Complex Will with Trust - Michigan

LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT

WITH TESTAMENTARY FAMILY TRUST

of

[TESTATOR FULL LEGAL NAME]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Testator and Family Information
2. Revocation and General Intent
3. Personal Representative and Estate Administration
4. Specific Gifts
5. Residuary Estate and Testamentary Trust
6. Family Trust Terms
7. Trustee Administration
8. Guardian Appointment
9. Fiduciary Remedies and Dispute Provisions
10. General Provisions
11. Witnessed and Self-Proved Execution

1. TESTATOR AND FAMILY INFORMATION

1.1 Testator

I, [TESTATOR FULL LEGAL NAME], residing at [ADDRESS], declare this instrument to be my Last Will and Testament. I am at least eighteen years of age and have sufficient mental capacity to make a will under MCL 700.2501.

1.2 Family

My spouse is [SPOUSE FULL LEGAL NAME / “I am not married”].

My children are:

1. [CHILD 1 FULL LEGAL NAME], born [DATE];
2. [CHILD 2 FULL LEGAL NAME], born [DATE]; and
3. [ADDITIONAL CHILDREN OR “None”].

For this Will, “descendants” includes legally adopted descendants. “By representation” means division among descendants in the manner Michigan law applies to the dispositive provision at issue unless this Will states a different method.

1.3 Survival Requirement

Except where this Will expressly provides otherwise, a beneficiary must survive me by [30] days to take under this Will. A beneficiary who does not satisfy that requirement shall be treated as having predeceased me.

2. REVOCATION AND GENERAL INTENT

2.1 Revocation

I revoke all prior wills and codicils made by me.

2.2 Dispositive Intent

I intend to dispose of property over which I have testamentary power, subject to enforceable debts, expenses, taxes, surviving-spouse rights, ownership rights, beneficiary designations, and other mandatory rules that apply at my death.

2.3 Governing Law

This Will and each testamentary trust created by it shall be governed by Michigan law, except where another jurisdiction's mandatory law applies to particular property or administration.

3. PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE AND ESTATE ADMINISTRATION

3.1 Appointment

I nominate [PRIMARY PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE NAME], of [ADDRESS], as Personal Representative of my estate.

If that person does not serve or ceases to serve, I nominate [SUCCESSOR PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE NAME], of [ADDRESS], as successor.

A person given priority by a probated will has first appointment priority under MCL 700.3203, subject to statutory qualification and court proceedings.

3.2 Bond

I do not require my Personal Representative to furnish bond. This direction remains subject to MCL 700.3603 and any bond the court or another mandatory rule requires.

3.3 Duties and Powers

My Personal Representative shall settle and distribute my estate expeditiously and efficiently, consistently with the estate's best interests and the fiduciary duties in MCL 700.3703.

Except as restricted by this Will, another mandatory rule, or a court order, the Personal Representative may exercise the powers in MCL 700.3715, including authority to:

1. retain, invest, acquire, sell, exchange, lease, mortgage, manage, improve, partition, or abandon estate property;
2. deposit funds, borrow property, insure property, pay valid claims and expenses, and compromise obligations;
3. employ attorneys, auditors, investment advisers, and other agents;
4. prosecute or defend claims and proceedings;
5. continue, incorporate, or convert a business within the statute's conditions;
6. make available tax allocations, consents, or elections as appropriate; and
7. divide or distribute assets in cash, in kind, or partly in each form under applicable distribution rules.

3.4 Debts, Expenses, and Taxes

My Personal Representative shall pay enforceable debts, funeral and administration expenses, and taxes properly chargeable to my estate. Michigan counsel shall insert or confirm any intended tax-apportionment direction before execution: [TAX APPORTIONMENT TERMS].

4. SPECIFIC GIFTS

4.1 Listed Gifts

I make the following gifts, subject to valid liens and ownership rights:

1. [DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTY OR AMOUNT] to [BENEFICIARY];
2. [DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTY OR AMOUNT] to [BENEFICIARY]; and
3. [ADDITIONAL GIFTS OR “None”].

If a beneficiary of a specific gift does not survive me as required by Section 1.3 and this Will does not provide a substitute recipient, that gift becomes part of the Residuary Estate, subject to any mandatory anti-lapse rule.

4.2 Separate Tangible-Property List

I may leave a written statement or list disposing of items of tangible personal property other than money under MCL 700.2513. To qualify under that section, the list must be in my handwriting or signed by me at the end and must describe the items and devisees with reasonable certainty. I may prepare or alter it before or after signing this Will.

