Estate Of Murdock

32 Muc. 352 (1983)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Arthur and Sarah Murdock, husband and wife, each had children from previous marriages. Arthur executed a will in which he left his entire estate to Sarah if she should survive him. If Sarah predeceased him, his entire estate was to go to his children from his previous marriage. Sarah executed a will with a similar provision with respect to her children. The Murdocks later died in a plane crash. Whether the estate went to Sarah's children or Arthur's children thus depends on which of the spouses died first (the jurisdiction had not adopted the Uniform Simultaneous Death Act). A deputy sheriff testified that upon his arrival at the scene, Sarah was already dead. He also wished to testify that at about the same time, he heard Arthur whisper, 'I'm still alive.' The trial judge excluded this testimony as hearsay.