Stephen was
brilliant. He graduated top of his class—he
married the prettiest girl in town—his children were all above average—and his
business ventures always succeeded. While
Stephen truly lived well, he died leaving a complicated estate.
When Stephen
died, his children gathered for his funeral.
Afterwards, they entered his study, where Stephen kept his important
papers, and searched for his will. His
will was not found. Instead, they found
a photocopy of a will that was executed ten years previous. The will gave everything to a charity.
His children
were aghast. Did he really forget them
and refuse to leave them a legacy? After
all, he had spoken to each child about the money he was leaving for education
of his grandchildren.
Luckily
for the children, they consulted a trusted attorney. The children were informed that courts are
reluctant to probate a copy of a will.
Where only a copy of a will is found, the will is presumed to be revoked
unless proven otherwise. The reason for
this rule is simple: people frequently change their mind about how to divide
their estates on death. Therefore, they
will often revoke the will by tearing it up.
According to
A.R.S. § 14-2507, a person may revoke a will, in whole or in part, by
performing “a revocatory act.” This means,
among other things, that the person who creates the will can revoke the will by
“burning, tearing, cancelling, obliterating or destroying the will or any part
of it.” In Stephen’s case, the children
will rest easy because the original will was never found. If the charity tries to probate the copy of
the will, it will need to prove that Stephen did not revoke the old will,
which is a difficult burden.
It is quite possible that Stephen's Estate will be what's called "intestate." Accordingly, the children will likely inherit under Arizona law.
