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In re Estate of Henneghan

District of Columbia Court of Appeals

45 A.3d 684 (2012)

Facts

After Sarah Ellen Henneghan died, her sons Gerald and Godfrey Henneghan (plaintiffs) filed a joint petition to probate her estate intestate. Henneghan’s co-worker, Donna Washington (defendant) petitioned to probate Henneghan’s purported will. The document was signed by Henneghan and was notarized, but it lacked witness signatures. In lieu of witness signatures, Washington offered the affidavits of four individuals with knowledge of Henneghan’s signing of the purported will. The probate court admitted the purported will to probate, reasoning that a statute governing abbreviated probate procedures allowed the substitution of the affidavits for witness signatures. Henneghan’s sons appealed.

Rule of Law

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Issue

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Holding and Reasoning (Blackburne-Rigsby, J.)

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A summary of the majority or plurality opinion, using the CREAC method; and
The procedural disposition (e.g., reversed and remanded, affirmed, etc.).

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