## Facts

- Harry A. Kimmel, a chairmaker in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, wrote a handwritten letter on December 12, 1921, addressed to his sons George and Irvin.
- Kimmel had been ill and had missed work in the days before writing the letter.
- The letter discussed ordinary matters but also referred to “valuable papers” and directed that George and Irvin keep them.
- In the letter, Kimmel stated that “if enny thing happens” his stock money, bank assets (including liberty loans), post office stamps, and his home on Horner Street would go to George, Darl, and Irvin.
- Kimmel instructed the sons to keep and lock up the letter because “it may help you.”
- The letter was entirely in Kimmel’s handwriting and ended with the sign-off “Father.”
- Kimmel mailed the letter the morning it was written and died suddenly later the same day.
- After Kimmel’s death, George, Darl, and Irvin offered the letter for probate; Oliver B. Kimmel, an heir not named in the letter, objected.
- The Orphans’ Court directed the register of wills to probate the letter as Kimmel’s will; Oliver appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether an informal handwritten letter using conditional language (“if enny thing happens”) was testamentary in character and intended to dispose of property at death.
2. Whether the sign-off “Father,” written by the decedent at the end of a wholly handwritten instrument, satisfied the statutory signature requirement for a will.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania affirmed the decree admitting the letter to probate as Kimmel’s will.
- The court held the letter was testamentary because its language and surrounding circumstances showed intent to make a disposition effective at death.
- The court held that “Father” at the end of the letter constituted a valid signature for purposes of the Wills Act when used as the testator’s authenticating mark on a completed instrument.

## Legal Principles

- A writing need not be in conventional will form to be admitted to probate; testamentary character turns on whether the writing, read in context, shows intent to transfer property upon death.
- Conditional phrases such as “if anything happens” may evidence a death-conditioned disposition when supported by circumstances indicating concern about impending death.
- Surrounding circumstances (including illness, timing of death, identification of property and beneficiaries, and instructions to preserve the writing) may be considered to determine testamentary intent.
- The signature requirement is satisfied if the testator affixes a mark or name intended to authenticate the instrument; a full legal name is not required.
- For holographic instruments, a familiar concluding sign-off can function as a valid signature when it is placed at the end and indicates finality and adoption of the writing.

## Conclusion

A wholly handwritten letter disposing of identified property to named beneficiaries can be probated as a will when the language and circumstances show intent to make a disposition at death, and the statutory signature requirement is met even if the testator signs with a customary sign-off such as “Father.”


In re Kimmel's Estate, 278 Pa. 435, 123 A. 405 (Pa. 1924)