Svien

After granting a motion for summary judgment, 1 the trial court entered a judgment dismissing a petition for the admission to probate of a will purportedly executed by Patrick Mangeri on February 17, 1972. Denial of probate was based upon the trial court’s determination that the will of that date had not been executed in conformity with the requirements for execution of wills by mark. The proponents of the will have appealed. No procedural questions are raised, the facts are not in dispute, and the sole issue on appeal is whether the will was executed in conformity with statutory requirements.

On February 17, 1972, Lorraine H. Svien and Virginia Martone went to the law office of John Palladino in Riverside, California, and requested him to prepare a will for Patrick Mangeri, a relative. 2 They told Palladino that Mangeri was in a hospital and had requested them to have a will prepared according to his specific instructions concerning the *79 distribution of his estate in the event of his death. Acting on the instructions of the two women, Palladino caused a four-page typewritten will to be prepared.

Unable to go to the hospital to supervise the execution of the will,…