reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
12 DE Code § 901. (2021)
2021 Delaware Code|Title 12 - Decedents' Estates and Fiduciary Relations|Chapter 9. Elective Share|§ 901. Right to elective share.

§ 901. Right to elective share. (a) If a married person domiciled in this State dies, the surviving spouse has a right of election to take an elective share of an amount equal to one third of the elective estate, less the amount of all transfers to the surviving spouse by the decedent, under the limitations and conditions hereinafter stated. The elective share may be satisfied in cash or in kind, or partly in each. Assets distributed in satisfaction of the elective share shall be valued at date of distribution. (b) In determining the elective share under subsection (a) of this section or in the case of the death of a married person not domiciled in this State, the right, if any, of the surviving spouse to take an elective share in real or tangible personal property shall be governed by the law of the situs of such property. 59 Del. Laws, c. 384, §  1;  65 Del. Laws, c. 428, §  1;  67 Del. Laws, c. 240, §  1;  74 Del. Laws, c. 271, §  1;
12 DE Code § 902. (2021)
2021 Delaware Code|Title 12 - Decedents' Estates and Fiduciary Relations|Chapter 9. Elective Share|§ 902. Elective estate defined.

§ 902. Elective estate defined. (a) The elective estate means the amount of the decedent's gross estate for federal estate tax purposes, regardless of whether or not a federal estate tax return is filed for the decedent, modified as follows:  (1) Less those deductions allowable under §§ 2053 and 2054 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended [26 U.S.C. §§ 2053 and 2054], or the comparable provisions of any later law (“the Code”); and (2) The extent of the inclusion in the decedent's gross estate for federal estate tax purposes of certain joint interests of the decedent and the surviving spouse under § 2040(b) of the Code [26 U.S.C. § 2040(b)] shall be modified as follows: the decedent's gross estate for federal estate tax purposes shall include one half of any interest in property created at any time, including interests created before January 1, 1977, held by the decedent and the surviving spouse as:  a. Tenants by the entirety, or b. Joint tenants with right of survivorship, but only if the decedent and the surviving spouse are the only joint tenants. (b) For purposes of this chapter, if the federal estate tax is not applicable, because of its permanent or temporary repeal, to the estates of persons dying on the date of the decedent's death, any reference in this chapter to “the Code” as defined in paragraph (a)(1) of this section, “federal estate tax purposes,” and to other terms dependent upon the federal estate tax provisions of the Code shall be deemed to refer to the provisions of the Code in effect on the last date on which the federal estate tax was applicable to the estates of persons dying before the date of the decedent's death. (c) In every case where an elective share petition has been filed, the personal representative of the estate shall prepare a Form 706 (United States Estate Tax Return) for the estate, regardless of whether such form is required to be filed. If such form is not required to be filed because of the permanent or temporary repeal of the federal estate tax, the personal representative shall use in such preparation the Form 706, or its equivalent form, last authorized by the Internal Revenue Service before the repeal became effective. A copy of the form must be provided to the surviving spouse by the latest of the following dates:  (1) The due date for the Form 706, as extended; (2) If a Form 706 or an equivalent form is not required to be filed, whether or not because of the permanent or temporary repeal of the federal estate tax, 15 months from the date of the decedent's death; or (3) Three months after the elective share petition has been timely filed.59 Del. Laws, c. 384, §  1;  67 Del. Laws, c. 240, §  2;  70 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1;  71 Del. Laws, c. 353, §  3;  76 Del. Laws, c. 150, §§  1-3;
12 DE Code § 904. (2021)
2021 Delaware Code|Title 12 - Decedents' Estates and Fiduciary Relations|Chapter 9. Elective Share|§ 904. Right of election personal to surviving spouse.

