Opinion ID: 2078029
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Heading: Iowa Approach to Ademption.

Text: What happens when a testator makes a specific bequest of property in a validly executed will, but the property is missing from the estate at the time of death? The doctrine of ademption by extinction has been developed to address some of the difficulties that arise under these circumstances. Ademption generally means a taking away, and, in the context of the law of wills, refers to the removal or elimination of a specific bequest prior to the time of death. Joseph Warren, The History of Ademption, 25 Iowa L.Rev. 290, 292 (1940). In the early twentieth century, this court adopted the identity theory of ademption. In re Will of Miller, 128 Iowa 612, 617, 105 N.W. 105, 106-07 (1905), overruled in part by Newbury v. McCammant, 182 N.W.2d 147, 149 (Iowa 1970). Under the identity rule, if specifically bequeathed property was not found in the estate at the time of death, the bequest was adeemed. Subsequent to Miller, this court routinely applied the identity rule in a number of similar contexts. In re Estate of Bernhard, 134 Iowa 603, 112 N.W. 86 (1907); In re Estate of Keeler, 225 Iowa 1349, 282 N.W. 362 (1938); In re Estate of Sprague, 244 Iowa 540, 57 N.W.2d 212 (1953). Beginning in the 1960's, however, this court began to depart from the rigid application of the identity theory in all settings. For example, in In re Estate of Bierstedt, 254 Iowa 772, 119 N.W.2d 234 (1963), this court considered whether the sale by a guardian of specifically bequeathed real estate without the knowledge and consent of an incompetent testator caused ademption by extinction under the identity rule. In this case, the court rejected application of a rigid identity rule and applied what it called a modified intention approach. The court noted that the order establishing the guardianship demonstrated that Bierstedt was incompetent at the time the land was sold, thereby creating a presumption of lack of testamentary capacity. Bierstedt, 254 Iowa at 774, 119 N.W.2d at 235. As a result, because the testator did not have the testamentary capacity to, in effect, work a change in the will, the sale could not be considered to manifest an intention on the part of the testator to modify the will. Therefore, no ademption occurred. The court in Bierstedt expressly noted, however, that the rulings in Keeler, Sprague, and Bernhard, where competent testators themselves had sold or otherwise disposed of specific devises and bequests, are sound and we adhere to them. Id. at 238. Similarly, in In re Estate of Wolfe, 208 N.W.2d 923 (1973), this court considered whether the destruction of property which was the subject of a specific bequest, contemporaneous with the death of the testator, worked an ademption. In this case, the testator had specifically bequeathed his automobile, a 1969 Buick Electra, to his brother. The testator was killed in an automobile accident in which his automobile was a total loss. Insurance proceeds that included the value of the auto were paid to the estate. The brother claimed he was entitled to the proceeds. In holding for the brother and against the estate, the court rejected the identity rule and emphasized that the intent of the testator is paramount in determining whether an ademption has occurred. Id. at 924. As a result, the court reasoned that where property is missing from the estate because of some act or event involuntary as to the testator, there is no ademption. Id. In summary, our cases hold that the identity rule will not be rigidly applied in all cases. Under what the court has called the modified intention theory, the identity rule will not be applied to cases where specifically devised property is removed from the estate through an act that is involuntary as to the testator. This includes cases where the property is sold by a guardian, or conservator, or is destroyed contemporaneously with the death of the testator. Until now, however, we have not had occasion to consider whether ademption occurs when specifically devised property is sold by an attorney-in-fact.