Estate of Erickson, Matter of

• Decision Date: 21 February 1991
• Docket Number: No. 890110,890110
• Citation: 806 P.2d 1186
• Parties: In the Matter of the ESTATE OF Robert E. ERICKSON, Deceased. Tatsumi Misaka, Petitioner.
• Court: Utah Supreme Court

Page 1186

806 P.2d 1186

In the Matter of the ESTATE OF Robert E. ERICKSON, Deceased Tatsumi Misaka, Petitioner.

No. 890110.

Supreme Court of Utah.

Feb. 21, 1991.

Herschel J. Saperstein, Ken P. Jones, Salt Lake City, for Tatsumi Misaka.

Randy S. Ludlow, Salt Lake City, for the Estate of Robert E. Erickson.

ZIMMERMAN, Justice:

Petitioner Tatsumi Misaka challenges a decision by the Utah Court of Appeals reversing a trial court decision that admitted to probate a holographic will written by decedent Robert E. Erickson. In re Estate of Erickson, 766 P.2d 1085 (Utah Ct.App.1988). The court of appeals found that Misaka had failed to prove that Erickson wrote his name with an intent to affix his signature to the instrument, as required by section 75-2-503 of the Code for a valid holographic will. Utah Code Ann. § 75-2-503 (1978); Utah Code Ann. § 68-3-12(2)(r) (Supp.1990). We granted certiorari, and we now affirm the decision of the court of appeals.

Robert Erickson died in June of 1983. A formal will executed in 1955 was admitted to probate, and the court appointed the designated personal representative. In October of 1985, Misaka filed a petition for probate of a holographic will dated August 22, 1973. The instrument Misaka filed consisted of three handwritten note cards, three inches by five inches, lacking page numbers. ¹ Mr. Erickson's name appears only in the exordium clause of the instrument, which states, "Last will & Test I Robert E. Erickson do hereby state that I leave and bequeath to the following persons...."

At trial, Misaka presented evidence that the three cards were in Erickson's handwriting, evidence that was not controverted by the estate. Misaka also submitted evidence that Erickson's handwritten name on the cards was written in a style that matched the signature he used on certain checks and stock certificates and that the cards were written by the same person who had signed the checks and stocks. The estate submitted evidence that Erickson frequently made notes to himself on file cards similar to the ones on which the instrument was written and that he was sometimes intoxicated when he did so. The estate contended that, at most, the cards contained notes of terms that might be used in some future will that was never prepared.

The trial court found that the instrument was a valid holographic will and admitted it to probate. The court of appeals reversed on the ground that Misaka had not met his burden of proving that Erickson intended the handwritten name in the exordium to be his signature. We granted certiorari, and we now affirm.

Misaka raises two related issues. The first is whether the estate properly preserved before the trial court the question of Erickson's "signatory intent," i.e., whether he intended the handwritten name on one card to be a signature. The second issue is whether the court of appeals erred in concluding that Misaka had not met his burden of proving Erickson's signatory intent.

On the first point, we conclude that the signatory intent issue was adequately preserved and could properly be reached by the court of appeals. At trial, the estate offered evidence disputing Misaka's claim that the handwritten name matched Erickson's signature, and it argued that the location of the name in the instrument did not justify the inference that it was intended to be a signature. This was sufficient to preserve the claim that the note cards did not constitute a valid holographic will because they did not contain the "signature" of the testator, as required by section 75-2-503. Utah Code Ann. § 75-2-503 (1978). We therefore proceed to the main issue: whether the written name in the instrument was intended to be a signature.

Some background is helpful. Testamentary transfers of property are governed by statute. In re Love's Estate, 75 Utah 342, 347, 285 P. 299, 301 (1930); In re Wolcott's Estate, 54 Utah 165, 168, 180 P. 169, 170 (1919). There may be, however, an inherent conflict between observing the formalities imposed by statutes and giving effect to testamentary intent. The Utah Uniform Probate Code ("UUPC"), adopted by the Utah legislature and based on the Uniform Probate Code, recognizes this conflict and attempts to give effect to testamentary intent by minimizing unnecessary technicalities even where attested wills are concerned. The UUPC states that its "underlying purposes and policies" include an aim to "simplify and clarify the law concerning the affairs of decedents" and to "discover and make effective the intent of a decedent in distribution of his [or her] property." Utah Code Ann. § 75-1-102(2)(a), (b) (1978).

