                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

APPLICABILITY; DEFINITIONS (§ 64.2-308.1)

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.

B. As used in this article, unless the context requires a different meaning:
			&#8220;Decedent&#8217;s non-probate transfers to others&#8221; means the
amounts that are included in the augmented estate under &#xA7; 64.2-308.6.
			&#8220;Fractional interest in property held in joint tenancy with the right
of survivorship,&#8221; 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.
			&#8220;Marriage,&#8221; as it relates to a transfer by the decedent during
marriage, means any marriage of the decedent to the decedent&#8217;s surviving
spouse.
			&#8220;Non-adverse party&#8221; 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.
			&#8220;Power&#8221; or &#8220;power of appointment&#8221; includes a power to
designate the beneficiary of a beneficiary designation.
			&#8220;Presently exercisable general power of appointment&#8221; 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.
			&#8220;Property&#8221; includes values subject to a beneficiary designation.
			&#8220;Right to income&#8221; includes a right to payments under a commercial
or private annuity, an annuity trust, a unitrust, or a similar arrangement.
			&#8220;Transfer,&#8221; 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 &#xA7;
64.2-308.6 that the decedent conferred on a non-adverse party.

HISTORY: 2016, cc. 187, 269.