95,000,000 for fiscal year 

12 2006, and $145,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2007 

13 through 2010.’’; 

14 (6) in section 214 (25 U.S.C. 2213), by striking 

15 subsection (b) and inserting the following: 

16 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION OF REVENUE FROM ACQUIRED IN17 TERESTS TO LAND CONSOLIDATION PROGRAM.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall have a 

19 lien on any revenue accruing to an interest described 

20 in subsection (a) until the Secretary provides for the 

21 removal of the lien under paragraph (3), (4), or (5). 

22 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Until the Secretary re24 moves a lien from an interest in land under 

25 paragraph (1)—
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•S 1721 RS 

1 ‘‘(i) any lease, resource sale contract, 

2 right-of-way, or other document evidencing 

3 a transaction affecting the interest shall 

4 contain a clause providing that all revenue 

5 derived from the interest shall be paid to the 

6 Secretary; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) any revenue derived from any in8 terest acquired by the Secretary in accord9 ance with section 213 shall be deposited in 

10 the fund created under section 216. 

11 ‘‘(B) APPROVAL OF TRANSACTIONS.—Not12 withstanding section 16 of the Act of June 18, 

13 1934 (commonly known as the ‘Indian Reorga14 nization Act’) (25 U.S.C. 476), or any other pro15 vision of law, until the Secretary removes a lien 

16 from an interest in land under paragraph (1), 

17 the Secretary may approve a transaction covered 

18 under this section on behalf of an Indian tribe. 

19 ‘‘(3) REMOVAL OF LIENS AFTER FINDINGS.—The 

20 Secretary may remove a lien referred to in paragraph 

21 (1) if the Secretary makes a finding that—

22 ‘‘(A) the costs of administering the interest 

23 from which revenue accrues under the lien will 

24 equal or exceed the projected revenues for the 

25 parcel of land involved; 
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•S 1721 RS 

1 ‘‘(B) in the discretion of the Secretary, it 

2 will take an unreasonable period of time for the 

3 parcel of land to generate revenue that equals the 

4 purchase price paid for the interest; or 

5 ‘‘(C) a subsequent decrease in the value of 

6 land or commodities associated with the parcel of 

7 land make it likely that the interest will be un8 able to generate revenue that equals the purchase 

9 price paid for the interest in a reasonable time. 

10 ‘‘(4) REMOVAL OF LIENS UPON PAYMENTINTO

11 THE ACQUISITION FUND.—The Secretary shall remove 

12 a lien referred to in paragraph (1) upon payment of 

13 an amount equal to the purchase price of that interest 

14 in land into the Acquisition Fund created under sec15 tion 2215 of this title, except where the tribe with ju16 risdiction over such interest in land authorizes the 

17 Secretary to continue the lien in order to generate ad18 ditional acquisition funds. 

19 ‘‘(5) OTHER REMOVAL OF LIENS.—The Secretary 

20 may, in consultation with tribal governments and 

21 other entities described in section 213(b)(3), periodi22 cally remove liens referred to in paragraph (1) from 

23 interests in land acquired by the Secretary.’’; 
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•S 1721 RS 

1 (7) in section 215 (25 U.S.C. 2214), in the last 

2 sentence, by striking ‘‘section 2212 of this title’’ and 

3 inserting ‘‘this Act’’; 

4 (8) in section 216 (25 U.S.C. 2215)—

5 (A) in subsection (a), by striking paragraph 

6 (2) and inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(2) collect all revenues received from the lease, 

8 permit, or sale of resources from interests acquired 

9 under section 213 or paid by Indian landowners 

10 under section 213.’’; and 

11 (B) in subsection (b)—

12 (i) in paragraph (1)—

13 (I) in the matter preceding sub14 paragraph (A), by striking ‘‘Subject to 

15 paragraph (2), all’’ and inserting 

16 ‘‘All’’; 

17 (II) in subparagraph (A), by 

18 striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

19 (III) in subparagraph (B), by 

20 striking the period at the end and in21 serting ‘‘; and’’; and 

22 (IV) by adding at the end the fol23 lowing: 
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•S 1721 RS 

1 ‘‘(C) be used to acquire undivided interests 

2 on the reservation from which the income was 

3 derived.’’; and 

4 (ii) by striking paragraph (2) and in5 serting the following: 

