Lee v. Swain

Hunstein, Chief Justice.

Eloise Collins died on December 10, 2006. In July 2007, Lydia Swain, Collins’ goddaughter, filed a petition to probate two instruments alleged to be Collins’ will: an unwitnessed letter written in 1999 detailing how Collins wanted her property distributed after her death and a partially filled-out commercial will form that, while properly witnessed, did not address distribution of property. A number of Collins’ first cousins (collectively, Lee) challenged the will, and the trial court initially granted judgment on the pleadings in their favor, finding that the two…