Bailey v. Ford

In this appeal from a decree in a declaratory judgment proceeding at equity, we review the chancellor’s interpretation of the holographic will of the late Lillian Estelle Whitley Bailey. The controversy, precipitated by the deaths of Irvin Lee Bailey, a son of the testatrix, and his second wife, Carol, in a common disaster, concerns a parcel of land in the City of Chesapeake.

The contest is between the two children of Irvin by his first wife, plaintiffs below, and some of the heirs at law of the testatrix, defendants below. Upon consideration of the will, evidence heard ore tenus, and…