5. RESIDUARY ESTATE AND TESTAMENTARY TRUST

5.1 Residuary Gift

I give all the rest, residue, and remainder of my probate estate to the Trustee named below, IN TRUST, to be held as the “[TESTATOR SURNAME] Family Trust” under Sections 5 through 7 of this Will.

5.2 Creation and Funding

The Family Trust is a testamentary trust created at my death. Its property consists of the Residuary Estate and any other property validly transferred to it.

5.3 Trustee Appointments

I appoint [PRIMARY TRUSTEE NAME], of [ADDRESS], as Trustee.

If that person does not serve or ceases to serve, I appoint the following successors in order:

1. [FIRST SUCCESSOR TRUSTEE NAME];
2. [SECOND SUCCESSOR TRUSTEE NAME]; and
3. [CORPORATE FIDUCIARY OR SELECTION METHOD].

If a required vacancy remains after applying this Will's appointment method, the court may appoint a successor under MCL 700.7704.

5.4 Trustee Bond

This Will does not require a Trustee to give bond. Under MCL 700.7702, bond is required only if the court finds it necessary to protect beneficiaries or this Will requires it and the court has not dispensed with the requirement.

6. FAMILY TRUST TERMS

6.1 Spouse's Lifetime Share

If my spouse survives me as required by Section 1.3, the Trustee shall administer the Family Trust during my spouse's lifetime as follows:

1. distribute all net income to my spouse at least quarterly;
2. distribute as much principal as the Trustee determines advisable for my spouse's health, education, maintenance, or support; and
3. consider my spouse's other resources only to the extent the Trustee considers appropriate.

If I am not married at death or my spouse does not survive me as required, the Trust shall proceed directly under Section 6.2.

6.2 Division After Spouse's Death

At my spouse's death, or immediately at my death if Section 6.1 does not apply, the Trustee shall divide the remaining Trust property into equal shares, one for each then-living child of mine and one for each deceased child of mine who has then-living descendants.

The share allocated to a deceased child shall pass among that child's descendants by representation. If that child has no then-living descendants, the share shall be reallocated among the other shares in the same manner.

6.3 Separate Trust for a Child or Descendant

Each share allocated to a child or descendant shall be held as a separate trust. The Trustee may distribute income and principal for that beneficiary's health, education, maintenance, or support, subject to the fiduciary limits on discretionary powers in MCL 700.7815.

Subject to the Trustee's authority to retain a reasonable reserve, the Trustee shall distribute:

1. one-third of the beneficiary's separate trust at age [25];
2. one-half of the remaining balance at age [30]; and
3. the remaining balance at age [35].

If the beneficiary has already reached a stated age when the separate trust is created, the corresponding distribution shall be made after the Trustee completes a reasonable administrative review.

6.4 Death Before Final Distribution

If a beneficiary dies before receiving the beneficiary's entire separate trust, the remaining property shall pass:

1. to that beneficiary's then-living descendants by representation;
2. if none, to the then-living descendants of the nearest ancestor of that beneficiary who is also my descendant; or
3. if none, to [ALTERNATE BENEFICIARY OR CHARITY].

6.5 Spendthrift Provision

Each beneficiary's interest is held subject to a spendthrift trust. Both voluntary and involuntary transfers are restrained before distribution to the extent provided by MCL 700.7502 and the other mandatory creditor-rights rules.

6.6 Perpetuities Savings Clause

Without relying on an exclusion under MCL 554.75, every trust created by this Will shall terminate no later than twenty-one years after the death of the last survivor of my spouse and my descendants who are living at my death. If no such person survives me, every trust shall terminate no later than twenty-one years after its creation. The Trustee shall distribute the remaining property to the persons then entitled to receive or benefit from it in proportions that most closely carry out this Will.

This savings clause is intended to remain within the twenty-one-year alternative in MCL 554.72. A court may apply the reformation authorized by MCL 554.74.

7. TRUSTEE ADMINISTRATION

7.1 Governing Duties

The Trustee shall administer each trust in good faith, expeditiously, according to its terms and purposes, and for the beneficiaries' benefit as required by MCL 700.7801. The Trustee shall act solely in the beneficiaries' interests under MCL 700.7802.

The Trustee shall invest and manage Trust property under the Michigan prudent investor rule in MCL 700.1502 and shall diversify investments unless the special-circumstances determination in MCL 700.1504 applies.

