Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 118.djvu/1810

 118 STAT. 1780 PUBLIC LAW 108–374—OCT. 27, 2004 with the applicable law of intestate succession as provided for in subsection (a).’’. (c) JOINT TENANCY; RIGHT OF SURVIVORSHIP.—Section 207(c) of the Indian Land Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2206(c)) is amended by striking all that follows the heading, ‘‘Joint Tenancy; Right of Survivorship’’, and inserting the following: ‘‘(1) PRESUMPTION OF JOINT TENANCY.—If a testator devises trust or restricted interests in the same parcel of land to more than 1 person, in the absence of clear and express lan guage in the devise stating that the interest is to pass to the devisees as tenants in common, the devise shall be pre sumed to create a joint tenancy with the right of survivorship in the interests involved. ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any devise of an interest in trust or restricted land where the will in which such devise is made was executed prior to the date that is 1 year after the date on which the Secretary publishes the certification required by section 8(a)(4) of the American Indian Probate Reform Act of 2004.’’. (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Section 207 of the Indian Land Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2206) is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(h) APPLICABLE FEDERAL LAW.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any references in subsections (a) and (b) to applicable Federal law include— ‘‘(A) Public Law 91–627 (84 Stat. 1874); ‘‘(B) Public Law 92–377 (86 Stat. 530); ‘‘(C) Public Law 92–443 (86 Stat. 744); ‘‘(D) Public Law 96–274 (94 Stat. 537); and ‘‘(E) Public Law 98–513 (98 Stat. 2411). ‘‘(2) NO EFFECT ON LAWS.—Nothing in this Act amends or otherwise affects the application of any law described in paragraph (1), or any other Federal law that pertains to— ‘‘(A) trust or restricted land located on 1 or more spe cific Indian reservations that are expressly identified in such law; or ‘‘(B) the allotted lands of 1 or more specific Indian tribes that are expressly identified in such law. ‘‘(i) RULES OF INTERPRETATION.—In the absence of a contrary intent, and except as otherwise provided under this Act, applicable Federal law, or a tribal probate code approved by the Secretary pursuant to section 206, wills shall be construed as to trust and restricted land and trust personalty in accordance with the following rules: ‘‘(1) CONSTRUCTION THAT WILL PASSES ALL PROPERTY.—A will shall be construed to apply to all trust and restricted land and trust personalty which the testator owned at his death, including any such land or personalty acquired after the execution of his will. ‘‘(2) CLASS GIFTS.— ‘‘(A) NO DIFFERENTIATION BETWEEN RELATIONSHIP BY BLOOD AND RELATIONSHIP BY AFFINITY.—Terms of relation ship that do not differentiate relationships by blood from those by affinity, such as ‘uncles’, ‘aunts’, ‘nieces’, or ‘nephews’, are construed to exclude relatives by affinity. Terms of relationship that do not differentiate relationships by the half blood from those by the whole blood, such Applicability.

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