Estate of Gonzalez case brief

Estate of Gonzalez case brief summary
855 A.2d 1146 (2004)

CASE SYNOPSIS

Appellee beneficiaries of a holographic will petitioned to probate the will. Appellant children of the decedent moved for summary judgment, arguing that the will was not a valid holographic will. The York County Probate Court (Maine) denied the motion, and found that the will was a valid holographic will. The children appealed.

CASE FACTS
The decedent had filled in certain blank spaces in a preprinted will form with various bequests. He then signed the form. The trial court found this to have been a valid holographic will. The will did not qualify as a will under Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 18, § 2-502 (1998) because it was not signed by any witnesses. The children argued that the will was not a valid holographic will because a material provision of the will-evidence of testamentary intent-appeared in the preprinted portion of the document, and was not handwritten. They maintained that the handwritten words were a list of what the decedent wanted to do with his property, but the handwritten words did not indicate that the conveyances were testamentary in nature.

DISCUSSION 

• The appellate court held that printed portions of a will form could be incorporated into a holographic will where the trial court found a testamentary intent, considering all of the evidence. 
• The preprinted portions of the form at issue stated testamentary intent, and because the blanks in those portions were filled in by the decedent's handwriting, they became a valid statement of testamentary intent sufficient for a holographic will.

CONCLUSION
The judgment was affirmed.

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