7.2 Trustee Powers

Subject to those duties, the Trustee may exercise the powers in MCL 700.7816 and 700.7817 without prior court authorization except where this Will, a mandatory rule, or a court order provides otherwise. Those powers include authority to:

1. collect, retain, acquire, sell, exchange, partition, lease, improve, or abandon Trust property;
2. deposit Trust funds, borrow property, and mortgage or pledge Trust property;
3. continue a business, exercise ownership rights, and insure Trust property and appropriate persons;
4. pay or contest claims, taxes, compensation, and administration expenses;
5. employ attorneys, accountants, investment advisers, and other agents;
6. prosecute, defend, arbitrate, settle, release, or compromise appropriate actions and claims;
7. make permitted loans or distributions for beneficiaries;
8. divide or distribute Trust property in cash, in kind, or both; and
9. terminate and wind up each trust.

7.3 Information and Reports

The Trustee shall keep qualified trust beneficiaries reasonably informed and comply with MCL 700.7814. This includes the section's sixty-three-day notices when applicable and an annual and termination report to distributees or permissible distributees and to other beneficiaries who request one as provided by the statute.

7.4 Compensation

The Trustee is entitled to compensation that is reasonable under the circumstances under MCL 700.7708 unless Michigan counsel inserts a reviewed compensation schedule here: [COMPENSATION TERMS OR “Reasonable compensation under applicable law”].

8. GUARDIAN APPOINTMENT

If I am a parent of an unmarried minor child for whom my appointment may operate, I appoint [PRIMARY GUARDIAN NAME] as guardian and [SUCCESSOR GUARDIAN NAME] as successor guardian under MCL 700.5202.

This appointment remains subject to the rights of another parent, the minor's rights, the guardian's acceptance and notice, and the other statutory procedures. This clause does not itself appoint a conservator of the minor's property.

9. FIDUCIARY REMEDIES AND DISPUTE PROVISIONS

9.1 Removal and Remedies

This Will imposes no mandatory notice-and-cure period before a person seeks relief for breach of trust. Trustee removal is governed by MCL 700.7706. Remedies for a breach that has occurred or may occur are governed by MCL 700.7901 and may include compelled performance, injunction, restoration, accounting, suspension, removal, reduced compensation, and other appropriate relief.

9.2 No Blanket Exculpation or Indemnity

This Will does not create a blanket indemnity or relieve a Trustee from liability for breach of trust. Any exculpatory term remains subject to MCL 700.7908, including its limits for bad faith, reckless indifference, and abuse of a fiduciary or confidential relationship.

9.3 Personal Liability to Third Persons

A Trustee's personal liability on contracts, for torts, and for obligations arising from ownership or control of Trust property is governed by MCL 700.7910. Nothing in this Will converts those conditional rules into a blanket limitation of all liabilities to Trust assets.

9.4 No Mandatory Arbitration or Jury Waiver

This Will does not require arbitration and does not waive any jury right that may otherwise exist. MCL 700.7817(x) and (mm) authorize a Trustee to use arbitration or another alternative-dispute procedure for appropriate claims or trust-administration disputes.

9.5 Court Jurisdiction

The Michigan probate court has exclusive legal and equitable jurisdiction over estate settlement and the internal trust matters listed in MCL 700.1302(a), (b), and (d). Under MCL 700.7203, the probate court has exclusive jurisdiction of trustee-or-beneficiary proceedings concerning trust administration and concurrent jurisdiction with other Michigan courts over other proceedings involving a trust. This Will does not expand exclusive jurisdiction beyond those statutes.

10. GENERAL PROVISIONS

10.1 Digital Assets and Electronic Communications

Under MCL 700.1004(2), I consent to and allow disclosure to my Personal Representative and Trustee of all digital assets in which I have a transferable right or interest, including the contents of electronic communications, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law. My fiduciaries may identify, preserve, manage, transfer, or dispose of those assets for estate or Trust administration.

This direction remains subject to a qualifying online-tool direction that overrides a contrary direction in this Will under MCL 700.1004(1), the disclosure conditions for a Personal Representative in MCL 700.1007 and 700.1008, the trustee provisions in MCL 700.1011 to 700.1013, applicable federal law, and the scope of my own rights. It does not authorize circumvention of security controls.

