Harrison v. Bird

Daisy Speer's 1989 will named Harrison (plaintiff) primary beneficiary and executrix; in 1991 Speer called her attorney and asked him to destroy the original, which he tore into four pieces and mailed back to her, but when Speer died later that year, only the attorney's cover letter — not the torn pieces — was found among her effects. Harrison, who held a copy of the original will, sought to probate that copy; the circuit court found the will had not been destroyed in Speer's actual presence and so was not formally revoked or ratified as revoked, but the probate court nonetheless treated the estate as intestate and appointed Mae Bird (defendant) administrator, reasoning that the missing torn pieces created a presumption of revocation that Harrison failed to rebut. Harrison appealed to the Alabama Supreme Court.