TY - JOUR
T1 - Using social science to inform the law of intestacy
T2 - The case of unmarried committed partners
AU - Johnson, Monics K.
AU - Robbennolt, Jennifer K.
N1 - Funding Information:
The data presented in this paper were originally collected by Mary Louise Fellows (Principal Investigator), Monica Kirkpatrick Johnson, Ann Chiericozzi, Ann Hale, Christopher Lee, Robin Preble, and Michael Voran. Portions of this article grew out of the first author's collaborative work with these colleagues. The authors wish to thank Mary Louise Fellows, the University of Minnesota, and the Minnesota Center for Survey Research for their generous support of this research. Jennifer K. Robbennolt was supported by Grant #5 T32 MH16156-16 from the National Institutes of Mental Health.
PY - 1998
Y1 - 1998
N2 - Laws of intestate succession determine how the estate of a person who dies without a will is distributed. Researchers have struggled with the question of how to infer the donative intent of persons who die intestate. Based on an empirical study of unmarried committed partners, we compare the usefulness of two methods of social research for informing intestacy law: will studies and interviews with living persons about their preferences for estate distribution. The results indicate that for some groups of unmarried committed partners, will studies may not adequately reflect the extent to which intestate decedents wish their partner to share in their estate. In addition, the results demonstrate a close correspondence between respondents' actual wills, when they had them, and their distributive preferences on hypothetical scenarios. These findings are discussed as they relate to an examination of which sources of social scientific evidence are most useful in informing the law of intestacy.
AB - Laws of intestate succession determine how the estate of a person who dies without a will is distributed. Researchers have struggled with the question of how to infer the donative intent of persons who die intestate. Based on an empirical study of unmarried committed partners, we compare the usefulness of two methods of social research for informing intestacy law: will studies and interviews with living persons about their preferences for estate distribution. The results indicate that for some groups of unmarried committed partners, will studies may not adequately reflect the extent to which intestate decedents wish their partner to share in their estate. In addition, the results demonstrate a close correspondence between respondents' actual wills, when they had them, and their distributive preferences on hypothetical scenarios. These findings are discussed as they relate to an examination of which sources of social scientific evidence are most useful in informing the law of intestacy.
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U2 - 10.1023/A:1025783229063
DO - 10.1023/A:1025783229063
M3 - Article
C2 - 9833564
AN - SCOPUS:0031760831
SN - 0147-7307
VL - 22
SP - 479
EP - 499
JO - Law and Human Behavior
JF - Law and Human Behavior
IS - 5
ER -