In Re Estate of Kostick

OPINION OF THE COURT

LARSEN, Justice.

The issues presented for our consideration in this case are 1) whether the trial court erred by holding that a presumption of malicious desertion existed “upon proof that the surviving spouse had withdrawn from the marital domicile” under the forfeiture provisions of the Probate, Estate and Fiduciaries Code, 1 and 2) what evidentiary value is to be accorded declarations in a decedent’s will regarding a spouse’s willful and malicious desertion.

Appellant, Jean Kostick, married decedent, Anthony Kostick, in December of 1943. In 1975, appellant left decedent…