Estate of W.O. McIntyre

This is a will contest. The decedent committed suicide after writing several notes in which he expressed his wish that the bulk of his estate pass to his wife of eighteen years, with specific bequests to his children. The decedent's children contested the validity of the disposition, arguing that the decedent lacked testamentary capacity to execute a will at the time that he wrote the notes. After a jury trial, the jury found that the decedent had testamentary capacity and that the handwritten notes constituted a valid holographic will. The children appeal, arguing that the burden of proving testamentary capacity should have been placed on the will's proponents, due to the decedent's depression and resulting suicide, and that the evidence did not support the jury's verdict. We affirm, finding that the trial court did not err in its instructions on the burden of proof and that there is material evidence to support the jury's verdict.