6 ‘‘(2) USE OF FUNDS.—The Secretary may use 

7 the revenue deposited in the Acquisition Fund under 

8 paragraph (1) to acquire some or all of the undivided 

9 interests in any parcels of land in accordance with 

10 section 205.’’; 

11 (9) in section 217 (25 U.S.C. 2216)—

12 (A) in subsection (b)(1), by striking sub13 paragraph (B) and inserting a new subpara14 graph (B) as follows: 

15 ‘‘(B) WAIVER OF REQUIREMENT.—The re16 quirement for an estimate of value under sub17 paragraph (A) may be waived in writing by an 

18 owner of a trust or restricted interest in land ei19 ther selling, exchanging, or conveying by gift 

20 deed for no or nominal consideration such inter21 est—

22 ‘‘(i) to an Indian person who is the 

23 owner’s spouse, brother, sister, lineal ances24 tor, lineal descendant, or collateral heir; or
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•S 1721 RS 

1 ‘‘(ii) to an Indian co-owner or to the 

2 tribe with jurisdiction over the subject par3 cel of land, where the grantor owns a frac4 tional interest that represents 5 percent or 

5 less of the parcel.’’; 

6 (B) in subsection (e), by striking the matter 

7 preceding paragraph (1), and inserting ‘‘Not8 withstanding any other provision of law, the 

9 names and mailing addresses of the owners of 

10 any interest in trust or restricted lands, and in11 formation on the location of the parcel and the 

12 percentage of undivided interest owned by each 

13 individual shall, upon written request, be made 

14 available to’’; 

15 (C) in subsection (e)(1), by striking ‘‘In16 dian’’; 

17 (D) in subsection (e)(3), by striking ‘‘pro18 spective applicants for the leasing, use, or con19 solidation of’’ and inserting ‘‘any person that is 

20 leasing, using, or consolidating, or is applying to 

21 lease, use, or consolidate,’’; and 

22 (E) by striking subsection (f) and inserting 

23 the following: 

24 ‘‘(f) PURCHASE OF LAND BY INDIAN TRIBE.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para2 graph (2), before the Secretary approves an applica3 tion to terminate the trust status or remove the re4 strictions on alienation from a parcel of, or interest 

5 in, trust or restricted land, the Indian tribe with ju6 risdiction over the parcel shall have the oppor7 tunity—

8 ‘‘(A) to match any offer contained in the 

9 application; or 

10 ‘‘(B) in a case in which there is no pur11 chase price offered, to acquire the interest in the 

12 parcel by paying the fair market value of the in13 terest. 

14 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR FAMILY FARMS.—

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) shall 

16 not apply to a parcel of, or interest in, trust or 

17 restricted land that is part of a family farm that 

18 is conveyed to a member of the family of a land19 owner (as defined in section 206(c)(2)(A)(iv)) if 

20 the conveyance requires that in the event that the 

21 parcel or interest is offered for sale to an entity 

22 or person that is not a member of the family of 

23 the landowner, the Indian tribe with jurisdiction 

24 over the land shall be afforded the opportunity to 

25 purchase the interest pursuant to paragraph (1). 
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•S 1721 RS 

1 ‘‘(B) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER PROVI2 SION.—Section 206(c)(2)(A) shall apply with re3 spect to the recording and mortgaging of any 

4 trust or restricted land referred to in subpara5 graph (A).’’; 

6 (10) in section 219(b)(1)(A) (25 U.S.C. 

7 2218(b)(1)(A)), by striking ‘‘100’’ and inserting ‘‘90’’; 

8 and 

9 (11) in section 219, by adding at the end of the 

10 section: 

11 ‘‘(g) OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in this Act shall be con12 strued to supersede, repeal, or modify any general or spe13 cific statute authorizing the grant or approval of any type 

14 of land use transaction involving fractional interests in 

15 trust or restricted land.’’. 

16 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 202 of the Indian Land 

17 Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2201) is amended—

18 (1) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 

19 following: 

20 ‘‘(2) ‘Indian’ means—

21 ‘‘(A) any person who is a member of any 

22 Indian tribe, is eligible to become a member of 

23 any Indian tribe, or is an owner (as of the date 

24 of enactment of the American Indian Probate 
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•S 1721 RS 

1 Reform Act of 2004) of a trust or restricted in2 terest in land; 

3 ‘‘(B) any person meeting the definition of 

4 Indian under the Indian Reorganization Act (25 

5 U.S.C. 479) and the regulations promulgated 

6 thereunder; and 

7 ‘‘(C) with respect to the inheritance and 

8 ownership of trust or restricted land in the State 

9 of California pursuant to section 207, any per10 son described in subparagraph (A) or (B) or any 

