Rebutting Presumption of Revocation of Lost Will

The Orphans’ Court had jurisdiction to consider the probate of a lost will after letters of administration had been issued to the decedent’s daughter, and even though the Register of Wills had never acted on a petition to probate the will and revoke the letters previously granted. Proof of the execution and contents of the will was not challenged on appeal, and the presumption of revocation by the testator was effectively rebutted by testimony that the decedent had continued to declare that he was disinheriting his daughter, and that the will could have been destroyed in the same gas explosion that killed the decedent and destroyed his home, presumably destroying the will as well. In re: Estate of Russell R. Felix, 1184 WDA 2022 (Pa. Super. 8/28/2023) (non-precedential).

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