Estate of Luick
Oct 02, 2015OUTCOME: The Court ruled completely in favor of my client admitting a 1991 will copy of her late partner, which gave her his entire estate
This litigation involved a will contest. The Decedent was the father of two children with whom he was completely estranged. However, he had a continuous romantic relationship with my client for over ... 37 years. In 1991, the Decedent and his partner both executed wills, which gave their entire estates to each other. The Decedent gave his Partner a copy of his will, which she retained until his death. He initially kept the original will with his attorney but then took possession of it in December of 1991. The Decedent died in 2015. After his death, the original will could not be located. I was retained by the Decedent's partner to admit the will copy, which she had kept since 1991. However, since the original 1991 will could not be located, the children argued that the Decedent destroyed the will with the intent to revoke it. There were, in fact, two will copies, neither of which were signed by the Decedent. However, the Decedent's signature was acknowledged by the attorney who drafted the will. The children opened an intestate estate on the basis that there was no will and they should inherit the estate as his heirs. The case proceeded to trial, which lasted multiple days with numerous witnesses.