§ 904. Right of election personal to surviving spouse. The right of election of the surviving spouse may be exercised only during the spouse's lifetime; provided the personal representative of the spouse's estate shall succeed to the surviving spouse's rights under a right of election exercised by the spouse. In the case of a protected person, the right of election may be exercised only by order of the court in which protective proceedings as to the protected person's property are pending, after finding that exercise is necessary to provide adequate support for the protected person during a probable life expectancy. For purposes of this section a “protected person” is a minor or other person for whom a guardian or trustee has been appointed or other protective order has been made. 59 Del. Laws, c. 384, §  1;  67 Del. Laws, c. 240, §  4;  70 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1;
12 DE Code § 905. (2021)
2021 Delaware Code|Title 12 - Decedents' Estates and Fiduciary Relations|Chapter 9. Elective Share|§ 905. Waiver of right to elect and of other rights.

§ 905. Waiver of right to elect and of other rights. The right of election of a surviving spouse may be waived, wholly or partially, before or after marriage, by a written contract, agreement or waiver signed by the party waiving. Unless it provides to the contrary, a waiver of “all rights” (or equivalent language) in the property or estate of a present or prospective spouse or a complete property settlement entered into, after or in anticipation of separation or divorce is a waiver of all rights to the elective share by each spouse in the property of the other and a renunciation by each of all benefits which would otherwise pass to each from the other by intestate succession or by virtue of any will executed before the waiver or property settlement. 59 Del. Laws, c. 384, §  1;  67 Del. Laws, c. 240, §  5;  70 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1;
12 DE Code § 906. (2021)
2021 Delaware Code|Title 12 - Decedents' Estates and Fiduciary Relations|Chapter 9. Elective Share|§ 906. Proceeding for elective share; time limit.

§ 906. Proceeding for elective share; time limit. (a) The surviving spouse may elect to take an elective share in the elective estate by filing in the Court of Chancery and mailing or delivering to the personal representative a petition for the elective share within 6 months after the grant of letters testamentary or of administration. The Court, upon petition, may extend the time for election as it sees fit for cause shown by the surviving spouse before the time for election has expired. (b) The surviving spouse shall give at least 10 days' notice by certified mail of the time and place set for hearing to persons interested in the estate and to the distributees and recipients of portions of the elective estate whose interests will be adversely affected by the taking of the elective share. (c) The surviving spouse may withdraw demand for an elective share at any time before entry of a final determination by the Court of Chancery. (d) After notice and hearing, the Court of Chancery shall determine the amount of the elective share and shall enter a judgment and order apportioning the liability for the amount of the elective share among the recipients of the contributing estate and directing payment of such liability as provided in § 908(a) of this title. If it appears that a fund or property included in the elective estate has not come into the possession of the personal representative, or has been distributed by the personal representative, the Court nevertheless shall fix the liability of any person who has any interest in the property or who has possession thereof, whether as trustee or otherwise. (e) The order or judgment of the Court of Chancery may be enforced as necessary in suit for contribution or payment in other courts of this State or other jurisdictions. (f) The Court of Chancery on petition of a surviving spouse may restrain any person from making a payment or transfer of property which constitutes part of the contributing estate, either before or after a petition for an elective share is filed. (g) No transferee of, or holder of a lien against, real property comprising part of the contributing estate shall be liable to a surviving spouse if the transferee or lienholder has given bona fide consideration to the recipient of such real property from the decedent unless a certified copy of the judgment, order or decree of the Court of Chancery providing to the contrary with respect to such real property has been recorded in the office for the recording of deeds in the county where the real property is located prior to the recordation of the deed, mortgage or other instrument transferring, or creating the lien against, such real property. The recording of any such judgment, order or decree shall be indexed in the grantor's index under the names of the decedent and the recipient of such real property from the decedent. 59 Del. Laws, c. 384, §  1;  67 Del. Laws, c. 240, §  6;  70 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1;
12 DE Code § 907. (2021)
2021 Delaware Code|Title 12 - Decedents' Estates and Fiduciary Relations|Chapter 9. Elective Share|§ 907. Effect of election on benefits derived from decedent.

