Gushwa v. Hunt

George Gushwa left his original will with Ted Dale for safekeeping, then sought to revoke it; disputing accounts existed over whether Ted refused to send George the original or merely sent photocopied pages per George's own instruction, but George wrote "revoked" on photocopied pages he possessed and, with his attorney, executed a separate "Revocation of Missing Will(s)" document stating his intent to revoke and that his estate would pass by intestacy absent a subsequent will; he later wrote "revoked" on an entire photocopy of the will obtained from his attorney. After George's death, his wife Zane (plaintiff) argued he died intestate through this revocation, while niece Wanda Hunt (defendant) argued the will remained valid since the revocation didn't comply with statutory requirements; the district court and court of appeals agreed with Hunt, and Zane appealed.