Michigan Will - YouTube

let's cover everything about Michigan wills from  A to Z let's get right at it so what constitutes  

a valid will in the state of Michigan we look to  Michigan's probate code the estates and protected  

individual code and the related case law that  helps to find the elements for a valid will  

to exist of course we have to comply with a  specific statute mcl 700 point to 502 which  

governs an admissible will in Michigan the  will must be in writing and there's a lot  

written about this particular aspect of Michigan  law within the case law there are wills that are  

written on all sorts of non-traditional media  for example we're used to seeing a will typed  

out on a computer and then side but what about  wills that are signed on pieces of paper backs  

of envelopes within a diary or even a Bible or  you've probably heard of the famous cases where  

wills were signed where miners were trapped in a  mine and didn't think they'd escape so they draft  

their last will and testament on the walls all of  these can constitute writings in fact in Michigan  

there was a recent case in which a writing  was found to be valid on a mobile device a  

cell phone and it was a type of suicide note now  we don't suggest that you even consider drafting  

a will on a cell phone or doing it orally or  in any other way other than with a competent  

estate planning lawyer because those are fraught  with problems and could ultimately deem that  

will to be inadmissible another requirement is  that the will must be signed by the settler or  

the person the testator the individual that is  creating the will of an intent to do so now of  

course with every great rule there are exceptions  there are times that the individual can't sign the  

will because of physical disability or otherwise  Michigan law provides for an alternative method to  

allow for that individual who is intending to  sign the will for something to do so at their  

direction now again this rule can be fraught with  problems if it's not done directly correctly with  

a lawyer guiding you through the process so  please be mindful of the pitfalls with all of  

this information that I'm providing you lastly  it must be witnessed by at least two persons  

within a reasonable time of the witnessing of  that will now again with every great rule there  

are exceptions and that witnessing requirement is  there are exceptions to it in the what we call a  

holographic well let's take a closer look with  a holographic will it doesn't meet the precise  

elements that were defined in the previous  explanation under the statute a holographic  

will in Michigan looks a little bit different  from a traditional will it can be valid as a  

holographic will whether or not witness this  is a critical distinction from the elements  

that were explained earlier we often see this in  suicide notes the document is written out it is  

dated it is signed and it's in the testator's own  handwriting now Michigan's statute specifically  

requires certain elements for that document to  be deemed a holographic well it doesn't need  

to be witnessed it needs to be dated it needs to  be in the testator that's the person drafting it  

in their own handwriting or at least the material  portions in their own handwriting sometimes we see  

documents that blend both traditional elements of  the creation of a pre-printed will like something  

you may have gotten off the internet and a purely  handwritten will a holographic will so there can  

be a combination of these two particular aspects  holographic and the traditional elements a will  

that may occur together but with a holographic  will the requirements of the witnessing are  

lost as long as it has the intent it's in the  testator's own handwriting it's signed and dated

to make matters even more confusing there are  times that a document on its face may appear  

to be valid but when a lawyer or the court  looks at the testamentary document it may  

have a technical defect that would otherwise make  that writing inadmissible as a will or a trust or  

a testamentary document Michigan adopted the  substantial compliance theory and what that in  

essence means is that if the proponent of the will  can show by clear and convincing evidence that the  

document was intended by the decedent to be a  writing intended fro as a will or a trust the  

court can find it to be admissible let's use some  examples of situations where a technical defect  

may have ruled it inadmissible but because of  the substantial compliance theory it would or  

may be an admissible document one of the classic  situations is when the document itself was signed  

in the wrong spot the individual signs it where  the witness saw is supposed to sign and the  

witness sign where the testator or settler was  supposed to sign now I was under the substantial  

compliance theory it clearly was intended to  be a will but technically it may have failed  

because it wasn't signed in the appropriate spot  under the substantial compliance theory that will  

should be admissible if again the proponent can  show by clear convincing evidence that it was  

the decedent's intent another example what  about a holographic document like a suicide  

note in which there is no date but the individual  references the time of year maybe they mentioned  

it's Christmas Day but they don't date it  now technically it's not David but under the  

substantial compliance Theory the court could  find by clear and convincing evidence that the  

decedent intended for that document to be a will  so these are some example of how the substantial  

compliance theory can work it can be used to admit  a will it can be used for a complete revocation  

