M Civ JI 220.01 Form of Verdict: Will Contests

We, the jury, make the following answers to the questions submitted by the Court:

*QUESTION NO. 1: Is the will a holographic will as defined by law?

Answer: ____ (yes or no)

*QUESTION NO. 2: Was the [ will / codicil ] signed by [ the decedent / another person at decedent’s direction and in [ his / her ] conscious presence ]?

Answer: ____ (yes or no)

*QUESTION NO. 3: Was the [ will / codicil ] witnessed in the manner required by law?

Answer: ____ (yes or no)

*QUESTION NO. 4: Was the document intended by the decedent to be [ his / her ] will and transfer [ his / her ] property after death and not during [ his / her ] lifetime?

Answer: ____ (yes or no)

*QUESTION NO. 5: Has it been shown by clear and convincing evidence that the decedent intended the document or writing to constitute [ a will / a partial or complete revocation of a will / an addition to or alteration of a will / a partial or complete revival of [ a formerly revoked will / a formerly revoked portion of the will ] ]?

Answer: ____ (yes or no)

*QUESTION NO. 6: Was the will the result of undue influence?

Answer: ____ (yes or no)

*QUESTION NO. 7: Did the decedent have the mental capacity to make a will?

Answer: ____ (yes or no)

*QUESTION NO. 8: Was the will the result of an insane delusion?

Answer: ____ (yes or no)

*QUESTION NO. 9: Was the will revoked by [ the decedent / another person in the conscious presence of and at the direction of the decedent ]?

Answer: ____ (yes or no)

*QUESTION NO. 10: Was the will procured as the result of fraud?

Answer: ____ (yes or no)

Signed,

_______________________ _______________________

Foreperson Date

Note on Use

*The Court should select the questions that are applicable to the case.

See also M Civ JI 170.21 Will Contests: Lost, Destroyed or Otherwise Unavailable Will; M Civ JI 220.05 Form of Verdict: Will Contests—Lost, Destroyed or Otherwise Unavailable Will.

Comment

The Court may question jurors and correct errors of form where the intent of the jurors is ascertainable. In re Sorter’s Estate, 314 Mich 488; 22 NW2d 767 (1946).

History

M Civ JI 220.01 was added January 1984. Amended March 2001.