Matter of Estate of Beck

Jesse Beck was involved in a motorcycle crash and was then killed by a first responder driving at high speeds to assist at the crash scene. Jesse was unmarried and had one direct heir, an adult daughter named Alexia Beck (defendant). Alexia petitioned to be the personal representative of Jesse’s estate, representing to the court that Jesse had died intestate, meaning without a will. The court granted the petition. Alexia then began proceedings to probate Jesse’s estate and filed a wrongful-death action on behalf of the estate. Jason Beck (plaintiff) was Jesse’s brother and Alexia’s uncle. Jason both moved to intervene in the wrongful-death action and filed a petition to have a video recording formally probated as Jesse’s will. Jason represented that Jesse had sent the recording to Jason’s cell phone four days prior to Jesse’s death. The video was 19 seconds long, and only Jesse, no other people, could be seen in the frame. In the video, Jesse stated only: “I, Jesse Beck, give all my possessions, if anything happens to me whatsoever, I give all my possessions, everything, to Jason Beck, my brother. Christina Fontineau does not get one thing, not one thing.” Fontineau was not related to Jesse, and the video did not mention Alexia. Alexia objected to Jason’s petition, arguing that a video recording was not a writing that could be considered a will. The state trial court denied Jason’s petition, ruling that a video was different from an electronic writing and could not qualify as a will under Montana law. Jason appealed to the Montana Supreme Court.