## Facts

- Willie Williams executed a written instrument offered for probate as his will.
- The instrument was attested by the required witnesses, but the testator’s “signature” at the end consisted of a mark (similar to an “X”), not an alphabetical name.
- The county judge refused to admit the will to probate, concluding that Florida’s execution statute required an alphabetical signature.
- The district court of appeal affirmed and certified the question as one of great public interest.
- The Florida Supreme Court accepted review and consolidated the matter with a second probate case presenting the same issue.

## Issues

1. Whether the statutory requirement that a testator “sign his will” is satisfied when the testator executes the will with a mark (such as an “X”) rather than an alphabetical signature.

## Decision

- The Florida Supreme Court reversed the decision refusing probate.
- The Court held that a testator may validly “sign” a will by making a mark, if the mark is intended to serve as the testator’s signature and authenticate the will.
- The Court rejected the view that the statute limited “sign” to writing an alphabetical name.
- The Court concluded that the attestation requirement supplies the principal protection against fraud, and execution by mark is not materially more risky than permitting another person to sign the testator’s name at the testator’s direction.

## Legal Principles

- Absent explicit statutory language to the contrary, “sign” in will-execution statutes includes a mark made with intent to authenticate the document.
- A testator’s mark can satisfy the signing requirement when statutory formalities are otherwise met, including execution or acknowledgment in the presence of the required witnesses.
- Courts should avoid reading additional technical requirements into will-execution statutes that would defeat testamentary intent without clear legislative command.
- Fraud-prevention concerns are addressed primarily through contemporaneous witnessing and the witnesses’ ability to testify to the testator’s act and intent.

## Conclusion

Florida law permits a will to be executed by the testator’s mark, so long as the mark is made with intent to function as the testator’s signature and the will otherwise complies with statutory execution and attestation requirements.


Baron v. Williams (In re Estate of Williams), 182 So. 2d 10 (Fla. 1965)