11 person who owns a trust or restricted interest in 

12 a parcel of such land in that State.’’; 

13 (2) by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the 

14 following: 

15 ‘‘(4) ‘trust or restricted lands’ means lands, title 

16 to which is held by the United States in trust for an 

17 Indian tribe or individual, or which is held by an In18 dian tribe or individual subject to a restriction by the 

19 United States against alienation; and ‘trust or re20 stricted interest in land’ or ‘trust or restricted interest 

21 in a parcel of land’ means an interest in land, title 

22 to which is held in trust by the United States for an 

23 Indian tribe or individual, or which is held by an In24 dian tribe or individual subject to a restriction by the 

25 United States against alienation.’’; and 
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1 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(6) ‘parcel of highly fractionated Indian land’ 

3 means a parcel of land that the Secretary, pursuant 

4 to authority under a provision of this Act, determines 

5 to have, as evidenced by the Secretary’s records at the 

6 time of the determination—

7 ‘‘(A) 50 or more but less than 100 co-owners 

8 of undivided trust or restricted interests, and no 

9 1 of such co-owners holds a total undivided trust 

10 or restricted interest in the parcel that is greater 

11 than 10 percent of the entire undivided owner12 ship of the parcel; or 

13 ‘‘(B) 100 or more co-owners of undivided 

14 trust or restricted interests; 

15 ‘‘(7) ‘land’ means any real property, and in16 cludes within its meaning for purposes of this Act im17 provements permanently affixed to real property; 

18 ‘‘(8) ‘person’ or ‘individual’ means a natural 

19 person; 

20 ‘‘(9) ‘eligible heirs’ means, for purposes of section 

21 207 (25 U.S.C. 2206), any of a decedent’s children, 

22 grandchildren, great grandchildren, full siblings, half 

23 siblings by blood, and parents who are—

24 ‘‘(A) Indian; or
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•S 1721 RS 

1 ‘‘(B) lineal descendents within 2 degrees of 

2 consanguinity of an Indian; or 

3 ‘‘(C) owners of a trust or restricted interest 

4 in a parcel of land for purposes of inheriting by 

5 descent, renunciation, or consolidation agreement 

6 under section 207 (25 U.S.C. 2206), another 

7 trust or restricted interest in such parcel from 

8 the decedent; and 

9 ‘‘(10) ‘without regard to waste’ means, with re10 spect to a life estate interest in land, that the holder 

11 of such estate is entitled to the receipt of all income, 

12 including bonuses and royalties, from such land to the 

13 exclusion of the remaindermen.’’. 

14 (c) ISSUANCE OF PATENTS.—Section 5 of the Act of 

15 February 8, 1887 (25 U.S.C. 348), is amended by striking 

16 the second proviso and inserting the following: ‘‘Provided, 

17 That the rules of intestate succession under the Indian Land 

18 Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2201 et seq.) (including a 

19 tribal probate code approved under that Act or regulations 

20 promulgated under that Act) shall apply to that land for 

21 which patents have been executed and delivered:’’. 

22 (d) TRANSFERS OF RESTRICTED INDIAN LAND.—Sec23 tion 4 of the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 464), is 

24 amended in the first proviso by—
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•S 1721 RS 

1 (1) striking ‘‘, in accordance with’’ and all that 

2 follows through ‘‘or in which the subject matter of the 

3 corporation is located,’’; 

4 (2) striking ‘‘, except as provided by the Indian 

5 Land Consolidation Act’’ and all that follows through 

6 the colon; and 

7 (3) inserting ‘‘in accordance with the Indian 

8 Land Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2201 et seq.) (in9 cluding a tribal probate code approved under that Act 

10 or regulations promulgated under that Act):’’. 

11 (e) ESTATE PLANNING.—

12 (1) CONDUCT OF ACTIVITIES.—Section 207(f)(1) 

13 of the Indian Land Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 

14 2206) is amended by striking paragraph (1) and in15 serting the following: 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—

17 ‘‘(A) The activities conducted under this 

18 subsection shall be conducted in accordance with 

19 any applicable—

20 ‘‘(i) tribal probate code; or 

21 ‘‘(ii) tribal land consolidation plan. 

