What exactly did Opal Gefon mean when she typed her will, leaving "the remainder of my savings and checking" to "the Native American Indians?" We may never know for certain, but that answer will not suffice in probate proceedings. Somehow the probate court had to decide what to do with the $226,000 found in her safe deposit box.

A month before her death Ms. Gefon had written out her will. It had no witnesses, but under Arkansas law (which is the same on this subject as the law of Arizona), a "holographic" will such as hers is valid. The appellate court decision describing Ms. Gefon’s will does not indicate why she chose to write out her own will, but let us imagine that she, like many other holographic will authors, did not want to spend the money or time on consulting with a lawyer to prepare a more effective document.

What was wrong with Ms. Gefon’s holographic will? Several things. She named the Governor of Michigan as her executor (Governor Jennifer Granholm declined, as she apparently had other, pressing, business). But the larger problem was how Ms. Gefon listed who was to receive which of her assets. Probably it made perfect sense to her at the time, but it was a puzzle for the probate judge and the half-dozen lawyers who ended up litigating over her intentions.

Ms. Gefon’s will left her "savings and checking account" at the First Team Bank to the Lost Cherokee of Arkansas and Missouri, Inc (caution: the link automatically launches a sound file that you may find annoying). That raised the first problem -- there are at least two groups using similar names -- the incorporated one, mentioned above, headquartered in Conway, Arkansas, and a separate group in Dover, about 50 miles away. Since Ms. Gefon's bank account balances totaled more than $205,000, litigation was all but inevitable.

The probate judge decided that the group using the "Inc." at the end of their name was entitled to the money. The Dover group, shut out from receiving any of Ms. Gefon's accounts, may have complained bitterly, but they apparently did not appeal the ruling.

But what did Ms. Gefon mean by her later reference to "my savings and checking" going to "the Native American Indians?" The probate judge decided that she must have intended to add this bequest to what she left to the Lost Cherokee, the only Native American group mentioned in her entire will. And since her safe deposit box contents amounted to "savings" in the bank, the judge added that $206,000 as well.

Ms. Gefon’s family argued that the phrase "savings and checking" must have meant only Ms. Gefon’s actual bank accounts. Thus, they reasoned, she had made no provision at all for the remaining cash, and so it should go to family. The Arkansas Court of Appeals disagreed, and upheld the probate judge’s award to the Lost Cherokee. McMillon v. Lost Cherokee of Arkansas and Missouri, Inc., March 12, 2008.

Assuming that Ms. Gefon intended to leave most of her estate to the, didn’t she ultimately do just fine? Yes -- assuming that she wouldn’t object to the thousands of dollars of legal fees incurred to complete her estate. And if her intent was not to benefit the Conway group of Lost Cherokee, or not to include her safe deposit box contents, or to more generally benefit "the Native American Indians," then her holographic will utterly failed to convey her intentions.

What is the lesson of Ms. Gefon's holographic will? It should be obvious, even though it is (for a law firm like ours) self-serving. Competent legal advice pays for itself, sometimes many times over. Ms. Gefon's attempt to avoid lawyers and save money (assuming that is what she was attempting) accomplished neither. In fact, teams of lawyers were involved in administering or contesting her estate, and the costs were likely tens of thousands of dollars -- perhaps more.

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