Which item is NOT a testamentary substitute?

Which item is NOT a testamentary substitute?

• A. Totten trust for others
• B. Life insurance
• C. US bonds
• D. Paid on Death arrangements

Answer: (B)

Testamentary substitutes are devices that move property to beneficiaries at death without going through the probate process or the will. A life insurance death benefit, however, is paid directly to a named beneficiary by contract and does not pass under the will or through probate. It’s a nonprobate asset created by the insurance contract itself, so it doesn’t function as a substitute for dispositions in the will. The other options illustrate nonprobate transfers that bypass probate more directly: a Totten trust designates a beneficiary to receive funds on death, and paid-on-death arrangements similarly route property straight to a beneficiary outside probate. US bonds often remain part of the probate estate unless specifically designated to pass outside probate, so they don’t fit as clean examples of testamentary substitutes in the same way.

Testamentary substitutes are devices that move property to beneficiaries at death without going through the probate process or the will. A life insurance death benefit, however, is paid directly to a named beneficiary by contract and does not pass under the will or through probate. It’s a nonprobate asset created by the insurance contract itself, so it doesn’t function as a substitute for dispositions in the will. The other options illustrate nonprobate transfers that bypass probate more directly: a Totten trust designates a beneficiary to receive funds on death, and paid-on-death arrangements similarly route property straight to a beneficiary outside probate. US bonds often remain part of the probate estate unless specifically designated to pass outside probate, so they don’t fit as clean examples of testamentary substitutes in the same way.