§ 907. Effect of election on benefits derived from decedent. (a) The surviving spouse's election of an elective share does not affect the share of the surviving spouse under any provisions made for the surviving spouse under the decedent's will, any trust established by the decedent, or the intestate succession laws unless the surviving spouse also either expressly disclaims the benefit of all or any of the provisions in accordance with Chapter 6 of this title, or expressly renounces in the petition for an elective share the benefit of all or any of the provisions. If any provision is so disclaimed or renounced, the property or other benefit which would otherwise have passed to the surviving spouse thereunder is treated, subject to contribution under § 908(a) of this title, as if the surviving spouse had predeceased the decedent for all purposes, except that such property or other benefit disclaimed or renounced by the surviving spouse shall nonetheless be deemed to be property transferred to the surviving spouse by the decedent to the extent specified in §§ 903 and 901(a) of this title. (b) A surviving spouse is entitled to the surviving spouse's allowance whether or not the surviving spouse elects to take an elective share. 59 Del. Laws, c. 384, §  1;  67 Del. Laws, c. 240, §  7;  70 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1;  77 Del. Laws, c. 98, §  2;
12 DE Code § 908. (2021)
2021 Delaware Code|Title 12 - Decedents' Estates and Fiduciary Relations|Chapter 9. Elective Share|§ 908. Liability for elective share.

§ 908. Liability for elective share. (a) The liability for the amount of the elective share shall be apportioned among the recipients of “the decedent's contributing estate” (as defined in subsection (b) of this section). Such apportionment shall be made in the proportion, as near as may be, that the value of the property of each such recipient bears to the total value of the property received by all such recipients interested in the contributing estate, provided that in any case where a person is given an interest in income or an estate for years, or for life, or other temporary interest in any property, the liability for the elective share on both such temporary interest and on the remainder thereafter shall not be apportioned between or among the recipients of such interest but shall be charged in rem against and paid out of the corpus of such property without apportionment between remainders and temporary estates. Until it is paid or satisfied the surviving spouse's elective share shall be a proportionate charge against the properties constituting the decedent's contributing estate based upon the values of all such property for purposes of determining the elective estate. No person or property shall be liable for contribution in any greater amount than the person or such property would have been if relief had been secured against all persons and property subject to contribution. (b) For purposes of this section, the decedent's contributing estate consists of only that portion of the elective estate of which the decedent was the sole owner at death and which was not transferred or deemed transferred to a surviving spouse by the decedent as described in § 903(1) of this title. The decedent's contributing estate does not include any jointly owned property with the right of survivorship of which the decedent was a joint owner, any insurance proceeds which are payable to a beneficiary other than to the estate, or any property held in trust. (c) A recipient of property comprising part of the contributing estate may pay a proportionate elective share liability with respect to such property or may choose to give up such property, thereby relieving personal liability. If a recipient elects to give up such property the recipient shall be entitled to any value realized upon the sale or other disposition of such property in excess of the recipient's proportionate elective share liability. 59 Del. Laws, c. 384, §  1;  67 Del. Laws, c. 240, §  8;  70 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1;
12 DE Code § 1301. (2021)
2021 Delaware Code|Title 12 - Decedents' Estates and Fiduciary Relations|Chapter 13. General Provisions|§ 1301. Production of will; liability.

§ 1301. Production of will; liability. (a) Any person, having the custody or possession of any instrument of writing purporting to be a last will and testament and intended to take effect upon the death of the testator therein named, shall produce and deliver the same to the Register of Wills for the county in which the person resides, within 10 days from the time the person receives information of the death of the testator. (b) Any person who wilfully fails to deliver a will is liable to any person aggrieved for the damages which may be sustained by the failure. Also, any person who wilfully fails to deliver a will after being ordered by the Court of Chancery in a proceeding brought for the purpose of compelling delivery is subject to penalty for civil contempt of Court. 27 Del. Laws, c. 268, §  2;  Code 1915, §  3265;  Code 1935, §  3729;  12 Del. C. 1953, §  1301;  59 Del. Laws, c. 384, §  1;  70 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1;
12 DE Code § 1302. (2021)
2021 Delaware Code|Title 12 - Decedents' Estates and Fiduciary Relations|Chapter 13. General Provisions|§ 1302. Proving will.

