Goldberg v. Bloch
Goldberg v. Bloch
Opinion of the Court
This is an appeal from an order admitting to probate, as the will of Helene I. Bloch, a holographic instrument which was found after her death in a safety deposit box held by her and her sister as joint tenants. The document, which appeared on two sides of an envelope, was dated and was written entirely in decedent’s own hand. The portions of the writing which were admitted to probate are as follows :
“My executor shall be Sally Goldberg (sister) who shall employ counsel & pay expenses from estate to fight any action which may be taken by said husband Julius J Bloch 8/24/48
Bonds belonging solely to Helene I. Bloch ........ 800092
5300°°
1330000
*572 In case of my death these are to be distributed to the following children for their education (divided equally)
Babette Freshman
Carolyn Freshman
Barbara Sue Freshman
Gary Lee Goldberg
Susan Linda Goldberg
Judy Brown
Stephen Brown
Julius J Bloch shall not receive a dower right or be allowed to contest my wishes in any court in the United States.
Julius J Block did not
over [end of first side of envelope]
prior
give me any part of these monies Same was saved (before) my marriage and invested likewise. During my marriage Julius J Bloch did not contribute to my support—I paid my own expenses throughout our marriage Therefore he is not to receive one cent of my estate. During our marriage Julius J Block, husband, was such only in name. When he had funds or made profits he squandered all on his selfish desires gambling—also throughout this marriage I continually aided financially his many adventures—all ending with losses Therefore I feel he does not participate. ’ ’
The writing stopped at the lower right-hand corner of the second side of the envelope, and there was insufficient room at that location for any further words of the same size and spacing as were employed elsewhere in the document. Some unused space was left above the writing on both sides of the envelope.
A holographic will must be entirely written, dated, and signed by the hand of the testator (Prob. Code, § 53), and it must be executed with testamentary intent. (Estate of Golder, 31 Cal.2d 848, 850 [193 P.2d 465].) The language of the document involved here is plainly dispositive in character, and the document was dated and was admittedly written by the hand of the decedent. The sole question is whether the decedent’s name, which appears only in the body of the instrument, constitutes a signature within the meaning of the statute.
It is settled in California that the signature need not be located at the end but may appear in another part of the document, provided the testator wrote his name there with the intention of authenticating or executing the instrument
It has been said that where a decedent’s signature is found only in the body of a document which is claimed to be a will, the court must determine from an inspection of the instrument’s language, form and the relative position of its parts whether or not there is a positive and satisfactory inference that the decedent’s name was placed in that location with the intention of executing the instrument, and if such an inference appears, the execution is considered proven. (See Estate of Kinney, 16 Cal.2d 50, 53 [104 P.2d 782]; Estate of Manchester, 174 Cal. 417, 421 [163 P. 358, Ann.Cas. 1918B 227, L.R.A. 1917D 629].) Particularly important here are the principles set forth in the Kinney case where it was held that a holographic testamentary instrument may be admitted to probate, although the testator wrote his name only in the beginning, whenever it appears that the instrument is a completed declaration of the decedent’s desires. (16 Cal.2d at pp. 54-56.) The court said (16 Cal.2d at pp. 55-56): ‘‘ Completeness alone has been held sufficient evidence of the adoption of the name so placed as the authenticating signature of the testator and as a compliance with the statute which requires the will to be ‘signed’. . . . From the earliest consideration of the question, completeness of the testamentary declaration has been deemed sufficient evidence of the ‘signing’ of the writing, even though the declarant’s name was written by him at a place other than at the end.” The court dis
Many other cases, some of which have cited and followed Estate of Kinney, indicate that the courts of this state have been very liberal in sustaining the validity of holographic wills which appear to be complete testamentary documents although signed elsewhere than at the end. (See Estate of Brooks, 214 Cal. 138, 140-141 [4 P.2d 148] [“This is my will'—Elizabeth Ryan Brooks,” after which are numerous specific bequests] ; Estate of Morgan, 200 Cal. 400, 402 .[253 P. 702] ; Estate of Wallace, 100 Cal.App.2d 237, 239 [223 P.2d 284], [“I, James T. Wallace have the use of all Personal and Real Estate as long as I survive,” after which were two short sentences disposing of the property]; Estate of Gardener, 84 Cal.App.2d 394, 396-397 [190 P.2d 629], [“I, Mrs. Estelle Gardener 433 West Laurel Street do give devise and bequeth Mrs. Dorothy Mathews and Mrs. Eleatra Hyatt” certain described property] ; Estate of Kaminski, 45 Cal.App.2d 779, 781-782 [115 P.2d 21], [“Last will and testament of Belle Kaminski, Dec. 8-1937 . . . being of sound and disposing mind and memory ... do make publish and declare this my last will & testament in the manner following, that is to say,” followed by specific provisions disposing of property and concluding with a direction for cremation] ; Estate of Bauman, 114 Cal.App. 551, 553 et seq. [ 300 P. 62], [“That I Lovina Bauman, on this date April 9th, 1929, desire my wishes herein executed as stated. . . .”] ; Estate of Sullivan, 94 Cal.App. 674, 677 [271 P. 753], [“I, Mark Cornelius Sullivan . . . revoking all wills by me heretofore made, do hereby publish and declare this my Last Will and Testament ... in manner and form following: . . .”]; Estate of England, 85 Cal.App. 486, 488 [259 P. 956], [“Last Will of Anna England,” in caption, followed only by bequests].)
