WILLS-VALIDITY OF A STATUTORY COMPROMISE OF A WILL CONTEST WHICH ALTERS OR REDUCES POSSIBLE INTERESTS CREATED UNDER THE WILL

Authors

John M. Veale S.Ed., University of Michigan Law SchoolFollow

Abstract

Testator's will created a trust of realty and personalty worth about nine million dollars. Small life annuities, subject to spendthrift provisions, were given to various heirs, with remainder on the death of the survivor of two grandsons to T's "legal heirs." Several years after T's death the heirs filed a bill to construe the will, claiming that it gave them vested remainders in the trust estate. Pending decision, all the present heirs executed an agreement to compromise the controversy which provided for immediate distribution to themselves of six million dollars from the corpus. The agreement was submitted to the court for approval under the "Dodge Act," providing for the compromise of will contests. Decision was then rendered in the construction suit that by ''legal heirs" T referred to those persons who would be his heirs at the termination of the trust, rather than the persons who were his heirs at the time of his death. Accordingly, approval of the compromise was denied upon the ground that it was not "fair and reasonable" to work such a substantial reduction in the estate to which unborn persons might ultimately succeed. On appeal by the heirs, held, affirmed. Hay v. LeBus, 317 Mich. 698, 27 N.W. (2d) 309 (1947).

Recommended Citation

John M. Veale S.Ed., WILLS-VALIDITY OF A STATUTORY COMPROMISE OF A WILL CONTEST WHICH ALTERS OR REDUCES POSSIBLE INTERESTS CREATED UNDER THE WILL, 46 Mich. L. Rev. 580 (1948).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol46/iss4/21