Nuncupative will invalid because not made in extremis

The decedent allegedly made an oral will while hospitalized for treatment of complications arising from a chronic condition.  Death came eighteen days after release from the hospital.

The court affirmed a summary judgment for the intestate heirs, holding that the statutory requirement that a nuncupative will be made “in the time of the last sickness of the decedent” had been construed to require the testator be “in extremis.”

The court explained that a testator suffering from a chronic condition is in extremis only in the final stages of the illness.  In re Estate of Alexander, No. 10-06-00360-CV, 2008 WL 256837 (Tex. App. 2008 Jan. 30, 2008).

(Note:  The 2007 Texas Legislature abolished the right of Texans to make oral wills.)