A woman may have struck the right sentiment by signing her will "Love and Kisses, Mom" more than two decades ago, but that was not enough for a surrogate to accept a handwritten document riddled with grammatical errors, vague statements and other defects.
"Though this Court often looks to the principles of fundamental fairness and equity when discerning a testator's true intent, there is an initial level of formality one must achieve when executing a will. This instrument does not even come close to meeting the requisite level of formality," Staten Island Surrogate Robert Gigante (See Profile) wrote in Matter of the Estate of Neller, 2011-733/B,C,D,E, a denial of a petition to probate.
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