Guardianship & Alts., Inc. v. Jones (In re Estate of Horton) - 325 Mich. App. 325, 925 N.W.2d 207 (2018)

Rule:

The plain language of MCL 700.2503 establishes that it permits the probate of a will that does not meet the requirements of MCL 700.2502. Indeed, other than requiring "a document or writing added upon a document," there are no particular formalities necessary to create a valid will under MCL 700.2503. Essentially, under MCL 700.2503, any document or writing can constitute a valid will provided that the proponent of the document or writing establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the decedent intended the document or writing to constitute the decedent's will. MCL 700.2503(a). In considering the decedent's intent, the Estates and Protected Individuals Code permits the admission of extrinsic evidence in order to determine whether the decedent intended a document to constitute his or her will.

Facts:

Before the decedent committed suicide at the age of 21, the decedent left an undated, handwritten journal entry wherein he referred a “farewell” or “last note.” The "farewell" or "last note" referred to in decedent's journal entry was a typed document that existed only in electronic form. Decedent's full name was typed at the end of the document. No portion of the document was in decedent’s handwriting. The document distributed the decedent’s properties to his uncle and to some other people. The Guardianship and Alternatives, Inc. (GAI), which served as the decedent’s court-appointed conservator during his lifetime, filed a petition for probate and appointment of a personal representative, nominating itself to serve as the personal representative of decedent's estate. GAI maintained that decedent's electronic "farewell" note qualified as decedent's will. Will contestant, Lanora Jones, filed a competing petition for probate and appointment of a personal representative in which she nominated herself to serve as the personal representative of decedent's estate. In that petition, Jones alleged that decedent died intestate and that she was decedent's sole heir. After an evidentiary hearing involving testimony from several witnesses, the probate court concluded that GAI presented clear and convincing evidence that decedent's electronic note was intended by decedent to constitute his will. Therefore, the probate court recognized the document as a valid will under MCL 700.2503. Jones appealed, arguing that the probate court erred by recognizing decedent's electronic note as a will under MCL 700.2503.

Issue:

Did the probate court err by recognizing decedent's electronic note as a will under MCL 700.2503? 

Answer:

No.

Conclusion:

The court affirmed the judgment of the probate court, holding that the electronic document was properly considered to be a decedent's will, under MCL 700.2503, because clear and convincing evidence, including the document itself and admissible extrinsic evidence, showed the decedent intended the document to constitute his will, as it evinced testamentary intent, it was final in nature, and the decedent clearly intended the document to govern the posthumous distribution of his property, as he hand wrote a note directing the reader to his cell phone with specific instructions as to how to access a document he had written electronically in anticipation of his imminent death by his own hands, which clearly and unambiguously stated his testamentary intent in anticipation of his impending death.