Brief Fact Summary. Harry A. Kimmel wrote a letter to his sons discussing the affairs of his life and disposing of a certain amount of property in the case that a particular event occurred. Kimmel died the same day that he wrote the letter. Kimmel’s heirs at law appeal a decision by the register of wills court admitting the letter to probate.
Synopsis of Rule of Law. A document that is a formal will is testamentary in character and may be admitted to probate if the attenuating circumstances before and at the time of the testator’s death, along with the wording of the will, express the intent to make a gift of property at death.
While the informal character of a paper is an element in determining whether or not it was intended to be testamentary this becomes a matter of no moment when it appears thereby that the decedent's purpose was to make a posthumous gift.
View Full Point of LawIssue.
Whether a letter is testamentary in character even though it is not in the form of a formal will, if its purpose is to make a gift at death.
Whether a holographic will may be admitted to probate if the signature on the document is not the testator’s specific name?
Held.
Yes. The form of a document is only one element in determining the testamentary character of document. A document is testamentary in character where it expresses intent make a gift at death. Here, (1) the testator disposed of property on the condition of an even occurring, (2) the event that occured was the testator’s death, (3) the testator was sick at the time of writing the letter, and (4) the testator sent the letter to his beneficiaries and instructed them to preserve the letter.
Yes. A holographic will may be probated where the testator writes a name or word other than his specific name if the evidence shows that in light of the nature of the document, the testator intended the writing to be his signature. Here, the evidence showed that the testator wrote several letters and signed them with the word, “Father.”
Discussion. A document has testamentary intent when the circumstances along with the wording of the will show he intended to dispose of the property in the event that he died. The circumstances must strongly suggest that the testator was making a disposition of property in the case that his death occurred.