# C o u rt o f

A p p ea ls

o f t h e S t a te o f

G eo rg ia

ATLANTA,_

_ _ __ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ __ _

Th e Co u rt

o f Ap p ea l s h er eb y p a s s es t h e f

o ll owi n g o r der :

A1 5 I 0 2 16

. PHI LLI P W ARREN et a l

. v . FRANK GLASSNER et a l

.

Ph i l li p an d Di an e W arren s eek i m m ed i at e rev i ew o f t h e d en i al o f t h ei r m o t i o n

fo r s u m m ary ju d g m en t i n a co n s o l i d at ed act i o n co ncern i n g t h e v al i d i t y o f a wi l l an d

o f p ay ab l e-o n -d eat h (“ POD”) b en efi ci ary d es i gn at i on s as t o t wo cert i fi cat es o f

d ep os i t (“ CDs ”). T h e d i s p u t e u n d erl y i n g t h i s cas e beg an wh en Fran k Gl as s n er fi l ed

a cav eat t o a w i l l Ph i ll i p W arren o ffered fo r p ro bat e i n t h e es t at e of Led y ne M erri l y

St an t o n

. Gl as s n er al l eg ed t h at St an t o n h ad lack ed t h e req u is i t e t es t am en t ary cap aci t y

t o creat e t h e w i l l an d t h at th e wi l l h ad b een p ro cu red b y u n d u e i nfl u en ce. Aft er t h e

p ro b at e co u rt g ran t ed W arren ’ s p et i ti o n to pro b at e t h e wi ll i n s ol em n fo rm

, G l as s n er

ap p eal ed t o t he s u p eri o r co u rt an d al s o fi l ed a ci v i l act i o n al l eg in g t h at W arren an d

o t h ers h ad en g ag ed i n un d u e in fl u en ce an d t ort i ou s i n t erferen ce wi t h h i s in h eri t an ce

ri gh t s. G l as s n er s ou g h t to s et as i d e t h e wi l l an d t h e POD d es ig n at i o n s as to t h e CDs

.

Ph i l l ip an d Di an e W arren fi l ed a d ecl arat o ry j u d gm en t act i o n s eek i n g t o u p h o l d t h e

wi l l an d t h e POD d es i g n at i o n s. Th e p art i es ag reed t o co ns o li d at e al l t h ree p en d i n g

act i on s

, t h e s u p e ri o r co u rt den i ed t h e W arren s ’ m o t i on fo r s um m ary ju d g m en t

, an d

t h i s ap p l i cat i o n fo r i nt erl o cu t o ry rev i ew fo l l o wed

.

Ou r St at e co n st i t u t i o n g ran ts t h e Geo rg ia Su p rem e Co u rt ju ri s d ict i o n o v er

ap p eal s i n “ [a] l l cas es in vo l v i n g wi l l s .” G a. Co n s t

. o f 1 9 8 3

, A rt

. VI, Sec. VI, Par. III

(3 ). As t h e Su p rem e Co u rt h a s e x p l ai n ed

, “ ‘ al l cas es i n v o l v in g wi l l s ’ m ean s t h o s e

cas es in wh i ch t h e wi ll ’ s v al i d i t y o r m ean i n g i s i n q u es t i o n .” In r e Es t a t e o f Lo t t

, 2 5 1

Ga. 4 61 (3 0 6 SE2 d 9 20 ) (1 9 8 3 ). Here, b y c l a i m i n g t h at t h e d eced en t l ack ed t h e

req u i s i t e m en t al t es t am en t ary cap aci t y an d t h at t h e wi l l was t h e p r o d u c t o f u n d u e

i n fl u en ce, G l as s n e r i s a t t ack i n g t h e u n d erl y in g v al i d i t y o f th e wi l l

. See Li l l a r d v. June 23, 2015Owen s

, 28 1 Ga. 61 9

, 6 2 0-2 2 (1 ) (6 4 1 SE2 d 5 1 1 ) (2 0 0 7 ); McCo r mi ck v. Jef f er s

, 2 8 1

Ga. 2 6 4

, 26 8 (4 ) (6 3 7 SE2 d 6 6 6 ) (2 0 0 6 ). Th i s ap p l i cat i on i s h ereb y TRANSFERRED

t o t he Su p rem e Co u rt fo r d i s po s i t i o n

.

C o u r t o f A p p e a l s o f t h e S t a t e o

f G e o r g ia

C le r k ’ s O f f i c e

, A t la n t a

,

_

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ I c e r t i f y th a t t h e a b o v e i s a t r u e e x t r a c t f r o m

t h e m i n u t e s o

f t h e C o u r t o

f A p p e a l s o f G e o r g i a

.

W i tn e s s m y s i g n a t u r e a n d t h e s e a l o

f s a i d c o u r t

h e r e t o a f f i x e d t h e d a y a n d y e a r l a s t a b o v e w r i t t e n

.

, C l e r k

. 06/23/2015