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Dodge Testamentary Trust
Michigan Court of Appeals
330 N.W.2d 72 (1982)
Facts
John Dodge’s will established a trust for four of his six children. The will provided that upon the death of those four children, the trust would terminate, and the trust corpus would pass to the heirs of those four children, “in such proportion as by law such heirs shall be entitled to receive same.” The will did not define the term heirs, when the heirs’ interests would vest, or the law to which the will referred. Dodge was domiciled in Michigan. Upon the death of the last survivor of those four named children, the will was filed for probate. The probate court ruled that Dodge intended the term heirs to mean those who would inherit from the four named children under the intestacy laws of Michigan as applied at the time of the death of each of the four children. Seven appeals were filed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Beasley, J.)
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