Estate of Tolin
Florida Supreme Court
622 So. 2d 988 (1993)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
In 1984, Alexander Tolin executed a will that devised the residue of his estate to Adair Creaig. In 1989, Tolin prepared a codicil that amended the will to devise the residue of his estate to Broward Art Guild, Inc. (Broward). Both the will and the codicil were executed with the assistance of Tolin’s lawyer, Steven Fine. Fine kept the originals in his law office. The following year, Tolin decided that he had made a mistake in executing the codicil. Tolin tore up and destroyed his copy of the codicil, believing it to be the original and intending to revoke it. Upon Tolin’s death, Fine filed a petition to admit the will and codicil into probate. Fine also filed a motion seeking a ruling on the validity of the codicil. In addition, Creaig filed a petition seeking an order that the codicil had been revoked. The circuit court granted Creaig’s petition. The district court reversed, finding that Tolin’s attempted revocation of the codicil was invalid. The district court then certified the question of the revocation to the Florida Supreme Court.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Harding, J.)
Concurrence (McDonald, J.)
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