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Estate of DePasse

118 Cal. Rptr. 2d 143 (Cal. Ct. App. 2002)

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Estate of DePasse

California Court of Appeal
118 Cal. Rptr. 2d 143 (Cal. Ct. App. 2002)

Facts

Derrel DePasse and Jack Harris (plaintiff) lived together in Harris’s California home. While Derrel was hospitalized with a terminal illness, she executed a holographic, or handwritten, will instructing her brother to donate her artwork to named museums. The will did not mention Harris. Two days later, while DePasse remained hospitalized, DePasse and Harris asked the hospital chaplain to marry them. They admitted that they did not have a marriage license but said that they wanted to be married before DePasse’s imminent death. The chaplain performed a marriage ceremony at the hospital, and DePasse died the next day. In the subsequent probate proceeding, Harris filed a spousal property petition, seeking ownership of certain of DePasse’s assets. The court denied the petition, concluding that the marriage was invalid because it was performed without a valid marriage license. Harris appealed, arguing that the failure to obtain a marriage license did not invalidate the purported marriage.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Bamattre-Mankoukian, J.)

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