A primary goal of the law of wills is to carry out the testator’s intent. However, when a testator dies leaving a succession of wills or having expressed to an attorney his or her plan to execute a new will, ascertaining the testator’s intent can be difficult. The problem is especially challenging when a court attempts to square the testator’s intent with the principle of law that disallows correcting mistakes in wills. This Article explores how courts have used the doctrine of dependent relative revocation to determine which testamentary scheme should be admitted to probate. The application of this doctrine has unfortunately become untidy and unpredictable, due in part to the failure of courts to position their use of dependent relative revocation within the traditional framework of will interpretation. This Article explains the advantages of adopting a two-step interpretative process for applying the doctrine.
Keywords: dependent relative revocation, wills, interpretation, revocation, revival, mistake, conditionality, ambiguity
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Storrow, Richard F., Dependent Relative Revocation: Presumption or Probability? (June 24, 2014). Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Journal, Vol. 48, No. 3, 2014, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2458692
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