Sims v. Sims

Fletcher, Justice.

The trial court denied a petition to probate the last will and codicil of Curtis Richard Sims after a jury found that they were the product of undue influence. Because there was insufficient evidence of undue influence at the time Sims executed the will and codicil, we reverse.

Sims drafted a will in 1984 dividing the residue of his estate to his four surviving children (Edward, Brenda, Anita, and Wayne) and the children of a deceased fifth child (Marshall). He revised the will in 1987 and deleted the provision giving Marshall’s children a per stirpes share of the estate.…