Hendershaw v. Estate of Hendershaw

Summary

The Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed an order admitting the decedent’s will to probate. The court held that the decedent’s sons did not prove lack of testamentary capacity by a preponderance of the evidence and declined to resolve whether the presumption of testamentary capacity is a bursting-bubble presumption.

Holdings

1. The appellants failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the decedent lacked testamentary capacity when he executed the will, so the order admitting the will to probate was affirmed.
2. The court did not decide whether the presumption of testamentary capacity is a vanishing or bursting-bubble presumption because the appellants failed to meet their initial burden of proving lack of capacity.
3. Probate-court findings in a will contest must be upheld when supported by substantial competent evidence unless the probate judge misapprehended the evidence as a whole.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the appellants proved by a preponderance of the evidence that the decedent lacked testamentary capacity when he executed the will.
2. Whether the presumption of testamentary capacity is a vanishing or bursting-bubble presumption.

Disposition

affirmed