Sticky notes
TUCSON, Ariz. - People have signed wills with a simple ‘X.’ They’ve even drafted wills missing their name. But a sticky note signed only with an `XO’ doesn’t qualify as a valid will, an Arizona court ruled, dashing the hopes of a woman who hoped to inherit her friend’s estate.
Jamie Leandra Bixby was found dead in her home in 2023 with a pair of sticky notes left on a coffee table. One said “I’m sorry, I just don’t have the tools for this. Beth gets everything.” The second one said “Also, sorry universe, thank you for the experience . . . . maybe XO.”
Bixby’s five sisters applied for informal probate of her estate, saying they weren’t aware of any will. Darcy Elezabeth Levendis, or “Beth,” objected and claimed the sticky notes were a valid will leaving her Bixby’s estate.
A trial court ruled for the sisters and Levendis appealed. But the Arizona Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of her case in a July 11 decision.
While there is precedent in Arizona for courts to find wills signed with a simple ‘X’ to be valid, the court said, there were witnesses present to testify as to the signer’s intent. Also, `XO’ is commonly known to stand for “hugs and kisses.”
And for a will to be valid, it must have a signature demonstrating the intent to authenticate the document, the court said.
“Bixby might have adorned her letters, emails, and text messages with hugs and kisses numbering in the hundreds or even thousands, but the frequency and number of such affectionate expressions do not suggest that Bixby ever used the same or similar symbols with an intent to authenticate a document as her own,” Judge Christopher O’Neill wrote.
“In this case, neither the mark itself nor anything else written on the sticky notes identifies the notes as belonging to Bixby, much less that she intended the mark to authenticate them.”
The sisters were represented by Jaburg & Wilk, while Levendis was represented by Michael J. Harper of Harper Law Offices.