Estate of Shimun

Opinion

EMERSON, J. *

Appellant Theodore D’Mar Shimun (hereafter referred to as Theodore) appeals from a judgment denying probate to a document entitled last will and testament of Mar Eshai Shimun XXIII (hereafter referred to as decedent) and appointing as administratrix of the estate respondent Emama Mar Eshai Shimun (hereafter referred to as Emama), decedent’s widow.

Decedent had held the office of Patriarch of the Church of the East. When he married, he broke a long-standing tradition of the church that the patriarch remain celibate. This caused a serious rift not only within the church, but…