Does a witness to a will signing have to know what is being signed? This was the question recently before the Amarillo Court of Appeals in In the estate of Chester Freeman Youngblood, deceased.[Read Opinion here.]
Photo by Melinda Gimpel
Background
The court summarized the case this way: “This case has all the makings of a legal riddle: two Debras, two wills, and one key question–does a witness to a will need to know it’s a will to validly witness the signing of it?”
Chester Youngblood died in 2016 under the care of his daughter, Debra Ann and granddaughter, Tyra. He was married to Debby at the time of his death, although she was not the mother of Debra Ann. Debby sought to admit a will Chester executed in 2009. Debra sought to admit a newer will, executed in 2016, which revoked the 2009 will.
A bench trial was held at which Gary Pastwa, one of the witnesses to the 2016 will testified. Pastwa said he did not know he was witnessing the signing of a will. At the end of the trial, the court held the 2016 will was not properly executed and deemed it invalid. Specifically, the court held that a witness to a will must understand that he or she is witnessing the signing of a will. That did not happen here. In light of that, the court found the 2009 will had not been revoked and admitted it to probate. Debra Ann and Tyra appealed.
Court of Appeals Opinion
The Amarillo Court of Appeals reversed. The court turned to the Texas Estates Code, which does not require that a will witness read or be familiar with the contents of a will to serve as a valid witness to the execution. Whether the witness understands the document to be a will “is immaterial.” Here, Pastwa was a disinterested witness who testified that he saw Youngblood sign a document, identified who was there during the signing, and identified the will as the document that was signed. In light of this testimony, the Court of Appeals held that the trial court “could only reach the legal conclusion that the 2016 Will was executed with all the required formalities and solemnities.” Thus, the 2016 will was valid and the 2009 will was revoked and should not have been admitted to probate. The judgment of the trail court was reversed.
The deadline to seek review of this decision by the Texas Supreme Court has not yet passed.
Key Takeaways
First, this case offers a good opportunity to review the legal requirements for a typewritten will in Texas. A typewritten will must be signed before two witnesses by a person over the age of 18 with testamentary capacity.
Second, this case makes clear that a witness to a will must see the person sign the document, but is not required to know what the document contains or even that the document is a will.
Third, please take the time to ensure you have an estate plan in place, which should include a validly drafted and executed will.
