[WSBAPT] Validity of Will

[Eric Nelsen]

What Lovie said--I wish I had written that. Dependent relative revocation is the doctrine that can get you out of having to honor all deletions but not honor any insertions, resulting in an incoherent and useless Will.

Sincerely,

Eric

Eric C. Nelsen
SAYRE LAW OFFICES, PLLC
1417 31st Ave South
Seattle WA  98144-3909
phone 206-625-0092
fax 206-625-9040

Please Note that We Have Moved. We have moved our Seattle office to Mount Baker Ridge (a small commercial community just above the I-90 tunnel). Our new address is 1417 31st Avenue South, Seattle WA 98144. All other contact information remains the same.

From: wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com [mailto:wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com] On Behalf Of Lovie Bernardi
Sent: Monday, June 26, 2017 1:24 PM
To: WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv
Subject: Re: [WSBAPT] Validity of Will

James,

Read RCW 11.12.040 and Estate of Malloy, 134 Wn.2d 316 (1997). I probated a will with initialed and dated strikeouts and additions. The strikeouts did not “vitally enhance” the residuary bequests, so the strikeouts were deemed a partial revocation and therefore were allowed. A testator’s attempt to write in a change to a will is an attempt to modify the will and is not valid. Some of the changes in the will you found may be valid partial revocations, some may be an attempted modification. There is also the doctrine of dependent relative revocation, mentioned in the annotations to RCW 11.12.040. A quick review of the annotations indicates that if the doctrine applies, the original will is admitted with the attempted revocations and/or modifications ignored. I would thoroughly research the case law on these issues.

Lovie L. Bernardi
Flaherty & Bernardi, PLLC
3600 15th Avenue West #205
Seattle, WA  98119
(206) 682-2616

lovie at fb-lawfirm.com<mailto:joni at sbfirm.com>
http://fb-lawfirm.com<http://sbfirm.com/>

**********
This e-mail may contain information that is privileged, confidential or otherwise protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient or otherwise have received this message in error, you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy or disseminate this message or any part of it. If you are not the intended recipient or otherwise have received this message in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail, discard any paper copies and delete all electronic files of the message.  Circular 230 Notice:  This communication may not be used by you or any other person or entity for the purpose of avoiding any federal tax penalties.




From: wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com<mailto:wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> [mailto:wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com] On Behalf Of James Bates
Sent: Monday, June 26, 2017 10:38 AM
To: WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv <wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com<mailto:wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com>>
Subject: [WSBAPT] Validity of Will

Party executes what appears to be a valid will in 1991.  All statutory requirements for will creation are met.

Sometime after that someone…I’m assuming the decedent…wrote all over the will in pencil.  Changes included who will serve as executor, distribution, etc.  Of course these changes are not witnessed, signed, initialed, etc.

We originally opened the probate as an intestate estate and recently discovered this document.  Estate is rather small and, of course, distribution is different between the original will, the changes, and intestate succession.

In my opinion the pencil changes are not valid; however, I’m looking for input/suggestions as to how to proceed.  Do I admit the will as written in 1991, or can an argument be made that the pencil changes revoked the will?

Thanks for any input/suggestions/help.

James Bates, Attorney
Luce & Associates, P.S.
4505 Pacific Hwy. E., Suite A
Tacoma, WA 98424
T: (253) 922-8724
F: (253) 922-2802
www.LuceLawFirm.com<http://www.LuceLawFirm.com>  [e943ecc8-5be2-4768-a17e-1b829b908afe] <https://www.facebook.com/pages/Luce-Kenney-Associates-PS/200703820101348>

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO EMAIL RECIPIENTS
1. The information contained in this e-mail and accompanying attachments constitute confidential information which may be legally privileged and is intended for the sole use of the addressee.  If you are not the intended recipient of this information, any disclosure, copying, distribution or the taking of any action in reliance on this information is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. This information is the property of Luce & Associates, P.S.  If you received this e-mail in error, please notify us immediately by return e-mail or by calling (253) 922-8724.
2.  This e-mail transmission may not be secure and may be illegally intercepted.  Clients of Luce & Associates, P.S. are asked to use their best judgment in determining whether the topic of an e-mail response is such that it would be better saved for a more secure means of communication.
3.  The sender believes that this e-mail and any attachments are free of any virus.  However, by reading this message and opening any attachments, the recipient accepts full responsibility for taking remedial action regarding any viruses or other defects.
4.  All Luce & Associates’ attorneys are licensed to practice law in Washington and do not intend to give legal advice to anyone with legal matters not involving Washington law or federal law or to those who are not clients of this firm.

IRS Circular 230 Disclosure: New IRS rules impose requirements concerning any written federal tax advice from attorneys. To ensure compliance with those rules, we inform you that any U.S. federal tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under federal tax laws, specifically including the Internal Revenue Code, or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein.


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20170626/fa18457e/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 1396 bytes
Desc: image001.gif
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20170626/fa18457e/image001.gif>