In the Matter of the Estate of Pamela Ann Gavin, Deceased
Karen Sue Ruelle, n/k/a Karen Sue Barnhart, Appellant.
Attorney for Appellant
Della M. Arriaga
Attorney for Appellee
Kevin Cunningham
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Katie Ranes, Judge. REVERSED AND REMANDED. Considered by Schumacher, P.J., and Ahlers and Langholz, JJ. Opinion by Langholz, J. (13 pages)
Karen Barnhart appeals the denial of her petition to admit her mother’s will into probate. She argues the court erred in holding that the will was not signed by two witnesses and that the attached self-proving affidavit was not properly executed because it was cross-notarized by each of the signing witnesses. OPINION HOLDS: The witness signatures on the self-proving affidavit—which was attached to the will in sequentially numbered pages and dated the same day as testator’s signature on the will—satisfy the statutory requirement for witnesses to sign the will. The district court thus erred in denying admission of the will on this basis and in refusing to accept further proof of the subscribing witnesses to remedy any defect in the self-proving affidavit. We do not decide whether the district court was correct in its interpretation of the notarization requirement because regardless the affidavit does not meet the statutory requirement for a self-proving affidavit.
