Irving Duke never intended for his estate to pass intestate and produced a holographic will and codicil to make sure of it. In the documents, he provided his estate was to pass to his wife and to a group of charities if they were to die at the same time. However, no contingency was in place if he survived his wife and, when he died, his heirs under intestacy challenged the executor granting the estate to the charities. The trial and appellate court found that the will was unambiguous and, as a result, could not be reformed using extrinsic evidence even though it appeared that Duke intended the alternative gift in the will to apply if he outlived his spouse.
In Estate of Duke, the California Supreme Court overturned the lower courts and ruled that an unambiguous will may be reformed in certain circumstances. If, by clear and convincing evidence, it can be established the testator made an error in in the will, and specific intent can be established, then the will may be reformed to comport with the testators true wishes.
Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.
