Order Michigan Supreme Court
Lansing, Michigan
January 13, 2006 Clifford W. Taylor,
Chief Justice
126758 Michael F. Cavanagh
Elizabeth A. Weaver
IN RE VANCONETT, ESTATE. Marilyn Kelly
Maura D. Corrigan
_________________________________________/ Robert P. Young, Jr.
FLOYD RAU, Personal Representative of the Stephen J. Markman,
Estate of HERBERT LEE VANCONETT, Justices
Deceased; JOYCE ANN FLORIP; KAREN JEAN
PETERSON; and SANDRA LEE PARACHOS,
Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v SC: 126758
COA: 247516
Saginaw PC: 01-111943-DE
ELIZABETH M. LEIDLEIN and
MARIANNE DURUSSEL,
Defendants-Appellees.
_________________________________________/
On December 1, 2005, the Court heard oral argument on plaintiffs’ application for
leave to appeal the July 1, 2004 judgment of the Court of Appeals. Plaintiffs’ application
for leave to appeal is again considered, and it is GRANTED. The parties shall include
among the issues to be briefed: (1) whether MCL 700.2514 has displaced the case law
that predated the adoption of the Estates and Protected and Individuals Code, MCL
700.1101 et seq. (EPIC), under MCL 700.1203(1), (2) whether the mere fact that Herbert
and Ila VanConett entered into a mutual will imposes restrictions on the surviving
spouse’s power of disposal despite the absence of express contractual or testamentary
limitations on the power of alienation, (3) the source and nature of such a restraint if it is
contended that Herbert VanConett was so restrained from disposing of his estate, and
(4) whether any secondary authority in wills and estates law (e.g. hornbooks and
treatises), or practice in the field, supports the proposition that a mutual will imposes
restrictions on the surviving spouse’s power of disposal in the absence of express
contractual language or testamentary limitations on the power of alienation.
The Real Property Law and Probate and Estate Planning Sections of the State Bar
of Michigan are invited to file briefs amicus curiae. Other persons or groups interested in
the determination of the questions presented may move the Court for permission to file
briefs amicus curiae.
I, Corbin R. Davis, Clerk of the Michigan Supreme Court, certify that the
foregoing is a true and complete copy of the order entered at the direction of the Court.
January 13, 2006 _________________________________________
p0110 Clerk