SECTION 2-514. CONTRACTS CONCERNING SUCCESSION. Uniform Probate Code

SECTION 2-514. CONTRACTS CONCERNING SUCCESSION. A contract to make a will or devise, or not to revoke a will or devise, or to die intestate, if executed after the effective date of this [article], may be established only by (i) provisions of a will stating material provisions of the contract, (ii) an express reference in a will to a contract and extrinsic evidence proving the terms of the contract, or (iii) a writing signed by the decedent evidencing the contract. The execution of a joint will or mutual wills does not create a presumption of a contract not to revoke the will or wills.
Comment
Section Relocated. In the 1969 Code, Section 2-514 appeared as Section 2-701. The 1990 amendments relocated this section to make room for Part 7, which was added in 1990. No substantive revision was made.
The purpose of this section is to tighten the methods by which contracts concerning succession may be proved. Oral contracts not to revoke wills have given rise to much litigation in a number of states; and in many states if two persons execute a single document as their joint will, this gives rise to a presumption that the parties had contracted not to revoke the will except by consent of both.

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This section requires that either the will must set forth the material provisions of the contract, or the will must make express reference to the contract and extrinsic evidence prove the terms of the contract, or there must be a separate writing signed by the decedent evidencing the contract. Oral testimony regarding the contract is permitted if the will makes reference to the contract, but this provision of the statute is not intended to affect normal rules regarding admissibility of evidence.
This section does not preclude recovery in quantum meruit for the value of services rendered the testator.
Historical Note. This Comment was revised in 2010.