Also known as: material provision · material terms
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
The dispositive provisions of a document offered as a holographic will. These provisions must be in the testator's handwriting under statutes modeled on the original or revised Uniform Probate Code.
The dispositive provisions of a document offered as a holographic will. These provisions must be in the testator's handwriting under statutes modeled on the original or revised Uniform Probate Code.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
The essential terms of an agreement to make a will, not to revoke a will, or to die intestate. These terms must appear in a will or in a signed writing to prove the contract under the Uniform Probate Code.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
The essential terms of an agreement to make a will, not to revoke a will, or to die intestate. These terms must appear in a will or in a signed writing to prove the contract under the Uniform Probate Code.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Michelle Murphy handwrote a codicil directing that her estate be distributed according to her late husband's will. The codicil named no beneficiaries and described no property. Her heirs argued that material provisions were missing because the codicil incorporated terms from a document not in her handwriting. The court agreed and denied probate.
Under statutes based on the original Uniform Probate Code, the signature and the material provisions must be in the testator's handwriting. The material provisions are the dispositive clauses that identify the property and the beneficiaries.
Supporting sources
No. Printed or stamped language is treated as surplusage when the handwritten dispositive provisions make sense on their own as a will.
Supporting sources
Monica Morgan orally promised her nephew Maurice Marshall that she would leave him her vacation home if he cared for her during her final years. After Monica died, Maurice produced a will that mentioned him only as a contingent beneficiary but contained no statement of any promise or consideration. The court refused to enforce the alleged contract because the will lacked the material provisions of any agreement.
The contract can be established only by provisions of a will stating its material provisions, an express reference in a will plus extrinsic evidence, or a signed writing by the party alleged to have breached it.
Supporting sources
No. The Uniform Probate Code expressly states that execution of a joint will or mutual wills does not create any presumption of a contract not to revoke.
Supporting sources
…will which does not comply with § 14-2502 is valid as a holographic will, whether or not witnessed, if the signature and the material provisions are in the handwriting of the testator. The daughters cite In re Estate of Johnson , 129 Ariz. 307, 630 P.2d 1039 (App. 1981), as support for their contention that the document lacks…