IN RE ESTATE OF MAGNUS FERDINAND OLSON, DECEASED

Fla. | 1966-01-12
No. 34289
THORNAL, C. J., and THOMAS, ROBERTS, DREW, O’CONNELL and CALDWELL, JJ., concur.
181 So. 2d 642 Florida Supreme Court (1966) Negative Treatment
Cited by 12 cases

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Holding

A holographic will not attested by two witnesses is invalid in Florida, as the right to testamentary disposition is statutory and subject to legislative regulation.


Facts & Procedural History

Appellant sought probate of a holographic will for the Estate of Magnus Ferdinand Olson. The County Judge denied probate because the will lacked the t…

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Opinion of the Court
ERVIN, Justice.

ERVIN, Justice.

This is an appeal by Mrs. Phillip Davis, appellant, from an order of the County Judge of Okaloosa County, sitting in probate, in which order he denied the probate of a holographic will in the Estate of Mag-nus Ferdinand Olson, because it was not attested by two witnesses.

The County Judge in his order denying probate found and held, inter alia:

“ * * * and the Court being of the opinion that said holographic will is not subject to probate in the State of Florida because it was not executed within the requirements of the probate laws of the State, and that the constitutional questions raised by the petitioner as to the validity of F.S.A. 731.07, and all other related constitutional questions are found to be without merit. * * * ”

Our appellate jurisdiction is involved because the order passed directly upon the constitutionality of Section 731.07.

The appellant raises as a first point in her brief:

“Whether or not an intelligently written will in the handwriting of the deceased, who was fully competent and cognizant, will be recognized, or voided for the sole reason of the absence of two witnesses, as required in Section 731.07 F.S.; and whether or not such statutory requirement invades and violates constitutional rights.”

Under this heading, appellant argues that the right to dispose of property is perhaps *643one of the oldest rights of man, citing from 57 Am.Jur. 41, and 128 A.L.R. 946 on this proposition.

Appellant urges upon us the propositions, without citation of authority, “that the constitutional right to own property must, by necessity, be accompanied by the right to dispose of property and the rights of persons to acquire property, including acquisition through testamentary disposition. * * * The law of this State and generally is that the presumption exists that a person prefers to die testate rather than intestate. * * * that enlightened legal thinking calls for the adoption of the proposition that a holographic will, with the testator’s signature affixed, found in his bank deposit box, unrevoked or unaltered in any respect, preserves this presumption.”

In candor, however, the appellant concedes that these propositions are difficult ones to sustain, in view of the statutory requirement and because in Taylor v. Payne (1944) 154 Fla. 359, 17 So.2d 615, 154 A.L. R. 677, this Court held:

“The right of testamentary disposition of property does not emanate from the organic law but is a creature of the law derived solely from statute without constitutional limitation and is at all times subject to regulation and control by legislative authority.”,

which pronouncement was followed in In Re: Blankenship’s Estate (Fla.1960) 122 So.2d 466.

F. S. Section 731.07, F.S.A. reads in part as follows:

“731.07 Execution of wills. — Every will, other than a noncupative will, must be in writing and must be executed as follows:
(1) The testator must sign his will at the end thereof, or some other person in his presence and by his direction must subscribe the name of the testator thereto.
(2) The testator, in the presence of at least two attesting witnesses present at the same time, must sign his will or cause his name to be signed as aforesaid or acknowledge his signature thereto.
******
(6) No particular form of words is necessary to the validity of a will if it is executed according to the formalities required by law.”

While duly cognizant that the testator’s intention, as expressed in the holographic will, may have been thwarted by operation of the statute and despite the earnest contentions of appellant, we believe on principle the quoted statute governs this case and the rule of law so provided can only be changed by the legislature, if in its wisdom it deems it advisable.

The obvious intent of the statute requiring the attestation of a will by at least two witnesses, whether holographic or in another form, is to assure its authenticity and to avoid fraud and. imposition.

We find the statute to be a constitutional regulation within the province of the legislature to enact. Under our authorities, it is not an unwarranted restriction upon the disposition of property or its acquisition. The legislature intended it to be promotive of good public policy.

In a second point in her appeal, the ap' pellant urges the following:

“Whether or not the torn and partially destroyed will was sufficiently established, by competent evidence, to have been validly executed; and, if so, whether or not the evidence shows that the same was later revoked by destruction ; and whether or not the probate court misconstrued the law and the evidence in admitting the same to probate under the doctrine of dependent relative revocation.”

*644This point relates to another purported will of the testator which was admitted to probate instead of the will under which Mrs. Davis claims.

Inasmuch as we have disposed of the first point which is decisive of all the claim or interest of the appellant in and to the testator’s estate, and of the issues involving our jurisdiction, we do not believe it necessary or appropriate that we undertake to dispose of the second point raised by appellant.

The judgment is affirmed.

THORNAL, C. J., and THOMAS, ROBERTS, DREW, O’CONNELL and CALDWELL, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Allen v. Margarete Dalk, 826 So. 2d 245 (Fla. 2002)
    …itted to probate. See In re Neil’s Estate, 39 So. 2d 801 (Fla.1949). The signatures of both the testator and witnesses are needed to have a properly executed will. See In re Estate of Williams, 182 So. 2d 10, 13 (Fla.1965). In In re Estate of Olson, 181 So. 2d 642, 643 (Fla.1966), we held that an unattested will [*248] should not be admitted to probate because “[t]he obvious intent of the statute requiring the attestation of a will by at least two witnesses ... is to assure its authenticity and to avoid fraud…
  • Manson v. Fremont B. Hayes, 539 So. 2d 27 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989)
    …purpose of the statute is to assure not only that the signature on the will is that of the testator, but to provide reasonable assurance of the circumstances under which the signature was affixed to the document. See generally In re Estate of Olson, 181 So. 2d 642, 643 (Fla.1966). Where, as the court found here, the statutory formalities are not complied with, that assurance is missing.…
  • LEE v. Est. OF Randy John Payne, 148 So. 3d 776 (Fla. 2d DCA 2013)
    …affirmed, holding that no constitutional provision governed the right of testamentary disposition of property; any such right was statutory, without constitutional limitation on regulation. Id. Taylor influenced the result in In re Estate of Olson, 181 So. 2d 642 (Fla.1966), where the supreme court considered the issue now before us: Whether or not an intelligently written will in the handwriting of the deceased, [*779] who was fully competent and cognizant, will be recognized, or voided for the sole reason…

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