In re Will of Morris

BY JUDGE WILLIAM H. LEDBETTER, JR.

This case is before the court on appeal from the clerk’s rejection of a document presented for probate. The issue is whether the pen-and-ink portion of the document is a valid holographic will..

Facts

Theodore John Morris died at age 48 on September 22,2004, survived by his wife, Sheral Ann Morris, two minor children, and an adult child of a previous marriage.

On November 5,2004, Sheral Ann Morris presented to the clerk a paper purporting to be the last will of her deceased husband. The paper is a preprinted form. Certain blank spaces are filled in. Below the…