Cooke v. Cooke

A review of the opinion of the District Court in this case, reported in 278 So.2d 683, and the record proper discloses the trial judge improperly stated in his charge to the jury that verbal agreements to make a will are not valid. He qualified that statement by stating there was no claim in the case of a written agreement by the decedent to make a certain will.

The case sounded in tort for malicious slanderous remarks allegedly made by petitioner’s stepmother, claimed to have caused petitioner’s father to leave petitioner no inheritance, contrary to the father’s fixed intention to do so. The…