Olde Barrister

  There is an old lawyer saying: The most expensive legal document you'll ever own is the one you prepared yourself to save attorney fees. Every lawyer has a collection of horror stories that begin with: "We figured we'd save some money and do it ourselves." And they usually end with: "How much will it cost to fix this?" Here are a few classics. "Can You Just Look This Over?" Client: "We drafted this ourselves. Can you look at it and tell us if it's OK?" Lawyer: "Not exactly." People often assume a lawyer can bless a document with a quick glance. The problem is that if a lawyer says, "Looks fine," and a hidden problem appears later, guess who gets blamed?   By the time a lawyer has reviewed it thoroughly enough to be comfortable, he could have drafted it himself. Think of it as asking a mechanic to guarantee a used car after looking at it from across the parking lot. The $2,000 Savings That Co...

  The Case     After Douglas died, a dispute arose between his son, Chadd, and Douglas' longtime companion, Judy. Chadd sought to probate Douglas' earlier will, which left his estate to his sons. Judy objected and offered a later handwritten document that she claimed Douglas intended as his will. The problem was that, while Douglas had signed and dated the document, Judy acknowledged that she had written the actual dispositive provisions in her own handwriting. She argued that Douglas dictated the terms and directed her what to write. A court was asked to decide whether the document qualified as a valid holographic will. Because the essential facts were undisputed, the case was decided on summary judgment. The court held that a holographic will must satisfy the statutory requirement that the material provisions be in the testator's own handwriting. A document does not become the holographic will of one person merely because that person signs it when someone else wrote the...