Law of Wills, 2016A

second will represents his final wishes independent and free from of any undue influence by Tatum.
The evidence sub judice is clear and convincing in establishing that Tatum did not substitute her will
for Jerry’s, and any presumption to the contrary is clearly rebutted in accordance with the
requirements of Murray. This assignment of error is without merit.
The judgment of the Chancery Court of Forrest County is affirmed.
Problems
1. In 1998, Jill, a 76 year old widow, was diagnosed with chronic pain syndrome. As a consequence,
she received a special permit to smoke medical marijuana. She smoked a couple of joints three times
a day. Jill had two children, Bailey and Scott. In 1999, Jill met Lydia, the founder and president of
the Institute for Chronic Pain. The women became friends and Lydia did volunteer work for the
Institute. Lydia, Jill and Marcia, the secretary at the Institute, often had lunch together. According to
Marcia, during lunch one day in 2000, Lydia told Jill that if the Institute did not get more private
donations she would have to close it. In March of 2003, Jill mentioned to Lydia that she intended to
make a will. Lydia suggested that Jill contact Paul, Lydia's husband who was a private probate
attorney. On March 23, 2003, Paul prepared Jill's will, leaving her entire estate to the Institute for
Chronic Pain. On April 10, 2003, Jill was killed in a car accident. Bailey and Scott filed an action to
challenge the validity of the will. What is the possible outcome?
2. Before Samuel Mack, a rapper, released a new album he always consulted Madame Z, his psychic.
In 2007, Samuel was diagnosed with brain cancer. Madame Z gave Samuel several different types of
herbs to counteract the nausea he experienced because of his chemotherapy treatment. As Samuel’s
disease progressed, he became severely depressed and stopped associating with most of his friends
and family. Susan, Samuel’s wife, tried to get him to see a psychologist, but Samuel told her that he
could get all of the help that he needed from Madame Z. Madame Z gave Samuel herbs to ease his
depression. One day, Madame Z told Samuel that he had brain cancer because the universe was not
pleased with him. Madame Z predicted that Samuel would be cured if he started donating money to
charity. Samuel took Madame Z’s advice and gave 2 million dollars to an organization that provided
services to the poor. Two months later, Samuel’s doctors declared him to be cancer-free. After that,
Samuel would not make any decisions without consulting Madame Z. In 2010, Samuel was excited
when Susan gave birth to twin boys, Luke and Luther. In 2014, Samuel decided to execute a will. He
consulted Madame Z and asked her if she could recommend a good attorney. Madame Z pulled up
the yellow pages on the Internet, closed her eyes and touched the screen. Madame Z’s finger landed
on the name, Sigmund Taylor, a sole practitioner who prepared wills. Susan objected to the selection
of Sigmund because he had only been out of law school for two years. Madame Z insisted that
Sigmund was the one who should prepare Samuel’s will, so Samuel contacted him. Susan refused to
accompany Samuel to Sigmund’s office, so he took Madame Z with him. Madame Z stayed in the
waiting room while Samuel and Sigmund discussed the terms of the will. In 2015, Samuel was killed
when his private plane hit a mountain. At that time, Susan discovered that Samuel had left half of his
100 million dollar estate to Madame Z. Susan filed an action challenging the validity of the will.
What might be the possible outcome of the case?
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