1995 US Code
Title 25 - INDIANS
CHAPTER 24 - INDIAN LAND CONSOLIDATION
Sec. 2205 - Descent and distribution of trust or restricted or controlled lands; tribal ordinance barring nonmembers of tribe or non-Indians from inheritance by devise or descent; limitation on life estate

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§2205. Descent and distribution of trust or restricted or controlled lands; tribal ordinance barring nonmembers of tribe or non-Indians from inheritance by devise or descent; limitation on life estate (a) Descent or distribution

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any Indian tribe, subject to approval by the Secretary, may adopt its own code of laws to govern descent and distribution of trust or restricted lands within that tribe's reservation or otherwise subject to that tribe's jurisdiction, and may provide that nonmembers of the tribe or non-Indians shall not be entitled to receive by devise or descent any interest or 1 trust or restricted lands within that tribe's reservation or otherwise subject to that tribe's jurisdiction: Provided, That in the event a tribe takes such action—

(1) if an Indian dies intestate, the surviving non-Indian or nonmember spouse and/or children may elect to receive a life estate in as much of the trust or restricted lands as such person or persons would have been entitled to take in the absence of such restriction on eligibility for inheritance and the remainder shall vest in the Indians or tribal members who would have been heirs in the absence of a qualified person taking a life estate;

(2) if an intestate Indian descendent has no heir to whom interests in trust or restricted lands may pass, such interests shall escheat to the tribe, subject to any non-Indian or nonmember spouse and/or children's rights as described in paragraph (1) of this section;

(3) if an Indian decedent has devised interests in trust or restricted lands to persons who are ineligible for such an inheritance by reason of a tribal ordinance enacted pursuant to this section, the devise shall be voided only if, while the estate is pending before the Secretary for probate, the tribe acquires such interests by paying to the Secretary, on behalf of the devisees, the fair market value of such interests as determined by the Secretary as of the date of the decedent's death: Provided, That any non-Indian or nonmember spouse and/or children of such decedent who have been devised such interests may retain, at their option, a life estate in such interests.

Any ineligible devisee shall also have the right to renounce his or her devise in favor of a person or persons who are eligible to inherit.

(b) Life estate; limitation

The right to receive a life estate under the provisions of this section shall be limited to—

(1) a spouse and/or children who, if they had been eligible, would have inherited an ownership interest of 10 per centum or more in the tract of land; or

(2) a spouse and/or children who occupied the tract as a home at the time of the decedent's death.

(Pub. L. 97–459, title II, §206, Jan. 12, 1983, 96 Stat. 2518; Pub. L. 98–608, §1(3), Oct. 30, 1984, 98 Stat. 3172.)

Amendments

1984—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 98–608 amended subsec. (a) generally, designating existing provisions as subsec. (a), substituting provisions allowing adoption of a code of laws by an Indian tribe to govern descent and distribution of trust or restricted lands within the reservation or jurisdiction of the tribe, subject to the Secretary's approval for former provisions which allowed tribes to act “by appropriate action of its governing body”, and inserting proviso and numbered pars. (1) to (3) and sentence following par. (3). Amendment by Pub. L. 98–608 corrected errors originally contained in this section as enacted by Pub. L. 97–459, which as the result of inadvertent error in the execution of committee amendments (see House Report No. 97–908, Sept. 30, 1982) to the bill, contained provisions set out following proviso and preceding final pars. (1) to (3), such provisions consisting of pars. (1) to (5) and subsec. (b), which were intended to be part of section 204 of Pub. L. 97–459, which is classified to section 2203 of this title.

Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 98–608 substituted provisions allowing election of life estate with remainder vesting in Indians or tribal members who would have been heirs for former provisions which provided for entitlement to life estate.

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 98–608 added subsec. (b).

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in section 2207 of this title.

1 So in original. Probably should be “in”.