When it comes to holographic wills, the UUPC provisions go even further in an attempt to give priority to testamentary intent by eliminating all but a few technical requirements. The purpose of the holographic will provisions is to allow laypersons to prepare their own wills without the expense or rigorous formalities of attested wills. See Utah Code Ann. § 75-2-503 (editorial board comment) (1978). As the editorial board of the UUPC stated in its comment to title 75, chapter 2, part 5 of the Code, "The basic intent of these sections is to validate the will whenever possible." Utah Code Ann. tit. 75, ch. 2, pt. 5 (editorial board comment) (1978).

Section 75-2-503 of the Code, which is part of the UUPC, establishes the minimum requirements for holographic wills. It states in part, "A will which does not comply with section 75-2-502 [dealing with formal wills] is valid as a holographic will, whether or not witnessed, if the signature and the material provisions are in the handwriting of the testator." Utah Code Ann. § 75-2-503 (1978) (emphasis added). Section 68-3-12(2)(r), which contains the rules of statutory construction applicable to the statutes in general, defines "signature" as including "any name, mark, or sign written with the intent to authenticate any instrument or writing." Utah Code Ann. § 68-3-12(2)(r) (Supp.1990) (emphasis added). Taken together, these two sections indicate that a "signature" is essential to a valid holographic will and that a written name is a "signature" only if it is made with "the intent to authenticate" the will.

This requirement of signatory intent raises exactly the same potential for conflict with the decedent's testamentary intent as does any other formal will requirement. See Mechem, The Rule in Lemayne v. Stanley, 29 Mich.L.Rev. 685, 706-07 (1929). Nevertheless, although the UUPC endeavors to minimize the formal requirements for holographic wills, those requirements that the statute does impose may not be avoided. See In re Love's Estate, 75 Utah at 347, 285 P. at 301; In re Wolcott's Estate, 54 Utah at 168, 180 P. at 170.

In the present case, the trial court implicitly found that the handwritten name in the opening paragraph of what appears to be the first of the cards was written with signatory intent. The court of appeals reversed finding the evidence legally insufficient on this point.

We first canvass the law regarding signatory intent. If the signature appears at the end of an instrument, particularly if it is part of an attestation clause, signatory intent clearly may be inferred. Annotation, Place of Signature of Holographic Wills, 19 A.L.R.2d 926, 928-29 (1951 & Later Case Serv.1982 & Supp.1990) [hereinafter Annotation, Holographic Wills ]. The court of appeals correctly held, however, that section 75-2-503 does not require that the signature appear at the end of the instrument. In re Estate of Erickson, 766 P.2d at 1088. The problem of proof of signatory intent is more difficult where, as here, the signature appears somewhere other than at the end of the instrument.

A review of the literature and cases dealing with signatory intent in situations where there is not a signature at the end of the instrument indicates that the kind of evidence to determine signatory intent that is considered by courts generally falls into two broad categories. See generally Annotation, Holographic Wills, 19 A.L.R.2d at 939. The first is extrinsic evidence, such as documentary evidence or the testimony of witnesses regarding the purpose behind the signing. See, e.g., In re Roberts' Will, 251 N.C. 708, 112 S.E.2d 505 (1960); Nicley v. Nicley, 38 Tenn.App. 472, 276 S.W.2d 497 (1954), cert. denied, 38 Tenn.App. 472, 276 S.W.2d 497 (1955).

The second source of evidence of signatory intent that is commonly considered is evidence instrinsic to the instrument and includes the completeness of the document as a testamentary instrument. See Annotation, Holographic Wills, 19 A.L.R.2d at 939. If it is complete, a handwritten name in an exordium or elsewhere in the will may be considered a signature. See, e.g., In re Moody's Estate, 118 Cal.App.2d 300, 257 P.2d 709 (Ct.App.1953); Smith v. MacDonald, 252 Ark. 931, 481 S.W.2d 741 (1972); Burton v. Bell, 380 S.W.2d 561 (Tex.1964); Estate of Black, 30 Cal.3d 880, 641 P.2d 754, 181 Cal.Rptr. 222 (1982). However, when the document does not appear to be a complete testamentary instrument, no inference of validity attaches to a handwritten name located other than at the end. See, e.g., Hamlet v. Hamlet, 183 Va. 453, 32 S.E.2d 729 (1945); In re Leonard's Estate, 1 Cal.2d 8, 32 P.2d 603 (1934). ²

We now turn to the facts of the case at hand. The evidence offered regarding signatory intent consisted of the instrument itself and the extrinsic evidence that the handwritten name matched Erickson's signature on checks and other business documents. Assuming that the trial court was correct in finding that the handwriting on the cards matched Erickson's handwriting, the only other evidence of signatory intent, and the evidence that we consider here, appears on the face of the document itself. This evidence is not in dispute. The appropriate standard of review when evidence is not in dispute is that all issues are questions of law, which we review for correctness. ³ See In re Love's Estate,...