WILLS Part II FORMS & FORMALITIES VIII. PROPER EXECUTION, cont. F. Components of a will 1. Doctrine of integration: a.

. A will may comprise many pages. Although it may seem beyond simplistic, issues can and do arise regarding which of several pages of text actually !the will." b. #he doctrine of integration provides that all papers present at the time of execution, intended to be part of the will, are integrated into the will. c. Although not legally re$uired, an attorney may be able to prevent problems by ensuring the pages of the will are fastened together before the testator signs, and by having the testator initial each page of the will. d. %ome practitioners have the testator sign each page of the will, but such a practice is not necessary and could lead to the very thing it hopes to dispel, i.e., disputes about which pages # intended to be part of a single will. &f every page is signed by # with #'s full signature, exactly which page is the last page of the will, wherein all prior pages are integrated(') &ncorporation by reference and +vents of &ndependent %ignificance a. ,nder these doctrines, it is possible for writings, acts, or events to be given testamentary effect -i.e., to determine the disposition of #'s property at death. even though they are not !wills" -i.e., they are not writings executed in compliance with the /urisdiction's statutory re$uirements..1 b. &ncorporation by reference: A non0testamentary writing may be incorporated into the will -and thereby given testamentary effect. if: i. #he writing is in existence when the will is executed, and ii. #he language of the will manifests #'s intent to incorporate that writing, and ii. #he language of the will describes the writing sufficiently to permit its identification.

*.

#he caseboo1 identifies the problem as one of the admission of extrinsic evidence to identify will beneficiaries or property designations, while this outline characteri2es the problem as one of giving testamentary effect to non0testamentary writings or actions. For anyone deeply interested in the theoretical framewor1s of the law of wills, these conceptual differences would matter, but for most students and practitioners, either phrasing will wor1, and you should thin1 of the problem under whichever approach ma1es the most sense to you.

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This doctrine has long been recognized in every state except Connecticut, Louisiana, and New York. It has also been included in the !C "#$$%& and 'ichigan(s )!IC. See 'ich. Co*p. L. +%%.,-#%.

c.

+vents of independent significance: #his doctrine gives effect to provisions in a will even though those provisions rely on references to non0testamentary acts or events. i. #he acts or events may occur before or after the execution of the will. ii. #he doctrine effectively permits # to change the effects of a will -by way of the future acts referred to in the will. without executing a new will or a codicil. iii. However, the acts or events referred to must have [legal] significance apart from their effects on the dispositions made in the will. iv. %uch acts or events may include someone else's execution or revocation of their own will.
!C "#$$%& and 'ichigan(s )!IC. See

This doctrine is included in the 'ich. Co*p. L. +%%.,-#,.

8.

Codicils a. A codicil is a supplement to or amendment of an existing will. As such, it must be read together with the existing will. b. A codicil usually does not, by itself, dispose of the entire estate but modifies, explains, or otherwise $ualifies the existing will in some way. c. A codicil's modifications to an existing will may change very little of the existing will or nearly all of it. #he changes may be changes in the dispositive provisions, the administrative provisions, the definitions, or all parts of the will. d. Codicils are understood to affirm and !republish" the existing will. 9ften they do so expressly -see sample codicil on #:+7., but courts understand them to do so even when such express language is not used. e. 4epublication by codicil gives the will a new date -i.e., the date on which the codicil is executed becomes the new execution date for the entire will, which now includes the codicil.. #his can have important conse$uences for many related doctrines -including incorporation by reference, revocation, survival, pretermission;omission, and others.< you must watch carefully for this and be sure to apply it to

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every doctrine that depends on the dates of the instruments being probated. %eparate writing: &n some states, testamentary effect will be given to a separate document or list of instructions regarding the disposition of tangible personal property even if that separate document or list was 79# in existence at the time the will was executed. i. #his is 79# a common law doctrine. &t is purely a creature of statute -specifically, the ,>C., and is possible only in states that have enacted that portion of the ,>C. ii. %uch writings must be referenced in the will itself, but need not be in existence at the time the will is executed. -%ee sample on #:+7 for typical language used.. #he separate writing may also be amended or re0done at any time without any need to re0execute the will. iii. %uch writings can dispose 976? of tangible personal property, e.g., clothing, furniture, appliances, etc., and only those items of #>> not disposed of in the will itself. %uch writings may not dispose of money. iv. %uch writings must describe the items listed and must be signed by the testator.

'CL +%%.,-#. /eparate writing identi0ying devise o0 certain types o0 tangible personal property. 1hether or not the provisions relating to a holographic will apply, a will *ay re0er to a written state*ent or list to dispose o0 ite*s o0 tangible personal property not otherwise speci0ically disposed o0 by the will, other than *oney. To be ad*issible under this section as evidence o0 the intended disposition, the writing *ust be either in the testator2s handwriting or signed by the testator at the end, and *ust describe the ite*s and the devisees with reasonable certainty. The writing *ay be re0erred to as one to be in existence at the ti*e o0 the testator2s death3 it *ay be prepared be0ore or a0ter the execution o0 the will3 it *ay be altered by the testator a0ter its preparation3 and it *ay be a writing that has no signi0icance apart 0ro* its e00ect on the dispositions *ade by the will.