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Even if Upheld Occastionallly, Holographic Wills Are Risky

By Gerry W. Beyer

ThCAFYGP6GRecently, against the odds, the court upheld a holographic will.  A man wrote a will on a paper towel leaving his estate to his girlfriend and his ex-wife and three children contested the will.  The court upheld the will despite the objections.

Even though holographic wills are successful on occasion, it is not advisable to leave your estate plan to a holographic will.  Many people have unique circumstances that complicate their estate planning  Furthermore, the validity of the holographic will may have ended well, but it took a long drawn out court battle to get there. Ultimately, the fees to pay for that attorney in the afore-mentioned holographic will battle likely cost more than it would have to get an attorney to draft a proper will.  

See Rania Combs, A Holographic Will That Worked…But At What Cost?, Texas Wills and Trusts Online, Sept. 17, 2012.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.