Mock Trial In My Speech Class

[DotsonK]

Michigan :

Hello, I was hoping that I might get some help. We are doing a mock trial in my college speech class [To be held 4/1/2005] and it has to do with a woman who died in a sudden medical accident while she was in for her annual check up, got alot of money out of it, and now where the money goes is the question. The nurse who was assisting her finally convinced her to make a will ironically the same day she died. Now when the settlement from the hospital came through all six of her children where in the court room. The judge said the children would get nothing, basicly because they we never there to see their mother in the past five years and barely had any contact. [I know that is not the law but I am filling you in on what has "happened"]. The nurse then brought up the will. It stated that one grandchild who was living with her while attending college gets everything. There were a total of three grandchildren living with her and the other two she stated not by name, but stated that they are not to recieve a penny. Here is where the problem comes in. The name is smudged out. This mock court case is about which one of the three grandchildren get the 5.6 billion dollars. When looking at the "will" it has some holes. Such as, only having one witness, begining with "To Whom it may concern", Not naming the two grandchildren who she is disinheriting, and making no metion of the six kids she has. Plus the nurse does not remember what grandchildren was named.

Ok long backstory I know, but here is my question(s).
1. What does a will have to have to make it vaild in Michigan and what legal document(s) state that?

2.If anything the 6 children have a claim on the 5.6 billion weither the will hold s up or not?

3. Anythign else you could add would be great.


Thank you.

 

[BelizeBreeze]

Normally, we do not do homework on this forum. However, I am going to make an exception simply because you were upfront and honest.

The first issue you are going to have to deal with is determining the validity of the will. Therefore, you need to be provided a copy and examine it under the relevant Michigan statute:

ESTATES AND PROTECTED INDIVIDUALS CODE (EXCERPT)
Act 386 of 1998
700.2502 Execution; witnessed wills; holographic wills.

Sec. 2502.
(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) and in sections 2503, 2506, and 2513, a will is valid only if it is all of the following:

(a) In writing.

(b) Signed by the testator or in the testator's name by some other individual in the testator's conscious presence and by the testator's direction.

(c) Signed by at least 2 individuals, each of whom signed within a reasonable time after he or she witnessed either the signing of the will as described in subdivision (b) or the testator's acknowledgment of that signature or acknowledgment of the will.

(2) A will that does not comply with subsection (1) is valid as a holographic will, whether or not witnessed, if it is dated, and if the testator's signature and the document's material portions are in the testator's handwriting.

(3) Intent that the document constitutes a testator's will can be established by extrinsic evidence, including, for a holographic will, portions of the document that are not in the testator's handwriting.

If the will does not comply with the requirements above, it is invalid and the estate must be probated Intestate or as no will existed.

700.2101 Intestate estate.

Sec. 2101.

(1) Any part of a decedent's estate not effectively disposed of by will passes by intestate succession to the decedent's heirs as prescribed in this act, except as modified by the decedent's will.

(2) A decedent by will may expressly exclude or limit the right of an individual or class to succeed to property of the decedent that passes by intestate succession. If that individual or a member of that class survives the decedent, the share of the decedent's intestate estate to which that individual or class would have succeeded passes as if that individual or each member of that class had disclaimed his or her intestate share.

§ 27.12102. Share of spouse.

Sec. 2102. (1) The intestate share of a decedent's surviving spouse is 1 of the following:
(a) The entire intestate estate if no descendant or parent of the decedent survives the decedent.
(b) The first $150,000.00, plus 1/2 of any balance of the intestate estate, if all of the decedent's surviving descendants are also descendants of the surviving spouse and there is no other descendant of the surviving spouse who survives the decedent.
(c) The first $150,000.00, plus 3/4 of any balance of the intestate estate, if no descendant of the decedent survives the decedent, but a parent of the decedent survives the decedent.
(d) The first $150,000.00, plus 1/2 of any balance of the intestate estate, if all of the decedent's surviving descendants are also descendants of the surviving spouse and the surviving spouse has 1 or more surviving descendants who are not descendants of the decedent.
(e) The first $150,000.00, plus 1/2 of any balance of the intestate estate, if 1 or more, but not all, of the decedent's surviving descendants are not descendants of the surviving spouse.
(f) The first $100,000.00, plus 1/2 of any balance of the intestate estate, if none of the decedent's surviving descendants are descendants of the surviving spouse.
(2) Each dollar amount listed in subsection (1) shall be adjusted as provided in section 1210.

