In Re Last Will and Testament of Palecki

OPINION

STRINE, Vice Chancellor.

I. Introduction

Bernice Palecki crafted by hand an “Item Four” that works in concert with her holographic Last Will and Testament dated September 24, 1985 (the “Will”). If read together with the Will, the handcrafted addendum — which I will call the “Codicil” — makes sense of the rest of the Will, which would otherwise outline an incomplete dispositive scheme. The Will, in its itemized list of bequests and instructions, makes only one complete testamentary gift: leaving the entire estate to Bernice’s sister, Helen Palecki, if Helen survived Bernice. Thereafter,…