MS · jury_instructions
Proposed Mississippi Plain Language Model Jury Instructions - Civil 4912
Will Contests - Canceling a Will by Destroying It - General Instruction and Verdict Form
Statement of Law
A testator can cancel a will, or a provision of a will, by destroying the will
[himself/herself], by having someone else destroy the will in [his/her] presence, or by obliterating
the will. This may also be called revoking a will.
General Instruction
To establish that [name of testator] cancelled [his/her] prior will, [name of proponent]
must prove the following is more likely true than not true:
1. [Name of testator] ______________________________ [specify (1) destroyed [his/her] prior
will by ________________ [describe testator’s alleged actions]; (2) had [name of person]
destroy the prior will in [name of testator]’s presence; or (3) obliterated the will by
________________ [describe testator’s alleged actions]].
Verdict Form
We answer the question submitted to us as follows:
1. Did [name of testator] ______________________________ [specify (1) destroy [his/her] prior
will by ________________ [describe testator’s alleged actions]; (2) have [name of person]
destroy the prior will in [name of testator]’s presence; or (3) obliterate the will by
________________ [describe testator’s alleged actions]]?
YES _______ NO _______
If your answer to question 1 is YES, then you must return a verdict in favor of [name of
proponent]. If you answered NO, stop here and tell the bailiff (or you must return a verdict in
favor of [name of contestant]).
History
Proposed Mississippi Plain Language Model Jury Instructions - Civil 4912 (current as of February 17, 2012). Submitted in 2012 by the Mississippi Model Jury Instructions Commission (created by the Supreme Court of Mississippi by order of December 30, 2008) and published by the Court on courts.ms.gov. The Court states that these model jury instructions have not been adopted or approved by the Supreme Court of Mississippi.
Provenance
- Source
- courts.ms.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-25
- Edition
- 2026-09-25
- Content hash
86218cb4e65546871cdf12576fbd89496ba79db6184473cd016891e4d473db9e
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