After the effective date of the enactment of this Code, only persons enrolled or eligible for enrollment in a federally recognized Indian tribe or who otherwise meet the definition of “Indian” or “eligible heir” in the Indian Land Consolidation Act, as amended, shall take by intestate succession or by will any interest in the restricted or trust property of a deceased member of the Karuk Tribe. This includes any interest in the rents, issues, or profits from an allotment or assignment of trust or restricted property within the Karuk Tribe Indian lands, except that a surviving spouse or issue who is not a member of or eligible for enrollment in a federally recognized Indian tribe, or who does not otherwise meet the definition of “Indian” in the Indian Land Consolidation Act, as amended, may receive by inheritance or devise the use for life of the restricted or trust lands of the deceased.

Any testamentary gift or devise purporting to transfer an interest in the decedent’s trust or restricted property to a person who is not a member of or eligible for enrollment in a federally recognized Indian tribe, or who does not otherwise meet the definition of “Indian” in the Indian Land Consolidation Act, as amended, shall fail, except that a gift or devise of such property to such a person who is a surviving spouse or issue of the decedent shall be interpreted as a gift or devise of a life estate without regard to waste in such property. A will may provide for successive life estates without regard to waste in trust or restricted property; provided, that any issue of the decedent being devised a life estate must have been born before the decedent’s death. [Res. 06-R-53 § 3.0, 5/3/2006.]