§ 1302. Proving will. (a) A will shall be proved before the Register of Wills of the county in which the testator was domiciled at the time of death. If the testator was not domiciled in this State, it may be proved before the Register of any county in this State wherein there are any goods or chattels, rights or credits, or lands or tenements of the deceased. (b) To be effective to prove a transfer of any property or to nominate an executor, a will must be declared to be valid by admission to probate. Code 1852, §§  1767, 1768;  18 Del. Laws, c. 674;  Code 1915, §  3334;  35 Del. Laws, c. 203, §  1;  Code 1935, §  3799;  12 Del. C. 1953, §  1303;  59 Del. Laws, c. 384, §  1;  70 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1;
12 DE Code § 1303. (2021)
2021 Delaware Code|Title 12 - Decedents' Estates and Fiduciary Relations|Chapter 13. General Provisions|§ 1303. Notice and subpoena to persons interested.

§ 1303. Notice and subpoena to persons interested. Proof of a will may be taken without notice to persons interested, unless such a person requests it by petition filed with the Court of Chancery. Upon receiving such petition, the Court shall, and in any case it may, appoint a time for taking the proof, and issue subpoena, requiring any person to be present at the taking of such proof. In respect to persons not within the State it may order such service or publication of notice as it deems proper. Code 1852, §§  1767, 1768;  18 Del. Laws, c. 674;  Code 1915, §  3334;  35 Del. Laws, c. 203, §  1;  Code 1935, §  3799;  12 Del. C. 1953, §  1304;  59 Del. Laws, c. 384, §  1;
12 DE Code § 1304. (2021)
2021 Delaware Code|Title 12 - Decedents' Estates and Fiduciary Relations|Chapter 13. General Provisions|§ 1304. Unavailability of witnesses.

§ 1304. Unavailability of witnesses. (a) In case any attesting and subscribing witness to a will, at the time the will is presented for probate, is dead, is serving in the armed forces of the United States or is a merchant sailor, or is mentally or physically incapable of testifying or is not within the State, or is otherwise unavailable, proof of the signature of such witness shall be sufficient. Such proof shall be the testimony in person or by deposition of a credible disinterested person that the signature of the witness on the will is in the handwriting of the person whose signature it purports to be, or other sufficient proof of such handwriting. (b) If a will cannot be proven because the signature of 1 or more of the attesting and subscribing witnesses to it cannot be proven, then proof of the signature of the testator shall be sufficient. Where the signature of 1 witness can be proven, the proof of the signature of the testator shall be the testimony in person or by deposition of a credible disinterested person that the signature of the testator on the will is in the handwriting of the person whose will it purports to be, or other sufficient proof of such handwriting. Where none of the signatures of the witnesses can be proven, the proof of the signature of the testator shall be the testimony in person or by deposition of 2 credible disinterested persons that the signature of the testator on the will is in the handwriting of the person whose will it purports to be, or other sufficient proof of such handwriting. (c) The foregoing provisions of this section shall not preclude the Register of Wills from requiring, in addition, the testimony in person or by deposition of any subscribing witness, or proof of such other pertinent facts and circumstances as the Register deems necessary to admit the will to probate. Code 1852, §§  1767, 1768;  18 Del. Laws, c. 674;  Code 1915, §  3334;  35 Del. Laws, c. 203, §  1;  Code 1935, §  3799;  45 Del. Laws, c. 232, §  1;  12 Del. C. 1953, §  1305;  59 Del. Laws, c. 384, §  1;  70 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1;
12 DE Code § 1305. (2021)
2021 Delaware Code|Title 12 - Decedents' Estates and Fiduciary Relations|Chapter 13. General Provisions|§ 1305. Self-proved will.

