In re Estate of Kuralt case brief

In re Estate of Kuralt case brief summary
15 P.3d 931 (2000)

CASE SYNOPSIS

Appellant, the estate of the deceased, challenged the judgment of the District Court of the Fifth Judicial District, in and for the County of Madison (Montana). The trial court determined that a letter written by the deceased two weeks before his death expressed an intent to transfer property to appellee and the letter was a codicil to the deceased's formal will.

CASE FACTS
The deceased and appellee maintained a long and intimate personal relationship. Each desired to keep their relationship secret. Although the deceased executed a formal will, that will did not specifically mention any of the real property owned by the deceased. Two weeks before his death, the deceased wrote a letter to appellee.

DISCUSSION

• The court held that the record supported the district court's finding that the letter expressed the deceased's intent to effect a posthumous transfer of his property to appellee. 
• That the deceased wrote the letter in extremis was supported by the fact that he died two weeks later. 
• The use of the term "inherit" by the deceased reflected his intention to make a posthumous disposition of the property. 
• The court agreed that the letter was a codicil to the deceased's formal will, as a matter of law, because it made a specific bequest of property and it did not purport to bequeath the entirety of the estate.

CONCLUSION
The court affirmed the judgment. The district court properly concluded that the deceased's letter expressed an intent to transfer property posthumously and was a valid holographic codicil to the deceased's formal will.

Suggested Study Aids For Wills, Trusts & Estate Law