22 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall provide estate 

23 planning assistance in accordance with this sub24 section, to the extent amounts are appropriated 

25 for such purpose.’’. 
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1 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—Section 207(f)(2) of the 

2 Indian Land Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 

3 2206(f)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end 

4 of subparagraph (A), redesignating subparagraph (B) 

5 as subparagraph (D), and adding the following: 

6 ‘‘(B) dramatically increase the use of wills 

7 and other methods of devise among Indian land8 owners; 

9 ‘‘(C) substantially reduce the quantity and 

10 complexity of Indian estates that pass intestate 

11 through the probate process, while protecting the 

12 rights and interests of Indian landowners; and’’. 

13 (3) PROBATE CODE DEVELOPMENT AND LEGAL

14 ASSISTANCE GRANTS.—Section 207(f)(3) of the Indian 

15 Land Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2206(f)(3)) is 

16 amended by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the 

17 following: 

18 ‘‘(3) PROBATE CODE DEVELOPMENT AND LEGAL

19 ASSISTANCE GRANTS.—In carrying out this section, 

20 the Secretary may award grants to—

21 ‘‘(A) Indian tribes, for purposes of tribal 

22 probate code development and estate planning 

23 services to tribal members; 

24 ‘‘(B) organizations that provide legal assist25 ance services for Indian tribes, Indian organiza-
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•S 1721 RS 

1 tions, and individual owners of interests in trust 

2 or restricted lands that are qualified as nonprofit 

3 organizations under section 501(c)(3) of the In4 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 and provide such 

5 services pursuant to Federal poverty guidelines, 

6 for purposes of providing civil legal assistance to 

7 such Indian tribes, individual owners, and In8 dian organizations for the development of tribal 

9 probate codes, for estate planning services or for 

10 other purposes consistent with the services they 

11 provide to Indians and Indian tribes; and 

12 ‘‘(C) in specific areas and reservations 

13 where qualified nonprofit organizations referred 

14 to in subparagraph (B) do not provide such legal 

15 assistance to Indian tribes, Indian organiza16 tions, or individual owners of trust or restricted 

17 land, to other providers of such legal assistance; 

18 that submit an application to the Secretary, in such 

19 form and manner as the Secretary may prescribe. 

20 ‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION FOR APPROPRIATIONS.—

21 There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as 

22 may be necessary to carry out the provisions of para23 graph (3).’’. 
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1 (4) NOTIFICATION TO LANDOWNERS.—Section 

2 207 of the Indian Land Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 

3 2206) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(l) NOTIFICATION TO LANDOWNERS.—After receiving 

5 written request by any owner of a trust or restricted interest 

6 in land, the Secretary shall provide to such landowner the 

7 following information with respect to each tract of trust or 

8 restricted land in which the landowner has an interest: 

9 ‘‘(1) The location of the tract of land involved. 

10 ‘‘(2) The identity of each other co-owner of inter11 ests in the parcel of land. 

12 ‘‘(3) The percentage of ownership of each owner 

13 of an interest in the tract. 

14 ‘‘(m) PILOT PROJECTFOR THE MANAGEMENTOF

15 TRUST ASSETS OF INDIAN FAMILIES AND RELATIVES.—

16 ‘‘(1) DEVELOPMENTPILOTPROJECT.—The Sec17 retary shall consult with tribes, individual landowner 

18 organizations, Indian advocacy organizations, and 

19 other interested parties to—

20 ‘‘(A) develop a pilot project for the creation 

21 of legal entities such as private or family trusts, 

22 partnerships corporations, or other organizations 

23 to improve, facilitate, and assist in the efficient 

24 management of interests in trust or restricted
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•S 1721 RS 

1 lands or funds owned by Indian family members 

2 and relatives; and 

3 ‘‘(B) develop proposed rules, regulations, 

4 and guidelines to implement the pilot project, in5 cluding—

6 ‘‘(i) the criteria for establishing such 

7 legal entities; 

8 ‘‘(ii) reporting and other requirements 

9 that the Secretary determines to be appro10 priate for administering such entities; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) provisions for suspending or re12 voking the authority of an entity to engage 

13 in activities relating to the management of 

14 trust or restricted assets under the pilot 

15 project in order to protect the interests of 

16 the beneficial owners of such assets. 

