§560:2-804  Revocation of probate and
nonprobate transfers by divorce or termination of reciprocal beneficiary
relationship; no revocation by other changes of circumstances.  (a) 
Definitions.  In this section:



"Disposition or appointment of
property" includes a transfer of an item of property or any other benefit
to a beneficiary designated in a governing instrument.



"Divorce or annulment" means any
divorce or annulment, or any dissolution or declaration of invalidity of a
marriage, that would exclude the spouse as a surviving spouse within the
meaning of section 560:2-802.  A decree of separation that does not terminate
the status of husband and wife is not a divorce for purposes of this section.



"Divorced individual" includes an
individual whose marriage has been annulled.



"Governing instrument" means a
governing instrument executed by:



(1)  A divorced individual before the divorce or
annulment of the individual's marriage to the individual's former spouse; or



(2)  An individual who is a former reciprocal
beneficiary before the termination of the reciprocal beneficiary relationship
with the individual's former reciprocal beneficiary.



"Relative of the divorced individual's
former spouse" means an individual who is related to the divorced
individual's former spouse by blood, or affinity and who, after the divorce or
annulment, is not related to the divorced individual by blood, adoption, or
affinity.



"Revocable", with respect to a
disposition, appointment, provision, or nomination, means one under which:



(1)  The divorced individual, at the time of the
divorce or annulment, was alone empowered, by law or under the governing
instrument, to cancel the designation in favor of the individual's former
spouse or former spouse's relative, whether or not the divorced individual was
then empowered to designate the individual's self in place of the individual's
former spouse or in place of the individual's former spouse's relative and
whether or not the divorced individual then had the capacity to exercise the power;
or



(2)  An individual who is a former reciprocal
beneficiary, at the time of the termination, was alone empowered, by law or
under the governing instrument, to cancel the designation in favor of the
individual's former partner or former partner's relative, whether or not the
individual was then empowered to designate the individual's self in place of
the individual's former partner or in place of the individual's former
partner's relative and whether or not the individual who is the former
reciprocal beneficiary then had the capacity to exercise the power.



"Termination" means the dissolution
of a reciprocal beneficiary relationship under chapter 572C between two adults.



(b)  Revocation upon divorce or termination. 
Except as provided by the express terms of a governing instrument, a court
order, or a contract relating to the division of the estate made between the
divorced individuals before or after the marriage, divorce, annulment, between
two former reciprocal beneficiaries before the termination of a reciprocal
beneficiary relationship, the divorce or annulment of a marriage or the
termination of a reciprocal beneficiary relationship:



(1)  Revokes any revocable:



(A)  Disposition or appointment of property
made by a divorced individual or a former reciprocal beneficiary to the
individual's former spouse or reciprocal beneficiary in a governing instrument
and any disposition or appointment created by law or in a governing instrument
to a relative of the divorced individual's former spouse or reciprocal beneficiary;



(B)  Provision in a governing instrument
conferring a general or nongeneral power of appointment on the divorced
individual's former spouse or an individual's former reciprocal beneficiary or
on a relative of the divorced individual's former spouse or an individual's
former reciprocal beneficiary; and



(C)  Nomination in a governing instrument,
nominating a divorced individual's former spouse or a relative of the divorced
individual's former spouse or an individual's former reciprocal beneficiary or
a relative of the former reciprocal beneficiary to serve in any fiduciary or
representative capacity, including a personal representative, executor,
trustee, conservator, agent, or guardian; and



(2)  Severs the interests of the former spouses or reciprocal
beneficiaries in property held by them at the time of the divorce, annulment,
or termination, as joint tenants with the right of survivorship or as community
property with the right of survivorship, transforming the interests of the
former spouses or reciprocal beneficiaries into tenancies in common.



(c)  Effect of severance.  A severance under
subsection (b)(2) does not affect any third-party interest in property acquired
for value and in good faith reliance on an apparent title by survivorship in
the survivor of the former spouses or reciprocal beneficiaries unless a writing
declaring the severance has been noted, registered, filed, or recorded in
records appropriate to the kind and location of the property which are relied
upon, in the ordinary course of transactions involving such property, as
evidence of ownership.



