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Case Citations [1] (July 2019 - April 2020)

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           PROPERTY 3D: WILLS AND OTHER

                       DONATIVE TRANSFERS



              DIVISION   I. PROBATE TRANSFERS (WILLS AND INTESTACY)

                            CHAPTER 3. EXECUTION OF WILLS

                            PART  A. EXECUTION FORMALITIES

§ 3.3 Excusing Harmless Errors

Mich.App.2018.  Corns. (a) and (b) cit. in ftn. Conservator of decedent who committed suicide filed a
petition for probate, alleging that decedent's electronic farewell note, in which he gave most of his
estate to his half-sister, qualified as his will; decedent's mother filed a competing petition, alleging that
decedent died intestate and that she was his sole heir. After an evidentiary hearing, the probate court
recognized the note as a valid will. Affirming, this court held that, while it was undisputed that
decedent's typed, electronic note, which was unwitnessed and undated, did not meet the requirements
for a formal or holographic will, it fell within a statutory provision that permitted any document or
writing to constitute a valid will provided that the proponent established by clear and convincing
evidence that the decedent intended for it to constitute his or her will. In making its decision, the court
cited Restatement Third of Property: Wills and Other Donative Transfers § 3.3 in explaining that
formalities were not irrelevant in a will contest, but rather, were considered indicative of intent, and that,
other evidence clearly and convincingly demonstrating intent to adopt a will ought not to be ignored
simply because a decedent failed to comply with formalities. In re Estate of Horton, 925 N.W.2d 207,
212.



       DIVISION   II. NONPROBATE TRANSFERS (GIFTS AND WILL SUBSTITUTES)

                                     CHAPTER 6. GIFTS

§ 6.2 Gifts of Personal Property

Cal.App.2019. Quot. in sup.; coms. (g), (h), (q), (r), (s), and (u) quot. in sup.; com. (t) quot. in sup. and
in ftn. and cit. in case quot. in sup. Trustee and beneficiary of decedent's irrevocable life-insurance trust
filed a petition to recover the policy proceeds against named beneficiaries of the policy. The trial court
sustained defendants' demurrer, finding that the trust was never funded with the policy, because insurer
had rejected decedent's first beneficiary-designation form naming plaintiff due to certain errors, which
were not corrected until decedent submitted a second form that named defendants instead of plaintiff.
Reversing, this court held that the policy irrevocably became trust property upon decedent's execution
of the trust document, given the irrevocable nature of the trust and its language demonstrating his intent
to immediately transfer ownership of the policy to plaintiff. The court reasoned that the trust document
met all of the necessary elements of a donative-transfer document under Restatement Third of Property:

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          For earlier citations, see the Appendices, Supplements, or Pocket Parts, if any, that correspond to the subject matter under examination.

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