Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
I

In re Estate of Hall

51 P.3d 1134 (2002)

From our private database of 46,500+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

In re Estate of Hall

Montana Supreme Court
51 P.3d 1134 (2002)

CR
Play video

Facts

In 1984, James Mylen Hall executed a will (original will). In 1997, he and his wife, Betty Lou Hall (defendant), worked with their attorney on preparing a joint will. During a meeting with their attorney to review a draft of the joint will, they marked it up with various revisions and agreed that the draft will as revised was an accurate statement of their testamentary plan. Because their attorney still needed to draft the final, clean copy with the mark-ups on the draft incorporated, James and Betty Lou asked him if they could execute the draft in the meantime to ensure that their testamentary scheme was protected. Their attorney advised them that the draft would be enforceable if it was signed and notarized, so James and Betty Lou proceeded to execute the marked-up draft of the joint will. The joint will was notarized by their attorney without any other witnesses. James then asked Betty Lou to destroy the original will, and she did so. After James died, Betty Lou offered the joint will informally for probate. Sandra (plaintiff), one of James’s daughters from a prior marriage, objected to informal probate of the joint will and offered the original will for formal probate. After the court admitted the joint will to probate, Sandra appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Regnier, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 833,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 833,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 833,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,500 briefs - keyed to 994 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Elder Law
Wills, Trusts, and Estates

Key Terms