Also known as: adeems · adeemed · adeeming · ademption
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An act by which a testator satisfies or revokes a devise through an inter vivos gift to the devisee or a member of the devisee's family when the testator provides a contemporaneous writing or the devisee provides a written acknowledgment that the gift operates as satisfaction.
Anika Anand executes a will devising $200,000 to her daughter Angela Acosta. One year later Anika transfers $150,000 from her savings account to Angela and writes a note on the same day stating that the transfer counts toward what Angela will receive at death. The note is placed with Angela's papers. At Anika's death the executor treats the transfer as satisfying the devise in part under the rule requiring a contemporaneous writing.
Adrian Aguilar executes a will devising his residence to his niece Alexandra Armstrong. After Adrian becomes incapacitated his attorney-in-fact sells the residence without Adrian's knowledge or consent and deposits the proceeds in a separate account. At Adrian's death the court holds that the sale does not adeem the devise because the conveyance occurred without the testator's full knowledge and consent.
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The testator's contemporaneous writing stating that the gift operates as satisfaction meets the requirement even without an explicit signature by the devisee. Retention of the writing by the devisee further supports the finding that the gift adeems the devise.
Supporting sources
A sale by an attorney-in-fact does not adeem the devise when the testator lacks knowledge or consent. The beneficiary remains entitled to the unexpended balance of the proceeds.
Supporting sources
Ademption by satisfaction occurs when a lifetime gift replaces a devise with the required writing. Ademption by extinction occurs when specifically devised property is absent from the estate at death without a substitute gift.
Supporting sources
…applies when a person dies intestate, section 75-2-612 (1993)[^maj-7] applies when a person dies testate. That section, titled “Ademption by satisfaction,” states in pertinent part: Property which a testator gave in his lifetime to a person is treated as a satisfaction of a devise to that person in whole or in part, only…