OPINION
I. Introduction
Bernice Palecki crafted by hand an “Item Four” that works in concert with her holographic Last Will and Testament dated September 24, 1985 (the “Will”). If read together with the Will, the handcrafted addendum — which I will call the “Codicil” — makes sense of the rest of the Will, which would otherwise outline an incomplete dispositive scheme. The Will, in its itemized list of bequests and instructions, makes only one complete testamentary gift: leaving the entire estate to Bernice’s sister, Helen Palecki, if Helen survived Bernice. Thereafter, however, the Will contains a handwritten numeral “4” followed by a dash and a series of blank lines. As such, the Will does not address the possibility that Helen might die before Bernice. The Codicil, which bears the title “Item Four,” sets forth a bequest that fills that gap in both the text and dispositive scheme of the Will. In the event that Helen predeceases Bernice, the Codicil names most of Bernice’s siblings (if they survive Bernice) and about half of her nieces and nephews as the contingent beneficiaries of her estate. Unlike the Will itself, the Codicil, although indisputably in the handwriting of Bernice Palecki, was not signed by her and bears no date.
Because all of Bernice Palecki’s siblings died before she did, if the Codicil is given force, Bernice’s estate will pass to the five nieces and nephews that she named in that writing. If, however, the Codicil is declared invalid, her estate will pass by intes
The petitioners — Walter Palecki, Richard Palecki, Eugene Palecki, Helen Piorko NiemHewicz, and Edward Piorko — are five nieces and nephews of Bernice Palecki who were not named as beneficiaries in the Codicil. Respondent Joseph Gornik is one of the beneficiaries named in the Codicil and the executor appointed in the Will.
The petitioners allege that the Codicil is invalid because it was not executed contemporaneously with the Will and because the absence of a signature renders it invalid under Delaware law. At this stage in the proceedings, discovery has been concluded, and respondent Gornik has moved for summary judgment. For purposes of this motion, Gornik concedes that there is a genuine dispute of fact about whether Bernice Palecki drafted the Codicil at the same time as the Will. Notwithstanding this factual dispute, Gornik argues that the Codicil is valid because there is no dispute that Palecki wrote it or that by its plain terms the Codicil works with the text of the Will in a sensible manner. Relying upon a recently-enacted New Jersey statute and the fact that Palecki lived in New Jersey at the time she drafted the Will and Codicil, Gornik argues that the absence of a signature is immaterial because New Jersey has now dispensed with a mandatory signature requirement. He argues that Delaware’s probate choice of law statute, § 1306 of Title 12, should be read to validate the Codicil because the Codicil would be valid in New Jersey where Palecki was domiciled when she wrote it.
In this opinion, I reject Gornik’s motion for summary judgment.
As Gornik’s counsel admits, the plain language of the relevant Delaware statutes — 12 Del. C. § 1306 and a related statute, 12 Del. C. § 202 — only give deference to wills executed in other states when those wills are “signed by the testator” or by a representative of the testator in the testator’s presence and at the testator’s express direction. Those statutory sections are over thirty years old and date to a time when every state required wills and codicils to be signed. In recent years, a small number of states, including New Jersey, have dispensed with an absolute signature requirement. Gornik therefore seeks to have me “evolve” the relevant Delaware statutes in light of these developments, by reading out the requirement for a signature. In other words, Gornik would have me amend statutes of longstanding when the General Assembly has not done so.
Such a request cannot be granted, lest this court usurp the General Assembly’s legislative powers by ignoring plain statutory text. Nor can illegitimate judicial amendments of these statutes be justified on the grounds that the statutes work absurd results. For one thing, the interpretive maxim that permits a court to eschew a literal reading of a textually-unambiguous statute on the grounds that the literal reading produces absurd results has to be used with great caution and delicacy, lest the judiciary’s own sense of appropriate public policy outcomes usurp the powers entrusted to the elected legislative branch. For that reason, courts will only refuse to give effect to a linguistically faithful reading of a clear statute in the most extreme circumstances. As Chief Justice Marshall explained nearly two centuries ago, “[I]f ... the plain meaning of a provision, not contradicted by any other provision in the same instrument, is to be disregarded, because we believe the framers of that instrument could not intend what they say, it must be one in which the absurdity and injustice of
II. Factual Background
Bernice Paleeki had at least seven brothers and sisters, but she did not have any children of her own. As of 1985, Bernice was a resident of Ventnor, New Jersey.
