§ 607. — Divestment of inheritance of nonmembers.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 25USC607]
TITLE 25--INDIANS
CHAPTER 14--MISCELLANEOUS
SUBCHAPTER XVII--YAKIMA TRIBES
Sec. 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, Sec. 7, 60 Stat. 969; Pub. L. 91-627, Sec. 1,
Dec. 31, 1970, 84 Stat. 1874.)
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 1970 Amendment
Section 2 of Pub. L. 91-627 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.''
