The Revised Uniform Probate Code

In 1989 and 1990, Articles II and VI of the Uniform Probate Code (UPC) were revised by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL). Article II covers the basic law of intestacy, wills, spousal rights, rules of construction, and perpetuities. Article VI deals with multiple-party accounts and transfer-on-death (TOD) security registration. The major innovations in the revised UPC are driven by changes in legal theory. Three grand themes are at work in the new UPC: 1. improving spousal rights and sensitizing them to changes in family structure, 2. curing intent-defeating formalism, and 3. unifying the law of probate and nonprobate transfers. The profound changes in gender relations and family structure occurring over the past quarter century are reflected in the intestate distribution system of the revised UPC, in its forced share regime for protection against spousal disinheritance, and in its provision revoking dispositions to the decedent's former spouse upon divorce.