Damon Runyon’s wills and codicil

Damon Runyon (October 4, 1880 – December 10, 1946) was a writer and reporter.  He is well-known for a variety of his writings including two of his stories which were melded to create the Broadway play, Guys and Dolls.

Damon’s wills and codicil are reviewed in Alison Leigh Cowan, Damon Runyon’s Dame Problems, NY Times, May 1, 2009.  Here is a brief review of some of the details:

• His first will is dated July 1945.
• Damon was then divorced from his wife of 14 years, Patrice Amati.
• His second will is dated August 1946.
• Despite being divorced from Patrice, he still left her one-half of the income generated by his literary works and stated she could keep their Florida house.
• In the final months of Damon’s life, he realized that Patrice was not such a nice person as she had already found a younger replacement, Bill Coffin, whom she would later marry.
• Damon, living alone and very ill, wrote a codicil in which he attempted to “take back” the house by revoking the devise in his August 1946 will.
• The New York Surrogate’s Court held that the note was invalid because it was not witnessed.  Note that in many states, a unwitnessed but signed holographic codicil would be effective.

Special thanks to Shane Ratigan (attorney, RitterHobson LLC, Salem, Oregon) for bringing this article to my attention.