Wright

On September 21, 1971, Maizie Helmar died at Carbon-dale, Colorado, leaving an estate consisting of both real and personal *111 property. On December 3, 1971, Faye Wright filed a petition for probate of holographic will of the following document, which contained the following typewritten introductory clause:

The words “as follows,” italicized above, and the balance of the purported will were entirely written and the document is dated in decedent’s handwriting, except for the typewritten characters “e3” appearing at the top of the third and final page. A contest to the probate of said purported will was filed by five of deceased’s first cousins alleging that the document in question was not a valid will. Following trial by the court the purported will was rejected and denied probate. In so ruling the court found as follows:

Faye Wright as executrix, and the Self-Realization Fellowship Church as a named beneficiary, appeal from the judgment. The sole issue on appeal is whether or not the document should have been admitted to probate as a valid holographic will complying with terms of section 53 of the Probate Code.

*112 Since the material findings of the trial court…

I dissent. In my opinion the handwritten portion of the document before us should have been admitted to probate as a valid holographic will. The majority decision misconstrues the governing statute, Probate Code section 53.

The sole question on this appeal is whether the partly typed and partly handwritten document submitted to the probate court contains within it a valid holographic will—namely, one “entirely written, dated and signed” by the hand of the testatrix herself. Under Probate Code section 53 these are the only requirements of form and “[n]o address, date or other matter written, printed or stamped upon the document, which is not incorporated in the provisions which are in the handwriting of the decedent, shall be considered as any part of the will.” (Italics added.) To “incorporate” means essentially to include within as a part thereof. (See The Random House Diet, of the English Language (1966), p. 721.)

As indicated in the majority opinion the document before us starts with a typewritten heading, exordium, 1 and contains the typewritten symbol “e 3” at the top of its third page. Otherwise the document is entirely in the handwriting of the testatrix. Aside from the…