Estate of Smith

— May a duly executed will be denied admission to probate based on a finding that the testator was mistaken as to how the will would dispose of her property? No. Mistake is a proper ground for contesting a will only if it negates testamentary intent, by showing the testator did not intend the document offered for probate to operate as a revocable disposition of her property effective upon her death.

This case arises on an appeal by Charles Smith from a judgment refusing to admit a statutory will with trust into probate. The trial court found (1) the will was signed by mistake; (2) it was not shown that the testator knew and approved the will’s contents and intended it to have testamentary effect; and (3) the testamentary intent reflected in the will was unclear. We reverse; the trial court’s conclusions rest on a misapplication of standards governing the validity of statutory wills in circumstances not present here, and on an overly broad view of mistake as a basis for a will contest.

Background

Belva C. P. Smith died June 4, 1996, at the age of 83. On June 27, 1996, the decedent’s daughter India Rose Smith filed a petition for probate of a holographic will dated April…