M Civ JI 170.03 Will Contests: Holographic Will - Definition

The law recognizes what is known as a holographic will. A document in which a person directs the disposition of [ his / her ] property after death is valid as a holographic will if:

(a) it is dated, and

(b) it was signed by the decedent, and

(c) the material provisions are in the handwriting of the decedent.

The proponent has the burden of proving that the document is a holographic will.

Comment

The holographic will provision (MCL 700.2502(2)) of the Estates and Protected Individuals Code (EPIC) applies to testamentary instruments that are not properly witnessed. The EPIC provision departs from prior law in that the testator’s signature no longer needs to be at the end of a holographic will. This relaxed requirement applies to holographic wills executed prior to the effective date of EPIC (April 1, 2000) if the testator died after the effective date. MCL 700.8101(1)(a). See also In re Sutherby Estate, 110 Mich App 175; 312 NW2d 200 (1981), in which the court upheld a holographic will executed before the effective date of the predecessor statute, the Revised Probate Code.

History

M Civ JI 170.03 was added January 1984. Amended March 2001.