Ayers v. Cook

The trial court properly found that the testator's last will and testament, which left the entirety of his estate to one sibling and excluded the others, was valid.

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Caveators James A. Ayers, Nancy Davis, and Debra Hilty Caveators, siblings of testator Donald Ayers Donald, appeal from the judgment of the superior court, entered after a jury verdict, upholding Donald’s last will and testament that left the entirety of his estate to Donald’s remaining sibling, Carol Ayers Carol. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

Construed to support the verdict, the evidence showed that Donald was divorced with no children, and his four siblings were his closest relatives, but discord between the siblings had developed during the last years of the life of their mother. For three years preceding the execution of the will, Carol lived 50 miles from Donald and often accompanied him to medical appointments and on errands; she visited him weekly, they spoke on the phone regularly, and she sometimes wrote checks for him from a joint account. Donald had no will prior to April 2009. After a discussion about Donald’s wishes for his property after his death, Carol, using a form she found on the internet, prepared a will for Donald which she gave him to review on April 15, 2009; it left the entirety of his estate to Carol and named her as executor, and in the event she predeceased him, named Carol’s daughter, Tammy Cook Tammy, as beneficiary and executor. Donald said that the will reflected exactly what he wished to do and that same day, with Carol as a passenger, Donald drove to the Meriwether County courthouse. There, two deputy clerks of the superior court witnessed the will’s execution; after being informed that the will did not need to be filed with the court, Donald and Carol left, taking the will with them. In sworn interrogatory answers, both witnesses stated that, at the time Donald executed the will on April 15, 2009, he acknowledged that the document he was signing was his will, and that he appeared to be acting voluntarily in signing it, and to be of sound and disposing mind.

Ayers v. Cook

The trial court properly found that the testator's last will and testament, which left the entirety of his estate to one sibling and excluded the others, was valid.

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