The Will In the Front Yard

Antonio and Ann Yzaguirre died when a tornado hit their Tennessee home several days before Christmas. Oddly, several pages of their will were found 55 miles away in the front yard of Sharon Thompson.  In looking for the owner of the will, she connected the will to the Yzagurirres through a Google search.  

Several quick points:

1.  It is best to not keep an original will where it can be destroyed in a natural disaster or fire (or thrown away accidentally with a poor screenplay).

2.  Of pieces of paper to find after a tornado, a will has to rank down there with credit card bills and junk mail.

3.  No word on whether the Yzaguirres lived in a mobile home.

The Will In the Cupboard

Melissa Mathison, who died last month at the age of 65, was renowned for being the screenwriter of E.T. and The Black Stallion.  She had also been married to Harrison Ford from 1983  until 2004.  She left an estate worth $22 million, most of which is in trust.  However, her original will cannot be located.

Several very quick points because this is the holiday season after all:

1.  A copy of a lost will can be admitted to probate in Ohio if there is proof it was validly executed and that it was not revoked.

2.  I offer to retain original wills for my clients so they cannot be accidentally misplaced.

3.  Mathison's family might wish to search for the will among the presumably multitude of rejected drafts of The Indian in the Cupboard while she tried to make it into an enjoyable movie.