(d)  Effect of revocation.  Provisions of a
governing instrument are given effect as if the former spouse or reciprocal
beneficiary and relatives of the former spouse or reciprocal beneficiary
disclaimed all provisions revoked by this section or, in the case of a revoked
nomination in a fiduciary or representative capacity, as if the former spouse
or reciprocal beneficiary and relatives of the former spouse or reciprocal
beneficiary died immediately before the divorce, annulment, or termination.



(e)  Revival if divorce nullified or reciprocal
beneficiary relationship re-registered.  Provisions revoked solely by this
section are revived by the divorced individual's remarriage to the former
spouse or by a nullification of the divorce or annulment.



Provisions revoked solely by this section are
revived by an individual's re-registering a reciprocal beneficiary relationship
to the former reciprocal beneficiary.



(f)  No revocation for other change of
circumstances.  No change of circumstances other than as described in this
section and in section 560:2-803 effects a revocation.



(g)  Protection of payors and other third
parties.



(1)  A payor or other third party is not liable for
having made a payment or transferred an item of property or any other benefit
to a beneficiary designated in a governing instrument affected by a divorce,
annulment, remarriage, termination, or re-registration of a reciprocal
beneficiary relationship, or for having taken any other action in good faith
reliance on the validity of the governing instrument, before the payor or other
third party received written notice of the divorce, annulment, remarriage,
termination, or re- registration of a reciprocal beneficiary relationship.  A
payor or other third party is liable for a payment made or other action taken
after the payor or other third party received written notice of a claimed
forfeiture or revocation under this section;



(2)  Written notice of the divorce, annulment,
remarriage, termination, or re-registration of a reciprocal beneficiary
relationship under this subsection must be mailed to the payor's or other third
party's main office or home by registered or certified mail, return receipt
requested, or served upon the payor or other third party in the same manner as
a summons in a civil action.  Upon receipt of written notice of the divorce,
annulment, remarriage, termination, or re-registration of a reciprocal
beneficiary relationship, a payor or other third party may pay any amount owed
or transfer or deposit any item of property held by it to or with the court
having jurisdiction of the probate proceedings relating to the decedent's
estate or, if no proceedings have been commenced, to or with the court having
jurisdiction of probate proceedings relating to decedents' estates located in
the judicial circuit of the decedent's residence.  The court shall hold the
funds or item of property and, upon its determination under this section, shall
order disbursement or transfer in accordance with the determination.  Payments,
transfers, or deposits made to or with the court discharge the payor or other
third party from all claims for the value of amounts paid to or items of
property transferred to or deposited with the court.



(h)  Protection of bona fide purchasers;
personal liability of recipient.



(1)  A person who purchases property from a former
spouse, former reciprocal beneficiary, relative of a former spouse or
reciprocal beneficiary, or any other person for value and without notice, or
who receives from a former spouse, a former reciprocal beneficiary, relative of
a former spouse or reciprocal beneficiary, or any other person a payment or
other item of property in partial or full satisfaction of a legally enforceable
obligation, is neither obligated under this section to return the payment, item
of property, or benefit nor is liable under this section for the amount of the
payment or the value of the item of property or benefit.  But a former spouse,
former reciprocal beneficiary, relative of a former spouse or reciprocal
beneficiary, or other person who, not for value, received a payment, item of
property, or any other benefit to which that person is not entitled under this
section is obligated to return the payment, item of property, or benefit, or is
personally liable for the amount of the payment or the value of the item of
property or benefit, to the person who is entitled to it under this section;



(2)  If this section or any part of this section is
preempted by federal law with respect to a payment, an item of property, or any
other benefit covered by this section, a former spouse, former reciprocal
beneficiary, relative of the former spouse or reciprocal beneficiary, or any
other person who, not for value, received a payment, item of property, or any
other benefit to which that person is not entitled under this section is
obligated to return that payment, item of property, or benefit, or is
personally liable for the amount of the payment or the value of the item of property
or benefit, to the person who would have been entitled to it were this section
or part of this section not preempted. [L 1996, c 288, pt of §1; am L 1997, c
383, §18]