In September of that year, Bernice executed her holographic Will. The Will that Bernice prepared is a two-page, pre-print-ed form with a coversheet onto which she handwrote her last wishes. 2 On the series of blank lines on the form, Bernice wrote four numeric “Item” headings, but she only completed three of those items. The first and second items contained Bernice’s burial wishes and directed that her debts and funeral expenses be paid by her estate. The third item (“Item 3”) presents the only bequest written on the Will form itself. Item 3 reads:
3 — If survived by my sister Helen, I leave everything I have, whatever it may be, to my sister Helen. 3
Following this section, Bernice wrote “4 — ” but listed nothing thereafter. 4 As a result, the bottom of that page of the Will was left blank. As such, the Will itself made no provision for the possibility that Helen might die before Bernice.
In the Codicil, which was written on a separate, smaller sheet of paper than the Will itself, Bernice supplied the missing “Item 4” in the Will, naming most of her siblings and half of her nieces and nephews as beneficiaries in the event Helen predeceased her. The Codicil states:
Item Four:
If I should survive my sister Helen Pa-lecki I request the execution of item one and item two and the cancellation of item three because of the death of Helen Paleeki. I bequeath equal parts of my estate to my surviving brothers and sisters and to my neices (sic) and nephews here named. 5
After this language, the Codicil provides a two column list. The left column is titled “Brothers and sisters” and lists Stanley Paleeki, Walter Paleeki, Mary Rupnicki, Stephanie, and Sophie Gornik.
6
This list comprised all of Bernice’s siblings, save her sister Anna who had become a nun and changed her name to Sister M. Adelaide, OSF. The right column is titled “Nieces and nephews” and lists Regina Z., Francis P., Theresa Bradley, John Gornik, and re
The petitioners concede that the Codicil was written in Bernice Palecki’s handwriting but point out the equally undisputed and important facts that the Codicil bears no date or signature. Because the Codicil bequeaths property to Bernice’s brothers Walter and Stanley if “surviving,” the only relevant evidence in the discovery record suggests the Codicil was written before they died in May 1990 and June 1991, respectively. As of that time, Bernice remained a New Jersey resident. Although the petitioners say it is uncertain when the Codicil was drafted, they have adduced no evidence suggesting a rational inference that the Codicil was written after 1991.
In 1994, Bernice moved to Delaware with her sister Helen because Helen had become terrified of the ocean after a violent summer storm sent waves crashing into the beachfront property in Ventor, New Jersey where the two previously lived. Shortly after the move, in November of that year, Helen died, leaving Bernice to live alone in the new home they purchased in Delaware. 8
Five years later, this court appointed Thomas Posatko of Supportive Care Services as the guardian of Bernice Palecki’s person and property. 9 That appointment was designed to diffuse infighting among Bernice’s nieces and nephews, much of which was centered on their conflicting desires about use of the property in Vent-nor at the Jersey Shore and about care for her Wilmington home. 10 According to Po-satko, Bernice Palecki was “fully oriented” at that time, and “the guardianship was [in his view] really requested ... on the basis of the fear of designing persons more so than anything else.” 11
Unfortunately, although Posatko apparently viewed Bernice as having the capacity rationally to discuss important matters with him in a non-coercive setting, Posatko never discussed with Bernice what she wished to do with her estate or whether she had a will.
12
At some point, Posatko
Bernice resided in Delaware until her death on March 9, 2005. After Bernice died, Posatko filed the Will and Codicil with the Register of Wills of the State of Delaware. 13 From that point on, things get confusing. Suffice it to say for present purposes that there are a host of factual issues regarding the condition of the Will and Codicil. Among them is whether the Codicil was physically attached to the Will at the time Posatko received those documents and at the time he filed them with the Register of Wills. For now, what matters is that the parties agree that there is a factual question about whether the Codicil was prepared at the same time as the Will and meant to be a part of that document from the date the Will was signed, or whether it was prepared by Bernice at a later time.
