Jones v. Shifflet (In re Estate of Shifflet)
Florida District Court of Appeal
170 So. 2d 96 (1964)
- Written by Liz Nakamura, JD
Facts
Florence Shifflet, decedent, made handwritten changes to her last will and codicil. In Paragraph 7, she crossed out the bequests to her brothers-in-law, Leroy Shifflet and Woodrow Shifflet (defendants), and substituted in three of her own relatives by handwriting their names above the crossed-out text. Florence also completely crossed out the codicil. In the margin next to each of her changes, Florence wrote her initials, F.I.S. Two witnesses also signed in the margin next to the changes in the presence of Florence and each other. Neither Florence nor the witnesses signed at the end of the will. After Florence’s death, Ruth Jones, the administrator of Florence’s estate, submitted the altered will and codicil to probate. Leroy and Woodrow challenged, arguing that Florence’s handwritten, initialed changes were not an effective partial revocation of the will’s original terms and that the will and codicil should be enforced as originally executed. Both parties conceded the original will and codicil were properly executed. The trial court ruled that Florence’s handwritten changes were insufficient to partially revoke the terms of the original will and codicil. Jones appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Hendry, J.)
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