Virginia Code 64.2-308.1: Applicability; definitions
A. The provisions of this article shall apply to determining the elective share of a surviving spouse for decedents dying on or after January 1, 2017.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 64.2-308.1
- Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
- Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
- Decedent: A deceased person.
- Includes: means includes, but not limited to. See Virginia Code 1-218
- Joint tenancy: A form of property ownership in which two or more parties hold an undivided interest in the same property that was conveyed under the same instrument at the same time. A joint tenant can sell his (her) interest but not dispose of it by will. Upon the death of a joint tenant, his (her) undivided interest is distributed among the surviving joint tenants.
- Non-adverse party: means a person who does not have a substantial beneficial interest in the trust or other property arrangement that would be adversely affected by the exercise or non-exercise of the power that he possesses respecting the trust or other property arrangement. See Virginia Code 64.2-308.1
- Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
- power of appointment: includes a power to designate the beneficiary of a beneficiary designation. See Virginia Code 64.2-308.1
- Presently exercisable general power of appointment: means a power of appointment under which, at the time in question, the decedent, whether or not he then had the capacity to exercise the power, held a power to create a present or future interest in himself, his creditors, his estate, or creditors of his estate, and includes a power to revoke or invade the principal of a trust or other property arrangement. See Virginia Code 64.2-308.1
- Property: includes values subject to a beneficiary designation. See Virginia Code 64.2-308.1
- Right of survivorship: The ownership rights that result in the acquisition of title to property by reason of having survived other co-owners.
B. As used in this article, unless the context requires a different meaning:
“Decedent’s non-probate transfers to others” means the amounts that are included in the augmented estate under § 64.2-308.6.
“Fractional interest in property held in joint tenancy with the right of survivorship,” whether the fractional interest is unilaterally severable or not, means the fraction, the numerator of which is one and the denominator of which, if the decedent was a joint tenant, is one plus the number of joint tenants who survive the decedent and which, if the decedent was not a joint tenant, is the number of joint tenants.
“Marriage,” as it relates to a transfer by the decedent during marriage, means any marriage of the decedent to the decedent’s surviving spouse.
“Non-adverse party” means a person who does not have a substantial beneficial interest in the trust or other property arrangement that would be adversely affected by the exercise or non-exercise of the power that he possesses respecting the trust or other property arrangement. A person having a general power of appointment over property is deemed to have a beneficial interest in the property.
“Power” or “power of appointment” includes a power to designate the beneficiary of a beneficiary designation.
“Presently exercisable general power of appointment” means a power of appointment under which, at the time in question, the decedent, whether or not he then had the capacity to exercise the power, held a power to create a present or future interest in himself, his creditors, his estate, or creditors of his estate, and includes a power to revoke or invade the principal of a trust or other property arrangement.
“Property” includes values subject to a beneficiary designation.
“Right to income” includes a right to payments under a commercial or private annuity, an annuity trust, a unitrust, or a similar arrangement.
“Transfer,” as it relates to a transfer by or of the decedent, includes (i) an exercise or release of a presently exercisable general power of appointment held by the decedent, (ii) a lapse at death of a presently exercisable general power of appointment held by the decedent, and (iii) an exercise, release, or lapse of a general power of appointment that the decedent created in himself and of a power described in subdivision 2 b of § 64.2-308.6 that the decedent conferred on a non-adverse party.