III. Legal Analysis
Now that discovery has closed, Gornik seeks summary judgment. He concedes that there is a factual question whether the Codicil was prepared at a different time than the Will. Nonetheless, he also argues that there is no rational dispute of fact that the Codicil was prepared by Bernice Paleeki herself while she was a resident of New Jersey, that the terms of the Codicil clearly indicate that it was to be read in concert with the Will, and that the Codicil was kept by Bernice together with the Will. Given that Bernice herself is not able to testify at trial, Gornik argues that the only rational inference one can draw from the record is that Bernice intended for the Codicil to govern the disposition of her estate in the event, as occurred, that Bernice’s sister Helen predeceased her.
In making that contention, Gornik concedes that the Codicil was not executed with the formalities required of wills by Delaware law — a signature and attestation by two or more credible witnesses.
14
Under Delaware law, separate writings intended to supplement a valid will generally must be executed with full testamentary formalities,
15
with one narrow exception concerning written statements or lists incorporated in a valid will that dispose of
But Gornik contends that because the Codicil was written when Bernice was in New Jersey, it should be given effect by this court if the Codicil would be considered valid under New Jersey law. To that point, Gornik asserts that the discovery record suggests that there is no evidence that would create a genuine issue of material fact regarding Bernice Palecki’s testamentary intent — the key issue under New Jersey law. The Codicil and Will fit together in tongue and groove fashion, were both written in New Jersey by Bernice in years when her competence were not in question, and were stored together by her. Thus, Gornik submits that there is no rational question that Bernice intended the Codicil to have effect.
In response to Gornik’s motion for summary judgment, the petitioners principally rely on a straightforward legal argument, which is that the relevant Delaware statutes governing the validity of wills and codicils of Delaware residents forbid this court from according recognition to an unsigned codicil, regardless of whether the codicil would be valid under the law of the state where it was written. For reasons I next explain, that contention is correct and is itself sufficient in to defeat Gornik’s motion.
For purposes of examining this issue, I accept — as the petitioners largely do — that New Jersey law was recently amended to eliminate any absolute requirement for a will or codicil to be signed by the testator or by another person in the testator’s presence and at the testator’s direction.
18
As of the time Bernice signed her Will in 1985, however, New Jersey required that all wills and codicils be signed by the decedent.
23
Contrary to Delaware, however, New Jersey did not require that all wills and codicils be witnessed.
24
Therefore, her signed holographic Will satisfied the then-extent New Jersey requirements. By contrast, the Codicil did not comply with New Jersey law at the time it was created because New Jersey law required codicils to be signed until February 27, 2005 — a time when Bernice was living in Delaware and nearing her death. Nonetheless, the relevant New Jersey statute was amended before Bernice’s death and by the terms of its effective date would
The problem for respondent Gornik is that Bernice died a Delaware resident and her estate is being administered in this court. As such, the Codicil would be invalid if it had been executed in Delaware because it was not signed by Bernice and properly witnessed. 26 Title 12 of the Delaware Code, entitled “Decedents’ Estates and Fiduciary Relations,” provides the requirements for a valid will in § 202, which plainly states:
(a) Every will, whether of personal or real estate, must be:
(1) In writing and signed by the testator or by some person subscribing the testator’s name in the testator’s presence and by the testator’s express direction; and
(2) Subject to § 1306 of this title, attested and subscribed in testator’s presence by 2 or more credible witnesses.