Unlike the writings involved in the cases relied upon by appellant, there is nothing in the document before us to suggest that it was incomplete in the sense that the testatrix may have intended to set forth any additional matter but failed to do so. For example, the instrument considered in Estate of Manchester, 174 Cal. 417 [163 P. 358, Ann.Cas. 1918B 227, L.R.A. 1917D 629], ended: “Whereunto I hereby set my hand this fourteenth day of January, 1914,” and the court stated that these are apt words to precede a signature in attestation of a will and tend to show that the decedent intended to sign immediately below but did not carry out that intent. (174 Cal. at p. 419.) In Estate of
Since it appears that the holographic document written by Mrs. Bloch is a complete testamentary instrument, it follows, under the decision in Estate of Kinney, supra, 16 Cal.2d 50, 56, that her name is to be regarded as having been written in the body of the instrument with authenticating intent.
The order is affirmed.
Shenk, J., Carter, J., Sehauer, J., and Spence, J., concurred.
Language on the envelope by which decedent attempted to provide funds for care of her grave was denied probate, but the parties raise no question as to this part of the order.
The parties, in their briefs, disagree as to whether the last word is “participate” or an abbreviation thereof or something else. The dispute is apparently due to the fact that the briefs contain photostats which are not as clear as the one in the clerk’s transcript, which plainly shows each letter of the word. It is possible that the testatrix inserted the provision relating to her “executor” after she had written the above quoted sentence, but this does not seem to be material since each provision is complete by itself.
Dissenting Opinion
I dissent.
In my opinion the decedent did not comply with the requirement of section 53 of the Probate Code that a holographic will must be “signed by the hand of the testator himself.” Although this section does not require the signature to be affixed at the end of the instrument offered for probate (compare § 50(1)), it does require the name of the decedent, wherever placed, to be written with the intention of executing the instrument as a will. (Estate of Manchester, 174 Cal. 417, 421 [163 P. 358, Ann.Cas. 1918B 227, L.R.A. 1917D 629] ; see cases collected in 19 A.L.R.2d 926.)
Regardless of where the name may appear in the instrument, there is always the possibility, of course, that it was intended as a signature. The mere existence of that possibility, however, is not enough to permit a reasonable inference that it was so intended. When the name is used to identify the decedent as the author of the alleged will as in Estate of Kinney, 16 Cal.2d 50 [104 P.2d 782] (“I Anna Leona Graves Kinney, do bequeath all my possessions to my four sisters”), or to identify the instrument as decedent’s will as in Estate of Brooks, 214 Cal. 138 [4 P.2d 148] (“This is my will—Elizabeth Ryan Brooks”), and in addition the instrument appears to be a complete testamentary document, it may reasonably be inferred that the name was placed where
“ [T]he right to make testamentary disposition of property is not an inherent right or a right of citizenship, nor is it even a right granted by the constitution. It rests wholly upon the legislative will, and is derived entirely from the statutes. In conferring that right the legislature has seen fit to prescribe certain exactions and requirements looking to the execution and authentication of the instrument, and a compliance with these requirements becomes necessary to its exercise.” (In re Walker, 110 Cal. 387, 390 [42 P. 815, 52 Am.St.Rep. 104, 30 L.R.A. 460].) It is the duty of a
I would reverse the order admitting the instrument to probate.
Edmonds, J., concurred.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Estate of HELENE I. BLOCH, Deceased. SALLY GOLDBERG, Respondent, v. JULIUS J. BLOCH, Appellant
- Cited By
- 26 cases
- Status
- Published