Smith v. Wharton

Annabelle Clinton Imber, Justice.

This is a will-contest case. Iola H. Wharton executed a will in 1980 by signing her name. In 1997, she undertook to execute another will, a declaration of trust, and various other estate planning documents. Because Iola was no longer able to write her name, she signed these instruments by mark. FoEowing Iola’s death on April 1, 1998, the 1997 wiE was admitted to probate and the decedent’s son, AppeEee Joseph B. Wharton, III, was appointed as executor. Appellant Kathleen Wharton Smith, the decedent’s daughter, challenged the instruments executed by mark…