(b) Any will not complying with subsection (a) of this section shall be void. 27 Under § 202, the Codicil is plainly void
as it was neither signed as required by § 202(a) nor witnessed as required by § 202(b). Therefore, Gornik must rest his motion on the Delaware statute, 12 Del. C. § 1306, which permits the validation of wills that do not comply with the formalities specified in § 202 in defined circumstances. Section 1306, which is referenced in § 202(b), is captioned “Choice of law as to execution of wills,” and provides:
A written will signed by the testator, or by some person subscribing the testator’s name in the testator’s presence and at the testator’s express direction, is valid if executed in compliance with § 202 of this title or if its execution complies with the law at the time of execution of the place where the will is executed, or of the law of the place where at the time of execution or at the time of death the testator is domiciled, has a place of abode or is a national. 28
Gornik channels the spirit of § 1306’s authors and would have me believe that their primary intent was to make sure that the testamentary wishes of a testator are honored so long as her will would be recognized as valid now by the law of the place where “at the time of execution or at the time of death the testator is domiciled, has a place of abode or is a national.”
29
Because Bernice was a New Jersey resident at the time she executed the Will and Codicil, Gornik contends that the General Assembly, by mandate of § 1306, would want the Codicil enforced. In support of that contention, Gornik essentially argues that Delaware is a progressive state that would want to validate wills so long as they comply with the law of a place having one of the connections with the testator specified in § 1306. To him, it works an inexplicable result to have Delaware refuse to recognize the validity of a codicil executed in New Jersey by a then-New Jersey resi
As the petitioners point out, the problem with Gornik’s argument is that its acceptance requires a judicial willingness to ignore the plain language of the statute. By its clear terms, the statute says that a “written will signed by the testator, or by some person subscribing the testator’s name in the testator’s presence and at the testator’s express direction is valid if’ certain conditions are met. 30 The “what” that may be validated is a “will signed by the testator” or by someone with authority to sign for the testator. Summarized in categorical terms, the statute as a general rule can be read to state:
A written will signed by the testator ... is valid if[:]
executed in compliance with § 202 of this title, or
if its execution complies with[:]
[a.] the law at the time of execution of the place where the will is executed, or
[b.] of the law of the place where at the time of execution or at the time of death the testator is domiciled, has a place of abode or is a national. 31
The structure of § 202 also reinforces this clear reading. Specifically, § 202 is structured such that a will is only valid if it complies with subsection (a) and subsection (b). Thus, § 202 requires that a will be “[i]n writing and signed by the testator” as mandated by § 202(a) regardless of whether it might be valid in another jurisdiction as permitted by the reference in § 202(b) to § 1306. 32
From the plain terms of these statutes, the General Assembly’s intent is clear. It was willing to give effect to signed wills so long as the law of some relevant jurisdiction would do so, even when that meant that the will was signed without the strict formalities contemplated by our law. But the General Assembly drew the line at the signature requirement, refusing to relax that requirement in a statute— § 1306— that otherwise reflects the intention to have this court apply the law of other jurisdictions when that is necessary to validate a testator’s will.
Gornik admits that the “language of § 1306, read literally, appears to require a signature.” 33 That admission was a compulsory one as there is no lack of clarity about that section’s language. Thus, because § 1306 has only one plausible reading, the duty of this court is to enforce the statute as written. 34
Gornik may believe it would be better policy to relax the formality of an independent signature requirement in § 1306, and he can cite to learned scholars whose writings buttress that view.
35
But he is ad
Recognizing that § 1306 is clear on its face, Gornik falls back on the argument that the statute produces “an unreasonable and absurd result” in this case. 39 That result, Gornik argues, is the conversion of an intent-serving statute designed to recognize the validity of wills executed in accordance with the laws of other jurisdictions into an intent-defeating obstacle that would frustrate planned testamentary dispositions.
This argument is unavailing. For starters, Gornik is trying to invoke a narrow and delicate interpretative maxim— the so-called “absurdity doctrine” — in circumstances in which it does not pertain. The absurdity doctrine is most appropriately and responsibly invoked only when a statute’s words may be read in two plausible ways. In those cases, courts have considered the practical consequences of each reading as a factor in deciding which interpretation was intended by the legislature.
40
In that process, courts have eschewed an interpretation if it would lead to so-called “absurd” results, on the ground that the legislature must not have intended the statute to produce “unreasonable” results.
