My first answer is to run it and see. You have the test code.

For the sake of discussion, no the reference will not disappear. The reference count for %var is incremented once when you declare in the block. When you assign \%var, the reference count gets incremented again. When control exits the block, the reference count is decremented and tested. If it is 0, %var will return to the heap from which it came.

Quick math says, though, that 1+1-1=1 != 0. %var will not get destroyed and the reference will still be there.

mikfire