McCutchan v. Heizer

This appeal challenges the Chancellor’s final decree in a suit in the nature of a proceeding devisavit vet non. Over the appellant’s objection, the decree sustained the report of a Master Commissioner in Chancery which held that a holographic writing of Emily McCutchan Beard, deceased, dated June 3, 1971, was not a testamentary document.

Emily McCutchan Beard, a resident of the City of Staunton, died on March 10,1974. A will dat,ed July 14,1967, and a codicil dated April .8, 1971, both of which had been prepared by her attorney, were found in her safe deposit box at a Staunton bank. The…