It Was at That Point, the Wheels Came Off

STEVE ASHBY

The words “Last Will and Testament” sound ominous to most folks. Usually, the only time one comes into contact with such a document is when a family member dies (or, as we say in the trade, “takes the big vacation”) and everyone searches the decedent’s desk and file cabinet until it is found. At that point, the Will is searched for references to friends and family members who will ultimately receive the bounty amassed over the lifetime of the dearly departed.

For those kind-hearted people who are forward thinking enough to make their ultimate passing easier on those left behind, a proper Last Will and Testament is in order. To accomplish that task, they consult with their friendly neighborhood attorney, who will draft a Will that is tailored to their specific desires. It is that process to which I have devoted a large portion of my professional life and from which I have received untold blessings of human interaction. By my calculations, I have drafted over a thousand Wills in my career. Although clients discussing their last wishes are usually thoughtful and reflective, they are rarely somber. Most seem to take comfort in making the ultimate gift to their heirs and beneficiaries. It is a pleasant discussion.

However, there are some tortured souls who make an extensive enterprise out of arranging the deck chairs on their personal Titanic. They carefully engineer their Wills to reward the attentive and punish the offensive. Their favorite game is to make a vast list of those who will be anointed with bequests while pointedly leaving out the more annoying family members. On occasion, often years after the Will was signed and sealed, the Testator (the fancy legal name of the person who makes a will) becomes annoyed with someone who was formerly anointed in their Will. Said Testator then makes another appointment with our friendly neighborhood attorney to change their will and punish the designated miscreant.

I had one particular client (we will call her “Agnes” for the purposes of this parable) who was particularly interested in using her Last Will and Testament as a weapon. Bless her heart, she was not always mean and disagreeable, but had only evolved into such after the death of her beloved husband years earlier. Childless, and having outlived all of her siblings, Agnes brought me a hand-written list of those whom she wanted written into her Will, mostly nieces, nephews and members of her church. Over the years, Agnes became a frequent flyer in our office, wanting us to rewrite her will to exclude one of those beneficiaries who had annoyed her.

On numerous other occasions, she would contact me to demand that I sue either her bank, her cable TV company or a clerk at Kroger for being rude to her. The sign in front of my business states, “Counsellor and Attorney at Law.” In dealing with Agnes, the counsellor role was predominant. I spent countless hours trying to talk her off the ledge of pursuing pointless and frivolous claims, and disinheriting someone who did not return her phone calls fast enough. We tried to keep her Will revisions to a minimum, for her own peace of mind.

Every time Agnes signed a new Last Will and Testament, I reminded her to keep the original document safe, because probate courts require a clean and undamaged original Will for probate. We would seal her original will in an envelope with the date and my initials on the seal.

After many years, I received a phone call from Agnes’s pastor, who informed me that she had passed away. Named as her executor, the pastor brought her Will to me so that we could submit it for probate. We were well acquainted with each other because we had collaborated over the years to keep her out of trouble. We swapped amusing stories about Agnes’s battles, concluding that Agnes’s soul would be commended to the Lord, but that he should really try not to hack her off.

The Pastor slid Agnes’s original will across my desk. It was at that point the wheels came off.

I could immediately see that the seal on the Will had been broken. Taking it out of the envelope, I could determine that two things had happened. One, a certain niece had somehow angered her, and two, Agnes did not bother to have me change the Will one more time. Rather, Agnes took pen in hand and crossed off the name of offending niece. Sheesh.

Under Georgia law, if an original will is defaced in any way, a presumption arises that the Testator intended to revoke the Will. This can come about if a Will is written on, a corner is torn off or even if coffee is spilled on it. Although Agnes was admonished on several occasions to refrain from writing on her original will, she just could not help herself when that certain niece did not measure up.

It took an act of Congress to shove Agnes’s will through Probate. She had somehow managed to make life difficult for others, even after her earthly departure. I cannot help but wonder if she got a good laugh out of that.

STEVE ASHBY is celebrating forty years of practicing law, often with a sense of humor. He and law partner Latawsha Little-Hill founded Georgia Will & Probate Lawyers, which focuses exclusively on wills, probate, estate planning, advanced medical directives, and other related areas that help their clients obtain peace of mind for themselves and their loved ones. Learn more about Steve and Latawsha and their practice at gwaplaw.com