of the will so for example maybe they revoked the  will but didn't follow the technical requirements  

under the statute to do so but clearly showed  an intent to do so the court can find as well  

as an alteration of the will and a revival of a  formally revoked will again the details of these  

particular aspects are beyond this presentation  but what's important to understand is that the  

document itself has to be looked at holistically  with often extrinsic or other evidence to support  

whether the document would be admissible we'll  really the lesson here is to have a good skilled  

competent estate planning lawyer at your side to  ensure that the document will be admissible to  

give you the peace of mind that the document will  be admissible upon the individual's death Michigan  

has a statutory will that is actually written  right in to Michigan's estates and protected  

individual code now this statutory will is just  not used very often and the reason it's not used  

often is the with the proliferation of wills that  you can easily get off of the internet or from a  

local store you just don't see many people using  the statutory will anymore and it's really limited  

in this application it's basically a form in which  you can fill in certain pieces of information now  

the will allows you to do various things including  giving a cash gift listing personal or household  

items within that document identifying who you  want to serve as your personal representative as  

well as nominating a guardian and/or conservator  or your minor children a little known fact is you  

actually don't even have to create a will to be  able to nominate a guardian for your children in  

the event of your death and we get that question  asked very often if you have questions about it  

give us a call we'll show you how to do it so the  statutory will in Michigan a valuable document not  

used very often and often when it is used it's  used among people who can't afford to hire a  

skilled competent probate lawyer to assist them  in the estate planning process so what happens  

if that will has been lost or destroyed and you  want to admit it to probate you have a copy or  

maybe even an unsigned document and you want to  advance that to the probate court to see if it  

can be admitted to probate there's a statute that  governs it and you can understand why the court  

wants you to overcome a burden or a presumption  that exists to show that it was the testator's  

intent one of the ways to destroy or revoke a will  is by actually tearing it up or throwing it away  

so if you simply have a copy and not be original  the court takes the presumption that that document  

was intended to have been destroyed or lost and  then when you resurrect or bring forth that old  

document you have to overcome that presumption  too so to show it as the decedent's intent when  

you go to the probate court it expects that you're  going to present what we call the wet ink original  

that's the document that actually contained the  ink signature of the person that signed the will  

now in the old days it was easy to differentiate  between the wet ink original and the copy a  

wedding looked like wet ink and a copy looked like  a copy nowadays with the quality of copy machines  

color copy machines as well as digital signatures  often it's very hard to discern whether something  

was a wedding original or a copy so it's important  to be able to differentiate with that document in  

hand what you're presenting to the probate  court and what statute you're advancing to  

seek admission to the probate court for that will  to be held as valid so I've got a will I get to  

avoid probate right know whether you have a will  or no will not answer the question of whether you  

have to go through the probate process having a  will simply provides a roadmap for how the estate  

will be administered it identifies who you're  nominating to be your personal representative  

as well as how you want your estate to be  distributed if you die without a will we call  

that intestate then rather than you getting to  make that decision Michigan statute defines who  

has priority to appointment and how the estate  should be distributed based on the family trade  

if you want to avoid probate there are all sorts  of effective of probate avoidance techniques the  

issue of going through probate is dependent upon  whether you owned an asset in your individual name  

with no named beneficiary and no joint owner if  you have assets it goes through probate with a  

will or without a will to avoid probate using  an effective estate plan to do so can avoid the  

necessity of going through this probate process  altogether the estate or the trust rather can  

be administered outside of the probate courts  involvement privately by the family so an estate  

planning lawyer like our law firm can assist you  in probate avoidance can create a comprehensive  

estate plan to avoid the necessity of going  through the probate process you're welcome to  

call us and we're happy to describe how that would  work I hope that this video on Michigan wills  

gives you a better understanding of the various  aspects relating to Michigan wills including loss  

will statutory wills holographic wills and the  elements relating to the admissibility of a will  

what we do know is that not everybody falls into  a cookie cutter situation every family is unique  

every individual circumstances unique and we  want to tailor estate plans as well as probate  

administration to that particular individual  if you've got questions relating to these  

issues give us a call we're happy to discuss  it with you 8:33 probate or if you additional  

information that you're seeking you reach out to  us or visit us at our website the probe apricot