Can a photocopy of a Last Will and Testament be admitted to Harris County Probate if the original Will can not be located?

In many cases a photocopy of a Will can not be admitted to Probate Court. However, the case of In re Estate of Turner 265 S.W.3d 709 illustrates one set of facts where a photocopy was accepted by the Probate Court.

When the original will cannot be located and the Will was last seen in the testator’s possession, a presumption arises that the testator destroyed the Will with the intent of revoking it. If you seek to admit a photocopy of a Will when the original was last seen in the possession of the deceased you must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the deceased did not intend to revoke the Will.

In this case, the girlfriend of the deceased testified that he showed her his Will, returned it to its usual storage location, watched television, went to his bedroom, and fatally shot himself. The deceased’s disinherited relatives and other people had access to the deceased’s house shortly after his death. The Court concluded that these facts were sufficient to overcome the presumption that the deceased intended to revoke his original Will.