In re Estate of Wiltfong
Colorado Court of Appeals
148 P.3d 465 (2006)
Wiltfong gave his domestic partner of 20 years, Rex (plaintiff), a signed letter stating that upon his death all his property should go to Rex, delivered in front of two other people who witnessed the handoff but not Wiltfong's actual signing of the letter; after Wiltfong's death, Rex petitioned to admit the letter as his will, opposed by the mother of Wiltfong's nephews (defendant), who stood to inherit as his heirs if he died intestate. The trial court found the letter was not a valid will, meaning Wiltfong died intestate, and Rex appealed.
Whether a document that does not meet all of the statutory requirements of a will may still be treated as a will if the proponent establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the decedent intended the document to serve as a will.