The primary purposes of the act were to streamline the probate process and to standardize and modernize the various state laws governing wills, trusts, and intestacy.
The final version of the original UPC was promulgated in 1969 as a joint project between NCCUSL and the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section of the American Bar Association.
[1] Although the UPC was intended for adoption by all 50 states, the original 1969 version of the code was adopted in its entirety by only fifteen states:[2] Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Utah.
A person attempting to determine the law in a particular state should check the code as actually adopted in that jurisdiction and not rely on the text of the UPC as promulgated by NCCUSL.
In Payne v. Stalley,[3] a Michigan lawyer relied on the official text of the Uniform Probate Code and failed to check the statute as it had been adopted in Florida.