§ 1305. Self-proved will. An attested will may at the time of its execution or at any subsequent date be made self-proved, by the acknowledgment thereof by the testator and the affidavits of the witnesses, each made before an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of this State, and evidenced by the officer's certificate, under official seal, attached or annexed to the will in form and content substantially as follows:  STATE OF  SS COUNTY OF Before me, the subscriber, on this day personally appeared, ________________________________ and ________________________________ known to me to be the testator and the witnesses, respectively, whose names are signed to the attached or foregoing instrument and, all of these persons being by me first duly sworn ________________________________ the testator, declared to me and to the witnesses in my presence that the instrument is the testator's last will and that had willingly signed or directed another to sign for the testator, and that the testator executed it as a free and voluntary act for the purposes therein expressed; and each of the witnesses stated to me, in the presence and hearing of the testator, that the witness signed the will as witness and that to the best of the witness' knowledge the testator was eighteen years of age or over, of sound mind and under no constraint or undue influence. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________ Testator ________________________________________________________________________________________________________  ________________________________ Witness ________________________________________________________________________________________________________  ________________________________ Witness  Subscribed, sworn and acknowledged before me by ________________ , the testator, subscribed and sworn before me by ________________ and ________________________ witnesses, this ________________ day of ________________________________ , A.D., ________________________. (SEAL) (SIGNED) __________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ (OFFICIAL CAPACITY OF OFFICER)59 Del. Laws, c. 384, §  1;  70 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1;
12 DE Code § 1306. (2021)
2021 Delaware Code|Title 12 - Decedents' Estates and Fiduciary Relations|Chapter 13. General Provisions|§ 1306. Choice of law as to execution and proving of wills.

§ 1306. Choice of law as to execution and proving of wills. (a) A written will signed by the testator, or by some person subscribing the testator's name in the testator's presence and at the testator's express direction, is valid provided that:  (1) It is executed in compliance with § 202 of this title; (2) It is executed in compliance with the law at the time of execution of the place where the will is executed; or (3) It is executed in compliance with the law of the place where at the time of execution or at the time of death the testator is domiciled, has a place of abode or is a national. (b) An attested will that is considered valid under the provisions of this section shall be considered self-proved provided that:  (1) It is executed in compliance with the requirements of § 1305 of this title; (2) It is executed in compliance with requirements of the law necessary to create a self-proved will in the jurisdiction where such will is made self-proved, at the time such will is made self-proved; or (3) It is executed in compliance with requirements of the law necessary to create a self-proved will in the jurisdiction where the testator is domiciled, has a place of abode, or is a national at the time of death.59 Del. Laws, c. 384, §  1;  70 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1;  80 Del. Laws, c. 150, §  1;
12 DE Code § 1308. (2021)
2021 Delaware Code|Title 12 - Decedents' Estates and Fiduciary Relations|Chapter 13. General Provisions|§ 1308. Caveat against allowance of instrument as will; procedure.

§ 1308. Caveat against allowance of instrument as will; procedure. (a) A caveat against the allowance of an instrument as a will shall be received by the Court of Chancery at any time prior to the entry of an order of probate. The caveat having been received, the Court shall appoint a time for hearing and award citations for the parties interested, and order service or publication of notice to the parties not within the State in accordance with § 1303 of this title. If, when a caveat is received, a time be appointed and process issued, it shall not be necessary to adjourn the taking of the proof and hearing; but an adjournment may be decreed, and other process awarded, or order made. (b) The Court of Chancery may determine the costs occasioned by such caveat and decree the payment thereof. 38 Del. Laws, c. 177, §  1;  Code 1935, §  3800;  12 Del. C. 1953, §  1309;  57 Del. Laws, c. 402, §  3;  59 Del. Laws, c. 384, §  1;  66 Del. Laws, c. 373, §  1;  75 Del. Laws, c. 97, §  19;  76 Del. Laws, c. 90, §  18;