## Facts

- E. Jessaline Pasquali Rigsby died, and her surviving spouse found two handwritten pages folded together in a ledger but not fastened.
- Both pages were in the decedent’s handwriting and were initialed and dated at the top with the same date.
- The first page opened with an express statement of testamentary intent and made specific property dispositions; it was signed at the bottom, with blank space below the signature.
- The second page was unsigned and consisted of a list of personal property items followed by individuals’ names; it did not state it was a will and did not refer to the first page.
- The pages were not numbered and contained no internal cross-references connecting them as a single instrument.
- The district court admitted only the signed page to probate as a holographic will under 84 O.S. § 54, found certain markings/erasures did not invalidate it, and refused to admit the unsigned page as part of the will, by incorporation, or as a codicil.
- The decedent’s sister appealed, arguing both pages should be admitted together as the will.

## Issues

1. Whether two contemporaneously dated handwritten pages, only one of which is signed and expressly testamentary, may be treated as a single holographic will.
2. Whether the unsigned page could be admitted as part of the will through incorporation by reference.
3. Whether the unsigned page could qualify as a holographic codicil despite lacking a signature and clear testamentary intent.

## Decision

- The Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals affirmed the order admitting only the signed page to probate.
- The court held the signed page satisfied Oklahoma’s statutory requirements for a holographic will and reflected completed testamentary intent.
- The court held the unsigned page could not be admitted as part of the will because it lacked a signature and sufficient indicia of testamentary intent.
- The court rejected incorporation-by-reference and codicil theories because the signed page did not refer to the unsigned page, and the unsigned page did not meet statutory execution requirements.

## Legal Principles

- A holographic will must be entirely in the testator’s handwriting, dated, and signed as required by 84 O.S. § 54.
- A signature at the bottom of a testamentary writing is evidence the testator intended the document to be complete at that point.
- Separate sheets are not treated as a single holographic will absent sufficient internal connection showing they were intended as one instrument.
- Incorporation by reference requires a will to refer to another existing writing with enough specificity to identify it; a writing not referenced cannot be incorporated.
- A holographic codicil must satisfy the same handwriting, date, signature, and testamentary-intent requirements as a holographic will.
- Alterations or erasures do not necessarily invalidate a holographic will where the testamentary intent of the compliant, signed writing remains evident and the markings are not shown to be the testator’s operative changes.

## Conclusion

The court upheld probate of the decedent’s signed handwritten page as a valid holographic will and excluded an unsigned second page found with it, because the second page lacked a signature, lacked clear testamentary intent, and was neither incorporated by reference nor a valid codicil.


Matter of Estate of Rigsby, 843 P.2d 856 (Okla. Civ. App. 1992)