Slack v. Truitt, 368 Md. 2

Summary

The Court of Appeals of Maryland held that a handwritten will signed by the testator outside the witnesses’ presence was properly admitted to probate. The court concluded that the will was entitled to a presumption of due execution even without a formal attestation clause, and that a witness’s inability to recall seeing the testator’s signature did not overcome that presumption by clear and convincing evidence. The judgment of the Court of Special Appeals was affirmed.

Holdings

1. A formal attestation clause is not the sine qua non of the presumption of due execution. A will bearing the genuine signatures of the testator and two witnesses, with the witnesses signing in the testator's presence beneath the words "Witnessed By," may receive the presumption of due execution.
2. When a testator signs a will outside the presence of the witnesses, the testator must acknowledge the signature or declare the document to be his will, but the acknowledgment need not be oral and may be accomplished through conduct or the document itself.
3. A witness's inability to remember whether the testator's signature was present or whether the witness observed it does not, without more, constitute clear and convincing evidence overcoming the presumption of due execution.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a will signed by the testator outside the presence of the witnesses may be admitted to probate when the testator did not verbally declare it to be his will or expressly acknowledge his signature to the witnesses.
2. Whether a valid attestation requires a witness to know that the document is a will or to sign it expressly as a witness.
3. Whether a witness's inability to remember seeing the testator's signature constitutes clear and convincing evidence overcoming the presumption of due execution.

Disposition

affirmed