Ademption

What it means

If a will leaves a named car, and the car was sold years before, the beneficiary generally receives nothing rather than the car's value.

There are exceptions in many states — where the item was sold by an agent or conservator, or where insurance or sale proceeds are still identifiable.

It applies to specific gifts. A gift of an amount of money is not adeemed by anything.

Why it matters

It produces outcomes families experience as unfair and lawyers experience as routine, and it is why wills naming particular objects need reviewing when things are sold.

It matters especially where a parent's property was sold during their care, by somebody acting under a power of attorney.

When you are likely to meet it

• When an item named in a will cannot be found.
• When property was sold during a parent's final years.
• When a beneficiary asks what they receive instead.

How this varies by state

Which exceptions to ademption a state recognizes is set by state law.

Related terms

• AbatementThe order in which gifts in a will are reduced when the estate cannot pay for everything.
• AdvancementA gift made during life that counts against what that person inherits at death.
• ConservatorshipA court appointing somebody to manage the money and property of an adult who cannot manage it themselves.
• DeviseA gift made by will — historically of land, and in modern statutes of anything.
• Durable power of attorneyA power of attorney that keeps working after the person who signed it loses the ability to make decisions — which is usually the whole point of signing one.
• Residuary estateWhatever is left after specific gifts, debts, taxes and expenses have been dealt with. Most wills give it away in a single clause.
• Specific bequestA gift in a will of a particular thing — a named account, a ring, a car — rather than a share of what is left.
• WillA written document saying who should receive what, and who should be in charge of seeing that it happens.

Sahvelo guidance that uses this

• The will