PART 3. RIGHTS OF FAMILY UNIT
Section 5-3.1 Exemption for benefit of family. 5-3.2 Revocatory effect of birth of child after execution of will. 5-3.4 Action in supreme court by child born after execution of will, by surviving spouse upon revocation of will by marriage or by subscribing witness with interest under will.PART 3. RIGHTS OF FAMILY UNIT
S 5-3.1 Exemption for benefit of family (a) If a person dies, leaving a surviving spouse or children under the age of twenty-one years, the following items of property are not assets of the estate but vest in, and shall be set off to such surviving spouse, unless disqualified, under 5-1.2, from taking an elective or distributive share of the decedent`s estate. In case there is no surviving spouse or such spouse, if surviving, is disqualified, such items of property vest in, and shall be set off to the decedent`s children under the age of twenty-one years: (1) All housekeeping utensils, musical instruments, sewing machine, household furniture and appliances, including but not limited to computers and electronic devices, used in and about the house, fuel, provisions and clothing of the decedent, not exceeding in aggregate value ten thousand dollars. (2) The family bible, family pictures, video tapes, and computer tapes, discs, and software used by such family, and books, not exceeding in value one thousand dollars. (3) Domestic animals with their necessary food for sixty days, farm machinery, one tractor and one lawn tractor, not exceeding in aggregate value fifteen thousand dollars. (4) One motor vehicle not exceeding in value fifteen thousand dollars. In the alternative, if the decedent shall have been the owner of one or more motor vehicles each of which exceed fifteen thousand dollars in value, the surviving spouse or decedent`s children may acquire one such motor vehicle from the estate, regardless of the fact that the decedent may also have been the owner of another motor vehicle of lesser value than fifteen thousand dollars, by payment to the estate of the amount by which the value of the motor vehicle exceeds fifteen thousand dollars; in lieu of receiving such motor vehicle, the surviving spouse or children may elect to receive in cash an amount equal to the value of the motor vehicle, not to exceed fifteen thousand dollars. If any motor vehicle so acquired by the spouse or children of the decedent was a specific legacy in decedent`s will, the payment to the estate of the amount by which the value of the motor vehicle exceeds fifteen thousand dollars shall vest in the specific legatee. (5) Money or other personal property not exceeding in value fifteen thousand dollars, except that where assets are insufficient to pay the reasonable funeral expenses of the decedent, the personal representative must apply such money or other personal property to defray any deficiency in such expenses. (b) No allowance shall be made in money or other property if the items of property described in subparagraph (1), (2), (3) or (4) are not in existence when the decedent dies. (c) The items of property, set off as provided in paragraph (a), shall, at least to the extent thereof, be deemed reasonably required for the support of the surviving spouse or children under the age of twenty-one years of the decedent during the settlement of the estate. (d) As used in this section, the term "value" shall refer to the fair market value of each item, reduced by all outstanding security interests or other encumbrances affecting the decedent`s ownership of said item.
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S 5-3.2 Revocatory effect of birth of child after execution of will (a) Whenever a testator, during his lifetime or after his death, has a child born after the execution of a last will, and dies leaving the after-born child unprovided for by any settlement, and neither provided for nor in any way mentioned in the will, every such child shall succeed to a portion of the testator`s estate as herein provided: (1) If the testator has one or more children living when he executes his last will, and: (A) No provision is made therein for any such child, an after-born child is not entitled to share in the testator`s estate. (B) Provision is made therein for one or more of such children, an after-born child is entitled to share in the testator`s estate, as follows: (i) The portion of the testator`s estate in which the after-born child may share is limited to the disposition made to children under the will. (ii) The after-born child shall receive such share of the testator`s estate, as limited in subclause (i), as he would have received had the testator included all after-born children with the children upon whom benefits were conferred under the will, and given an equal share of the estate to each such child. (iii) If it appears from the will that the intention of the testator was to make a limited provision which specifically applied only to the testator`s children living at the time the will was executed, the after-born child succeeds to the portion of such testator`s estate as would have passed to such child had the testator died intestate. (iv) To the extent that it is feasible, the interest of the after-born child in the testator`s estate shall be of the same character, whether an equitable or legal life estate or in fee, as the interest which the testator conferred upon his children under the will. (2) If the testator has no child living when he executes his last will, the after-born child succeeds to the portion of such testator`s estate as would have passed to such child had the testator died intestate. (b) The after-born child may recover the share of the testator`s estate to which he is entitled, either from the other children under subparagraph (a) (1) (B) or the testamentary beneficiaries under subparagraph (a) (2), ratably, out of the portions of such estate passing to such persons under the will. In abating the interests of such beneficiaries, the character of the testamentary plan adopted by the testator shall be preserved to the maximum extent possible. S 5-3.4 Action in supreme court by child born after execution of will, by surviving spouse upon revocation of will by marriage or by subscribing witness with interest under will In the event that the administration of a decedent`s estate in the surrogate`s court has been completed and the estate distributed, an action may be maintained in the supreme court by an after-born child under 5-3.2, a surviving spouse under 5-1.3 or an attesting witness under 3-3.2 to enforce rights under such sections against testamentary beneficiaries or distributees, as the case may be.