The North Carolina Bar Foundation’s ambitious quest to host Wills for Heroes clinics at every North Carolina law school in a single bar year came to fruition when the acclaimed pro bono program visited Campbell Law School in Raleigh ...

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Where caveators’ expert would have testified about “attorney shopping” – a phenomenon which jurors could readily understand on their own – the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it excluded such testimony. We find no abuse of discretion ...

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Even though, in the parties’ pre-marital agreement, they did not explicitly waive an elective share in each other’s estates, since the agreement gave each party the right to manage his/her respective separate property as if they were unmarried, and since ...

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Moore v. McKenzie (Lawyers Weekly No. 012-154-17, 6 pp.) (Lucy Inman, J.) Appealed from Harnett County District Court (Jimmy Love Jr., J.) N.C. App. Unpub. Holding: Even though, on the same date and with the same witnesses and notary, plaintiff’s ...

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In re Will of Allen (Lawyers Weekly No. 011-165-17, 11 pp.) (Valerie Zachary, J.) Appealed from Beaufort County Superior Court (Jeffrey Foster, J.) N.C. App. Holding: The words of a handwritten notation appearing on a typewritten will are not sufficient, ...

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A sprawling and complex case centered on the validity of the final wishes of a wealthy Hilton Head Island heiress has finally reached an end with a series of large settlements in the Carolinas. Eleanor Breedlove’s death at the age ...

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In re Estate of Phillips (Lawyers Weekly No. 011-417-16, 24 pp.) (John Tyson, J.) Appealed from Alamance County Superior Court (Eric Morgan, J.) N.C. App. Holding: Since the caveator was an heir-at-law of the decedent, she had standing to contest ...

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In re Estate of Sanders (Lawyers Weekly No. 012-168-16, 13 pp.) (Wanda Bryant, J.) Appealed from Johnston County Superior Court (R. Frank Floyd, J.) N.C. App. Unpub. Holding: Even though (1) there was some evidence that the testator had mentally ...

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Brittian v. Brittian (Lawyers Weekly No. 15-07-0882, 8 pp.) (Chris Dillon, J.) Appealed from Burke County Superior Court (Robert Sumner, J.) N.C. App. Holding: While the issue of whether a contested writing is the valid will of the testator may ...

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In re Estate of Pickelsimer (Lawyers Weekly No. 15-07-0811, 22 pp.) (Wanda Bryant, J.) Appealed from Transylvania County Superior Court (Anderson Cromer, J.) N.C. App. Holding: Since the jury heard the gist of caveators’ evidence about their late father’s disenchantment ...

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