§ 27.12103. Share of heirs other than surviving spouse.

Sec. 2103. Any part of the intestate estate that does not pass to the decedent's surviving spouse under section 2102, or the entire intestate estate if there is no surviving spouse, passes in the following order to the following individuals who survive the decedent:
(a) The decedent's descendants by representation.
(b) If there is no surviving descendant, the decedent's parents equally if both survive or to the surviving parent.
(c) If there is no surviving descendant or parent, the descendants of the decedent's parents or of either of them by representation.
(d) If there is no surviving descendant, parent, or descendant of a parent, but the decedent is survived by 1 or more grandparents or descendants of grandparents, 1/2 of the estate passes to the decedent's paternal grandparents equally if both survive, or to the surviving paternal grandparent, or to the descendants of the decedent's paternal grandparents or either of them if both are deceased, the descendants taking by representation; and the other 1/2 passes to the decedent's maternal relatives in the same manner. If there is no surviving grandparent or descendant of a grandparent on either the paternal or the maternal side, the entire estate passes to the decedent's relatives on the other side in the same manner as the 1/2.

§ 27.12104. Requirement that heir survive decedent for 120 hours.

Sec. 2104. An individual who fails to survive the decedent by 120 hours is considered to have predeceased the decedent for purposes of homestead allowance, exempt property, and intestate succession, and the decedent's heirs are determined accordingly. If it is not established by clear and convincing evidence that an individual who would otherwise be an heir survived the decedent by 120 hours, it is considered that the individual failed to survive for the required period. This section does not apply if its application would result in a taking of the intestate estate by the state under section 2105.


§ 27.12114. Parent and child relationship.

Sec. 2114. (1) Except as provided in subsections (2), (3), and (4), for purposes of intestate succession by, through, or from an individual, an individual is the child of his or her natural parents, regardless of their marital status. The parent and child relationship may be established in any of the following manners:
(a) If a child is born or conceived during a marriage, both spouses are presumed to be the natural parents of the child for purposes of intestate succession. A child conceived by a married woman with the consent of her husband following utilization of assisted reproductive technology is considered as their child for purposes of intestate succession. Consent of the husband is presumed unless the contrary is shown by clear and convincing evidence. If a man and a woman participated in a marriage ceremony in apparent compliance with the law before the birth of a child, even though the attempted marriage may be void, the child is presumed to be their child for purposes of intestate succession.
(b) Only the individual presumed to be the natural parent of a child under subdivision (a) may disprove a presumption that is relevant to their relationship, and this exclusive right to do so terminates upon the death of the presumed parent.
(c) If a child is born out of wedlock or if a child is born or conceived during a marriage but is not the issue of that marriage, a man is considered to be the child's natural father for purposes of intestate succession if any of the following occur:
(i) The man joins with the child's mother and acknowledges that child as his child by completing an acknowledgment of parentage as prescribed in the acknowledgment of parentage act, 1996 PA 305, MCL 722.1001 to 722.1013.
(ii) The man joins the mother in a written request for a correction of certificate of birth pertaining to the child that results in issuance of a substituted certificate recording the child's birth .
(iii) The man and child have established a mutually acknowledged relationship of parent and child that begins before the child becomes age 18 and continues until terminated by the death of either.
(iv) The man is determined to be the child's father and an order of filiation establishing that paternity is entered as provided in the paternity act, 1956 PA 205, MCL 722.711 to 722.730.
(v) Regardless of the child's age or whether or not the alleged father has died, the court with jurisdiction over probate proceedings relating to the decedent's estate determines that the man is the child's father, using the standards and procedures established under the paternity act, 1956 PA 205, MCL 722.711 to 722.730.
(2) An adopted individual is the child of his or her adoptive parent or parents and not of his or her natural parents, but adoption of a child by the spouse of either natural parent has no effect on either the relationship between the child and that natural parent or, except as provided in subsection (3), the right of the child or a descendant of the child to inherit from or through the other natural parent. An individual is considered to be adopted for purposes of this subsection when a court of competent jurisdiction enters an interlocutory decree of adoption that is not vacated or reversed.



Now you have some homework. You can find the relevent state laws here:
http://www.legislature.mi.gov/mileg.asp?page=chapterindex

 

[DotsonK]

Thank You

I would like to thank you very much for that great reply.

 

[BelizeBreeze]

You're welcome.
And remember, we don't do homework. You have the information. Now, if you do the work THEN have legitimate questions, we'll be happy to help.

Good Luck.