17 ‘‘(2) PRIMARY PURPOSES; LIMITATION; APPROVAL

18 OF TRANSACTIONS; PAYMENTS BY SECRETARY.—

19 ‘‘(A) PURPOSES.—The primary purpose of 

20 any entity organized under the pilot project shall 

21 be to improve, facilitate, and assist in the man22 agement of interests in trust or restricted land, 

23 held by 1 or more persons, in furtherance of the 

24 purposes of this Act. 
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1 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The organization or ac2 tivities of any entity under the pilot project shall 

3 not be construed to impair, impede, replace, ab4 rogate, or modify in any respect the trust duties 

5 or responsibilities of the Secretary, nor shall 

6 anything in this subsection or in any rules, reg7 ulations, or guidelines developed under this sub8 section enable any private or family trustee of 

9 trust or restricted interests in land to exercise 

10 any powers over such interests greater than that 

11 held by the Secretary with respect to such inter12 ests. 

13 ‘‘(C) SECRETARIAL APPROVAL OF TRANS14 ACTIONS.—Any transaction involving the lease, 

15 use, mortgage or other disposition of trust or re16 stricted land or other trust assets administered 

17 by or through an entity under the pilot project 

18 shall be subject to approval by the Secretary in 

19 accordance with applicable Federal law. 

20 ‘‘(D) PAYMENTS.—The Secretary shall have 

21 the authority to make payments of income and 

22 revenues derived from trust or restricted land or 

23 other trust assets administered by or through an 

24 entity participating in the pilot project directly 

25 to the entity, in accordance with requirements of 
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•S 1721 RS 

1 the regulations adopted pursuant to this sub2 section. 

3 ‘‘(3) LIMITATIONS ON PILOT PROJECT.—

4 ‘‘(A) NUMBER OF ORGANIZATIONS.—The 

5 number of entities established under the pilot 

6 project authorized by this subsection shall not ex7 ceed 30. 

8 ‘‘(B) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—No entity 

9 shall commence activities under the pilot project 

10 authorized by this subsection until the Secretary 

11 has adopted final rules and regulations under 

12 paragraph (1)(B). 

13 ‘‘(4) REPORTTO CONGRESS.—Prior to the expi14 ration of the pilot project provided for under this sub15 section, the Secretary shall submit a report to Con16 gress stating—

17 ‘‘(A) a description of the Secretary’s con18 sultation with Indian tribes, individual land19 owner associations, Indian advocacy organiza20 tions, and other parties consulted with regarding 

21 the development of rules and regulations for the 

22 creation and management of interests in trust 

23 and restricted lands under the pilot project; 

24 ‘‘(B) the feasibility of accurately monitoring 

25 the performance of legal entities such as those in-
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1 volved in the pilot project, and the effectiveness 

2 of such entities as mechanisms to manage and 

3 protect trust assets; 

4 ‘‘(C) the impact that the use of entities such 

5 as those in the pilot project may have with re6 spect to the accomplishment of the goals of the 

7 Indian Land Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2201 

8 et seq.); and 

9 ‘‘(D) any recommendations that the Sec10 retary may have regarding whether to adopt a 

11 permanent program as a management and con12 solidation measure for interests in trust or re13 stricted lands. 

14 ‘‘(n) NOTICE TO HEIRS.—Prior to holding a hearing 

15 to determine the heirs to trust or restricted property, or 

16 making a decision determining such heirs, the Secretary 

17 shall seek to provide actual written notice of the proceedings 

18 to all heirs. Such efforts shall include—

19 ‘‘(1) a search of publicly available records and 

20 Federal records, including telephone and address di21 rectories and including electronic search services or 

22 directories; 

23 ‘‘(2) an inquiry with family members and co24 heirs of the property; 
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1 ‘‘(3) an inquiry with the tribal government of 

2 which the owner is a member, and the tribal govern3 ment with jurisdiction over the property, if any; and 

4 ‘‘(4) if the property is of a value greater than 

5 $2,000, engaging the services of an independent firm 

6 to conduct a missing persons search. 

7 ‘‘(o) MISSING HEIRS.—

8 ‘‘(1) For purposes of this subsection and sub9 section (m), an heir may be presumed missing if—

10 ‘‘(A) such heir’s whereabouts remain un11 known 60 days after completion of notice efforts 

12 under subsection (m); and 

13 ‘‘(B) in the proceeding to determine a dece14 dent’s heirs, the Secretary finds that the heir has 

15 had no contact with other heirs of the decedent, 

16 if any, or with the Department relating to trust 

17 or restricted land or other trust assets at any 

18 time during the 6-year period preceding the 

19 hearing to determine heirs. 

