## Facts

- Dexter G. Johnson prepared a multi-paragraph typewritten document intended as his will, but the typed portion was undated, unsigned, and unattested.
- On the same sheet, he later added several handwritten sentences that were dated and signed in his own handwriting.
- The handwritten portion made a specific bequest (leaving his brother James ten dollars) and included language treating the instrument as complete unless later changed.
- Johnson told an insurance counselor he had a will that needed revising and discussed his intended property disposition.
- He showed the typed document to a rental agent, stated it was his will, and asked the agent to witness it, but no formal witnessing occurred.
- When the rental agent later offered again to witness the will, Johnson stated he had already written a codicil and there was no need.
- After Johnson’s death, the combined typed and handwritten document was offered for probate; family members contested its validity.

## Issues

1. Whether the typewritten portion constituted a valid will despite being undated, unsigned, and unattested.
2. Whether the handwritten, signed, and dated portion qualified as a valid holographic codicil.
3. Whether a valid holographic codicil may incorporate by reference an otherwise invalid typed will so the typed dispositions become effective.

## Decision

- The Oklahoma Supreme Court reversed the denial of probate.
- The Court held the typewritten portion, standing alone, was invalid because it did not comply with statutory execution and attestation requirements.
- The Court held the handwritten portion was a valid holographic testamentary instrument because it was in the testator’s handwriting, signed, dated, and made a testamentary disposition.
- The Court held the holographic codicil incorporated the preexisting typed will by reference, allowing the combined dispositions to be admitted to probate.

## Legal Principles

- A typewritten will that is undated, unsigned, and unattested is invalid under statutory will-execution formalities.
- A writing may qualify as a holographic will or codicil if it is in the testator’s handwriting, signed (and, where required, dated), and reflects testamentary intent.
- A valid holographic codicil may incorporate by reference a separate document that is not itself properly executed as a will if:
  - the referenced document existed when the codicil was executed,
  - the codicil and circumstances sufficiently identify the document, and
  - the testator intended the referenced document to be part of the testamentary plan.
- Extrinsic evidence may be used to confirm the testator’s intent that the handwritten instrument operate as a codicil connected to the prior writing.

## Conclusion

The court admitted the instrument to probate by treating the handwritten, signed, and dated addition as a valid holographic codicil that incorporated the earlier typed will by reference, thereby giving effect to the typed dispositions without relaxing the statutory formalities applicable to the typed writing itself.


Johnson v. Johnson, 279 P.2d 928 (Okla. 1954)