Black v. Edwards

This case involves the mutual and reciprocal wills of a husband and wife. The primary issue is whether, as a matter of law, the testimony of the scrivener of the wills established a contract between the spouses for the disposition of their property upon the death of the survivor.

In May or June 1991, James G. Keene and his wife, Rebecca T. Keene, asked Gerald D. Robertson, an attorney, to prepare wills for them leaving their respective properties to the survivor. The wife had no children; the husband had children by a prior marriage.

When Robertson told the Keenes that the survivor would have…