Monday, September 20, 2010

Court Reviews a Petition for Probate of a Lost Will

THE ESTATE OF ELLA MAE COCKRILL (Tenn. Ct. App. September 20, 2010)


The son of a woman who died at the age of ninety-four filed a petition for probate in solemn form of his mother's lost will. After examining a photocopy of the alleged will and hearing proof from six witnesses, the trial court granted the petition. One of the granddaughters of the decedent appealed, and she has presented a number of arguments to suggest that the trial court erred. We have considered her arguments on appeal, but in the absence of a trial transcript or a statement of the evidence, we must assume that the trial court's decision is fully supported by the record. We accordingly affirm.

Opinion available at:

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2010/cockrille.pdf