Unthank v. Rippstein

Three days before his death, C.P. Craft wrote to Iva Rippstein (plaintiff) stating he would send her $200 monthly for five years, initially conditioned on 'provided I live that long,' but he then struck that conditional language and wrote in the margin that he intended to 'hereby and herewith bind my estate to make the $200.00 monthly payments.' After Rippstein's attempt to probate the letter as a holographic codicil failed, she sued Craft's estate executors (defendants) for payments already due and a declaration binding the estate to future payments, arguing the letter created a trust binding whatever portion of the estate was needed to make the payments; the trial court granted summary judgment for the executors, but the Court of Civil Appeals reversed in Rippstein's favor, and the executors appealed to the Texas Supreme Court.