In re Estate of Rigsby
Oklahoma Court of Appeals
843 P.2d 856 (1992)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Jessaline Pasquali Rigsby died and left a holographic will. Upon her death, her spouse found two pieces of paper folded together, but not fastened together, both in Rigsby’s handwriting. The first page was initialed and dated at the top, and stated “Inasmuch as I do not have a will, I would like to make the following arrangements in the event of my death.” The page then went on to list Rigsby’s belongings and to whom they should be given. The first page was signed by Rigsby at the bottom. The second page was initialed and dated at the top, but simply contained a list of her belongings with an individual’s name next to each. This page was not signed. Neither page was numbered nor did the pages refer to each other in any way. At one point, the second page conflicted in part with the first page. The district court admitted only the first page to probate, finding that the second page “lacked indicia of testamentary intent.” Betty Dorsey, Rigsby’s sister, appealed, claiming that both pages should be admitted together as the will.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Jones, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 807,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 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.