10.2 Contest Clause

Except when MCL 700.2518 makes a penalty clause unenforceable because probable cause exists for a proceeding, a person who contests this Will or institutes another proceeding relating to my estate shall forfeit that person's gift under this Will and shall be treated as having predeceased me. Michigan counsel shall tailor this clause to the intended scope and substitute disposition before execution.

10.3 Severability

If a provision is held invalid, the remaining provisions shall remain effective. A court may apply any reformation or equitable remedy authorized by law; this Section does not itself enlarge a court's authority.

10.4 Entire Will

This instrument contains my testamentary directions, together with any later codicil executed with the formalities required by law.

10.5 Execution Method

The block below is designed for a written, witnessed, and simultaneously self-proved will under MCL 700.2502 and 700.2504(1). Do not alter the signing method, witness sequence, sworn statements, or officer's certificate without Michigan counsel confirming compliance with current law.

11. WITNESSED AND SELF-PROVED EXECUTION

State of Michigan

County of [COUNTY]

I, [TESTATOR FULL LEGAL NAME], the Testator, sign my name to this document on [DATE]. I have taken an oath administered by the officer whose signature and seal appear on this document and swear that the statements in this document are true. I declare to that officer that this document is my Will; that I sign it willingly or willingly direct another to sign for me; that I execute it as my voluntary act for the purposes expressed in this Will; that I am eighteen years of age or older and under no constraint or undue influence; and that I have sufficient mental capacity to make this Will.

Testator signature: ___________________________________

Printed name: [TESTATOR FULL LEGAL NAME]

We, [WITNESS 1 NAME] and [WITNESS 2 NAME], the witnesses, sign our names to this document and have taken an oath administered by the officer whose signature and seal appear on this document. We swear that the following statements are true: the individual signing this document as the Testator executes it as the Testator's Will, signs it willingly or willingly directs another to sign for the Testator, and executes it as a voluntary act for the purposes expressed in this Will; each of us, in the Testator's presence, signs this Will as witness to the Testator's signing; and, to the best of our knowledge, the Testator is eighteen years of age or older, is under no constraint or undue influence, and has sufficient mental capacity to make this Will.

Sworn to and signed in my presence by [TESTATOR FULL LEGAL NAME], the Testator, and sworn to and signed in my presence by [WITNESS 1 NAME] and [WITNESS 2 NAME], witnesses, on [DATE].

Officer signature: ___________________________________

Official capacity: [NOTARY PUBLIC / OTHER AUTHORIZED OFFICER]

Official seal: [SEAL]

SOURCES AND REFERENCES

• MCL 700.2501 — Capacity to make a will
• MCL 700.2502 — Execution; witnessed and holographic wills
• MCL 700.2504 — Self-proved will
• MCL 700.2513 — Separate tangible-property writing
• MCL 700.2518 — Penalty clause for contest
• MCL 700.3203 — Personal representative appointment priority
• MCL 700.3603 — Personal representative bond
• MCL 700.3703 — Personal representative duties
• MCL 700.3715 — Personal representative powers
• MCL 700.5202 — Parental appointment of guardian
• MCL 700.1302 — Probate-court exclusive jurisdiction
• MCL 700.7203 — Trust-proceeding jurisdiction
• MCL 700.7502 — Spendthrift provision
• MCL 700.7702 — Trustee bond
• MCL 700.7704 — Vacancy and successor trustee
• MCL 700.7706 — Removal of trustee
• MCL 700.7708 — Trustee compensation
• MCL 700.7801 — Administration duty
• MCL 700.7802 — Duty of loyalty
• MCL 700.7814 — Duty to inform and report
• MCL 700.7815 — Discretionary powers
• MCL 700.7816 — General trustee powers
• MCL 700.7817 — Specific trustee powers
• MCL 700.1502 — Prudent investor rule
• MCL 700.1504 — Diversification
• MCL 700.7901 — Remedies for breach of trust
• MCL 700.7908 — Exculpation of trustee
• MCL 700.7910 — Personal liability of trustee
• MCL 700.1004 — User direction for digital-asset disclosure
• MCL 700.1007 — Personal representative access to communication content
• MCL 700.1008 — Personal representative access to other digital assets
• MCL 700.1011 — Trustee access when original user
• MCL 700.1012 — Trustee access to communication content
• MCL 700.1013 — Trustee access to other digital assets
• MCL 554.72 — Statutory rule against perpetuities
• MCL 554.74 — Reformation
• MCL 554.75 — Perpetuities exclusions

END OF DOCUMENT