Chapter 14.60
INHERITANCE BY NON-INDIANS/FRACTIONATED HEIRSHIP
Sections:
14.60.010 Restrictions on inheritance of individual trust/restricted lands by non-Indians.
14.60.020 Escheat of certain fractionated interests.
14.60.010 Restrictions on inheritance of individual trust/restricted lands by non-Indians.
Non-Indians shall not be entitled to receive by devise or descent any interest in individual trust or restricted lands within the Chehalis Reservation or otherwise subject to the jurisdiction of the Chehalis Tribe; provided, that:
A. If an Indian dies intestate, the surviving non-Indian spouse and/or children may elect to receive a life estate in as much of the trust or restricted land as such person or persons would have been entitled to take in the absence of such restriction eligibility for inheritance and the remainder shall vest in the Indians who would have been heirs in the absence of a qualified person taking a life estate;
B. If an intestate Indian decedent has no heir to whom interests in trust or restricted lands may pass, such interests shall escheat1 to the Chehalis Tribe, subject to any non-Indian spouse and/or children’s rights as described in subsection (A)(1) of this section;
C. 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 of the Interior for probate, the Chehalis Tribe acquires such interests by paying to the Secretary of the Interior, on behalf of the devisees, the fair market value of such interests as determined by the Secretary of the Interior as of the date of decedent’s death:
1. Provided, that any non-Indian spouse and/or children of such decedent who have been devised such interests may retain, at their option, a life estate in such interests.
2. Any ineligible devisee shall also have the right to renounce their devise in favor of a person or persons who are eligible to inherit in accordance with CTC 14.40.070.
3. The right to receive a life estate under this section shall be limited to:
a. A spouse and/or children who, if they had been eligible, would have inherited an ownership interest of 10 percent or more in the tract of land; or
b. A spouse and/or children who occupied the tract as a home at the time of decedent’s death. [Res. 2018-42 (20.4.1).]
14.60.020 Escheat of certain fractionated interests.
The following section is enacted under Section 2206(c) of Title 25 of the United States Code, known as the Indian Land Consolidation Act, to take precedence over the escheat provisions of Section 2206 of Title 25 of the United States Code:
A. No undivided interest in any tract of trust or restricted land within the Chehalis Reservation or otherwise subject to the Chehalis Tribe’s jurisdiction shall descend by intestacy (or devise) but shall escheat to the Chehalis Tribe if such interest represents two percent or less of the total acreage in such tract and is incapable of earning to the respective heirs $100.00 in any one of the five years from the date of decedent’s death, and is otherwise without significantly greater future potential value; provided, that:
1. In determining the future earning capacity of such interest the Hearing Examiner shall consider the presence of known or probable minerals and timber;
2. In determining whether such interest is otherwise without significantly greater future potential value the Hearing Examiner shall consider, among other things, the geographic location of such property and its potential for commercial or other exploitation;
3. Where fractional interest has earned to its owner less than $100.00 in any one of the five years before it is due to escheat, in absence of previously unexploited known or probable mineral reserves or standing timber, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that such interest is incapable of earning to the respective heirs $100.00 in any one of the five years from the date of decedent’s death, and the property is otherwise without significantly greater future potential value.
B. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the devise of such a fractional interest to any other owner of an undivided fractional interest in such parcel or tract of trust or restricted land.
C. Any beneficiary who, but for the provisions of this section, would have inherited such fractional interest may assign such interest to any other owner of an undivided fractional interest in such trust or restricted land, such assignment to be made and filed with the Hearing Examiner within 60 days of the issuance of notice of intent to escheat the interest to the Chehalis Tribe. The Hearing Examiner shall formally notify the beneficiary of their rights under this subsection at the time of the notice of intent to escheat and shall assist with the assignment process as needed.
D. The Chehalis Tribal Court judge and the Federal Administrative Judge shall have the discretion to order any appropriate distribution of the decedent’s estate as needed to reduce further fractionalization so long as the distribution is fair and equitable. [Res. 2018-42 (20.4.2).]
Escheat – The forfeit of all property (including bank accounts) to the Tribal Treasury if it appears certain that there are no heirs, descendants or named beneficiaries to take the property upon the death of the last known owner.