Gordon

The evidence discloses that in early 1964 Elizabeth Thomason was suffering from terminal cancer, and on January 29, 1964, she made and executed a holographic will which, subsequent to her demise on July 4, 1964, was admitted to probate on July 31,1964.

The decedent was survived by her sole heir and spouse, Clyde Y. Thomason, whom she had married on December 21, 1927. During the course of the marriage, both husband and wife had been gainfully employed and had managed to accumulate a sizeable community estate by combining their respective salaries. At the time of the wife’s demise, the surviving husband was 66 years of age and had been retired from service with the railroad on a monthly pension in the sum of $192.20. The husband had suffered from a drinking problem for many years prior to the demise of the testatrix and had been hospitalized from time to time because of this affliction. The decedent made reference to his illness in the holographic will. The estate of the decedent was appraised in value in the sum of $73,400. The family home, which constituted the decedent’s separate property, was devised to the surviving spouse for life, and upon his death the will directed that…