Louise Trible St. Martin
executed a valid will in
1993 bequeathing her
entire estate to her niece,
Tamara Mowbray Berry.
Over time, Louise and Tamara’s
relationship deteriorated. During a
hospital stay in 1997, Louise contacted
the attorney who prepared her 1993 will
(Mildred Slater) and asked Mildred to
draft a new will leaving her entire estate
to her sister, Esther.
The attorney prepared a new will as
requested and faxed the draft to Louise
at the hospital. Upon review, Louise
made numerous edits consisting of
handwritten changes and arrows
pointing to typed text. The edited
document was then returned to Mildred,
who, unable to decipher much of
Louise’s meaning, asked for help from
Louise to make the requested changes.
Louise refused to assist Mildred, and
they had no further contact.
In 2002 Louise died, and while cleaning
her residence, her family was unable to
locate a will. However, sometime later, a
trust officer from the bank who had been
asked to serve as administrator found the
1993 will which was then submitted for
probate.
Esther subsequently filed the page of the
draft Louise edited and signed while
hospitalized claiming Louise’s
handwritten verbiage, “I give and
bequeath all” with an arrow pointing to
the handwritten name, “Esther Maddox
Trible” constituted a valid will.
The Circuit Court affirmed the jury’s
decision the 1997 document was indeed
Louise’s will.
The Supreme Court, however, reversed
the decision because the 1997 document
did not meet the requirements of a valid
will per Virginia statute – specifically it
was not wholly in the testator’s writing
and it was not witnessed.
Source: Berry v. Trible (VA Supr. Ct.,
No. 051161, 3-3-06)
