Van Sant ex rel. Will & Testament of Collins v. Smith

Toal, Justice;

The dispositive issue in this case is whether the Probate Code should be applied to this proceeding which was commenced prior to the enactment of the Code. The specific question is whether the appeal to the Circuit Court should have been a jury trial de novo or without a jury and purely on the record as mandated by the Probate Code. In our view, the resolution of this case is controlled by the provision of the new Probate Code which allows the court to determine whether the “interest of justice” requires that the former procedure be applied. We find that it does and therefore…