§ 607. Divestment of inheritance of non-members

(a) Procedure

A person who is not an enrolled member of the Yakima Tribes with one-fourth degree or more blood of such tribes shall not be entitled to receive by devise or inheritance any interest in trust or restricted land within the Yakima Reservation or within the area ceded by the Treaty of June 9, 1855 (12 Stat. 1951), if, while the decedent’s estate is pending before the Examiner of Inheritance, the Yakima Tribes pay to the Secretary of the Interior, on behalf of such person, the fair market value of such interest as determined by the Secretary of the Interior after appraisal. The interest for which payment is made shall be held by the Secretary in Trust for the Yakima Tribes.

(b) Time of election

On request of the Yakima Tribes the Examiner of Inheritance shall keep an estate pending for not less than two years from the date of decedent’s death.

(c) Interest of surviving spouse

When a person who is prohibited by subsection (a) of this section from acquiring any interest by devise or inheritance is a surviving spouse of the decedent, a life estate in one-half of the interest acquired by the Yakima Tribes shall, on the request of such spouse, be reserved for that spouse and the value of such life estate so reserved shall be reflected in the Secretary’s appraisal under subsection (a) of this section.

(Aug. 9, 1946, ch. 933, § 7, 60 Stat. 969; Pub. L. 91–627, § 1, Dec. 31, 1970, 84 Stat. 1874.)

Amendments

Amendments

1970—Pub. L. 91–627 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), substituted provisions authorizing the Yakima Tribes to pay to Secretary of the Interior the fair market value, as determined by the Secretary after appraisal, of any interest in trust or restricted land within the specified areas which a person not an enrolled member of the Yakima Tribes with one-fourth degree or more blood of such tribes was to receive by devise or inheritance, for provisions limiting the inheritance of trust land on the Yakima Reservation to enrolled members of the Yakima Tribes of one-fourth or more blood of such tribes and to surviving spouses who are enrolled members but possess less than one-fourth degree of Yakima blood, with such surviving spouses authorized to inherit a life estate in not more than one-half the property, and added subsecs. (b) and (c).

Effective Date Of Amendment

Effective Date of 1970 Amendment

Pub. L. 91–627, § 2, Dec. 31, 1970, 84 Stat. 1874, provided that: “The provisions of section 7 of the Act of August 9, 1946, as amended by this Act [this section], shall apply to all estates pending before the Examiner of Inheritance on the date of this Act [Dec. 31, 1970], and to all future estates, but shall not apply to any estate heretofore closed.”