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92 Tul. L. Rev. 969 (2017-2018)

handle is hein.journals/tulr92 and id is 1017 raw text is: How Substantial Is Substantial? Compliance with the Louisiana Civil Code's Requirements for Notarial Testaments I. OVERVIEW ...........................................969 II. BACKGROUND ........................... .....970 A. Relevant Provisions of the Louisiana Civil Code ........970 B. Historical Application of the Provisions in the Jurisprudence ...................... ......972 III. COuRT'S DECISION ..................................973 IV. ANALYSIS ...................................978 I. OVERVIEW Ronnie Robert Toney died on January 19, 2015, and left a will that test[ed] the limits of what constitutes compliance with the formal requirements of [Louisiana Civil Code article] 1577 for the purpose of confecting a valid notarial testament under Louisiana law.' Years earlier, his second wife, Jeannette Rena Toney, died in October 1999 and bequeathed her entire estate to Mr. Toney.2 Her testament alternatively named Richie Glenn Gerding, her brother, as her successor if Mr. Toney did not survive her.3 Likewise, Mr. Toney had also named Gerding as his successor in his will, dated August 2, 2014.4 Because Mrs. Toney's testament was not opened upon her death, Gerding sought to file and execute the testaments of both estates at the same time as an independent executor.5 Gerding's April 13, 2015, Petition for Filing and Execution of Testaments and for Confirmation of Independent Executor resulted in both of the Toneys' testaments being probated.6 Less than a month later, Mr. Toney's uncle and nearest heir,7 John Huey Pierce Jenkins, filed a petition for the annulment of Mr. Toney's testament alleging that it was absolutely null due to lack of compliance with the form requirements given in article 1577.8 Specifically, Jenkins argued that the testament's form 1. Successions of Toney, 2016-1534, p. 5 (La. 5/3/17); 226 So. 3d 397, 401. 2. Id. at p. 1; 226 So. 3d at 399. 3. Id. at p. 1 & n.1; 226 So. 3d at 399 & n.1. 4. Id. at p. 1; 226 So. 3d at 409 (Johnson, C.J., dissenting). 5. Id. at pp. 1-2; 226 So. 3d at 399 (majority opinion). 6. Id. at p. 2; 226 So. 3d at 399. 7. Id. at p. 4; 226 So. 3d at 400. 8. Id. at p. 2; 226 So. 3d at 399. 969

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