20 ‘‘(2) Before the date for declaring an heir miss21 ing, any person may request an extension of time to 

22 locate such heir. The Secretary shall grant a reason23 able extension of time for good cause. 

24 ‘‘(3) An heir shall be declared missing only after 

25 a review of the efforts made in the heirship proceeding
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1 and a finding has been made that this subsection has 

2 been complied with. 

3 ‘‘(4) An heir determined to be missing pursuant 

4 to this subsection shall be deemed to have predeceased 

5 the decedent for purposes of descent and devise of 

6 trust or restricted land and trust personalty within 

7 that decedent’s estate.’’. 

8 SEC. 7. ANNUAL NOTICE AND FILING REQUIREMENT FOR 

9 OWNERS OF INTERESTS IN TRUST OR RE10 STRICTED LANDS. 

11 The Indian Land Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2201 

12 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 222. ANNUAL NOTICE AND FILING; CURRENT WHERE14 ABOUTS OF INTEREST OWNERS. 

15 ‘‘On at least an annual basis, the Secretary shall in16 clude along with other regular reports to owners of trust 

17 or restricted interests in land and individual Indian money 

18 account owners a change of name and address form by 

19 means of which the owner may confirm or update the own20 er’s name and address. The change of name and address 

21 form shall include a section in which the owner may con22 firm and update the owner’s name and address.’’. 

23 SEC. 8. NOTICE; EFFECTIVE DATE. 

24 (a) NOTICE.—
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•S 1721 RS 

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after 

2 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

3 notify Indian tribes and owners of trust or restricted 

4 lands of the amendments made by this Act. 

5 (2) SPECIFICATIONS.—The notice required under 

6 paragraph (1) shall be designed to inform Indian 

7 owners of trust or restricted land of—

8 (A) the effect of this Act and the amend9 ments made by this Act, with emphasis on the ef10 fect of the provisions of this Act and the amend11 ments made by this Act, on the testate disposi12 tion and intestate descent of their interests in 

13 trust or restricted land; 

14 (B) estate planning options available to the 

15 owners, including any opportunities for receiv16 ing estate planning assistance or advice; 

17 (C) the use of negotiated sales, gift deeds, 

18 land exchanges, and other transactions for con19 solidating the ownership of land; and 

20 (D) a toll-free telephone number to be used 

21 for obtaining information regarding the provi22 sions of this Act and any trust assets of such 

23 owners. 

24 (3) REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall pro25 vide the notice required under paragraph (1)—
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•S 1721 RS 

1 (A) by direct mail for those Indians with 

2 interests in trust and restricted lands for which 

3 the Secretary has an address for the interest 

4 holder; 

5 (B) through the Federal Register; 

6 (C) through local newspapers in areas with 

7 significant Indian populations, reservation 

8 newspapers, and newspapers that are directed at 

9 an Indian audience; and 

10 (D) through any other means determined 

11 appropriate by the Secretary. 

12 (4) CERTIFICATION.—After providing notice 

13 under this subsection, the Secretary shall—

14 (A) certify that the requirements of this sub15 section have been met; and 

16 (B) publish notice of that certification in 

17 the Federal Register. 

18 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 207 of the Indian 

19 Land Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2206), except sub20 sections (e) and (f) of that section, shall not apply to the 

21 estate of an individual who dies before the date that is 1 

22 year after the date on which the Secretary makes the certifi23 cation required under subsection (a)(4). 
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1 SEC. 9. SEVERABILITY. 

2 If any provision of this Act or of any amendment 

3 made by this Act, or the application of any such provision 

4 to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid for any 

5 reason, the remainder of this Act and of amendments made 

6 by this Act, and the application of the provisions and of 

7 the amendments made by this Act to any other person or 

8 circumstance shall not be affected by such holding, except 

9 that each of subclauses (II), (III), and (IV) of section 

10 205(d)(2)(I)(i) is deemed to be inseverable from the other 

11 2, such that if any 1 of those 3 subclauses is held to be 

12 invalid for any reason, neither of the other 2 of such sub13 clauses shall be given effect. 

14 SEC. 10. REGULATIONS. 

15 The Secretary is authorized to adopt such regulations 

16 as may be necessary to implement the provisions of this 

17 Act.
Calendar No. 515

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1721

[Report No. 108–264] 

A BILL

To amend the Indian Land Consolidation Act to 

and restricted land, and for other purposes. improve provisions relating to probate of trust 

MAY 13, 2004

Reported with an amendment