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Prob. Code, § 640 · Article 3. Donee’s Required Intent

Prob. Code, § 640

Verbatim from the official edition

Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)

(a) The exercise of a power of appointment requires a manifestation of the powerholder’s intent to exercise the power.

(b) A manifestation of the powerholder’s intent to exercise a power of appointment exists in any of the following circumstances:

(1) The powerholder declares, in substance, that the powerholder exercises specific powers or all the powers the powerholder has.

(2) The powerholder purports to transfer an interest in the appointive property that the powerholder would have no power to transfer except by virtue of the power.

(3) The powerholder makes a disposition that, when considered with reference to the property owned and the circumstances existing at the time of the disposition, manifests the powerholder’s understanding that the powerholder was disposing of the appointive property.

(c) The circumstances described in subdivision (b) are illustrative, not exclusive.

Notes and commentary — not statutory text

History

Amended by Stats. 2016, Ch. 81, Sec. 8. (AB 2846) Effective January 1, 2017.

Source of truth

Edition
As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
Official file
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PROB&sectionNum=640.
Text hash
sha256 521c1b16a091a3c7c1521b1aeadf4d280ea31acfb08382f8dbe4a7705c567c81
Composed by
compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section

Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.