41
But, even then, that interpretative exercise is a very sensitive one that can be subject to (conscious or unconscious) abuse, as it provides room for the judiciary to give license to its own sense of appropriate public policy outcomes, by labeling out
Admittedly, courts, including the Delaware Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court, have invoked the absurdity doctrine when interpreting statutes that are clear on their face. 42 In a situation when a statute’s language may be plausibly read in only one manner, the most persuasive justification for the doctrine’s use is that it serves to expose and correct statutory drafting errors. 43 The inference is that if a statute produces re-suits that are so at odds with accepted public policy and fundamental fairness, its drafters must have committed a scrivener’s error in committing the legislature’s intentions to paper. 44
Although the use of the absurdity doctrine in this context has also been explained as a tool for finding textual ambiguity,
45
that explanation tends to obscure just how powerful the doctrine is and how it can be misused.
46
If a statute cannot, as a textual matter, be read in two reasonable
Here, Gornik has not shown that § 1306 produces absurd results. To begin with, it is by no means irrational for the General Assembly to have believed that a document as important as a will should be signed. Given that testators are by conventional definition unavailable to testify about their intentions as to the will being proffered as representing their desires, the General Assembly may have considered it a minimal requirement that it be shown that the will was at least signed by the testator. 50
What is notable, though, is that the General Assembly had the option of adopting a choice of law provision that did not include a bottom-line signature requirement. Five years before the General Assembly’s enactment of Title 12, the Uniform Probate Code of 1969 (“UPC 1969”)
In this regard, it is notable that New Jersey was hardly part of a state law stampede when it recently revised its law to eliminate a strict signature requirement.
56
Although there has been scholarly support for changes of the kind New Jersey made for some time and even though the UPC was itself amended in 1990 to provide for a harmless error provision analogous to that which New Jersey later adopted,
57
only a very few states
Of course, it could be that this very case stimulates the General Assembly to amend §§ 202 and 1306 in the manner Gornik believes is advisable. But it is vital that that sort of evolution emanate from the branch elected by the people to make the laws, not from an unelected judge. When judges refuse to give effect to clearly written statutes requiring formalities in certain types of legal instruments because they do not like the result produced in a
IV. Conclusion
For the foregoing reasons, Respondent Joseph Gornik’s motion for summary judgment is denied. IT IS SO ORDERED.
Notes
.
Sturges v. Crowninshield, 17
U.S. (4 Wheat.) 122, 202-03,
. Respondent’s Opening Brief, Ex. A at 1-3.
. Id. at 2.
.Id.
. Id.
. Id. Bernice did not provide the last name of her sister Stephanie, but she did list the full titles of her other named siblings.
. Id. The full last names of these nieces and nephews are specified in the Codicil, but because it is difficult to make out the spelling of these names on the copy provided to me and the parties have not clarified them, I have abbreviated them here. There is no dispute about the identity of these beneficiaries.
. Deposition of Helen Piorko Niemkiewicz at 12, 17.
. Stipulated Final Order Appointing A Guardian Of Property And Person, Matter of Bernice Palecki, C.M. No. 8898-NC (Del. Ch. June 10, 1999).
. See id. at ¶ D (citing an inability to "properly manage and care for her property” and concerns “of becoming the victim of designing persons” as justifications for appointing a guardian).
. Deposition of Thomas Posatko ("Posatko Dep.”) at 4 — 5.
.One of the many valuable services a neutral guardian of the person should perform is helping the ward fulfill her estate planning goals. As Posatko's deposition testimony illustrates, it is not unusual for a guardianship of the person to be put in place as to a person who is capable in the right setting of making important decisions for herself but who is vulnerable to designing persons. A guardian of the person can help the ward exercise as much self-determination as possible by discussing with the ward her estate planning intentions. In this case, for example, it is possible that Posatko considered Bernice to be capable, in the correct situation, of exercising testamentary intent during the early period in which he was her guardian. Had Po-satko reviewed the Will and Codicil with Bernice, and had she affirmed that those instruments, read together, accurately expressed her intent, Posatko might have picked up on the fact that the Codicil was unsigned and sought counsel for Bernice to correct the
. Id. at 5-6.
. See 12 Del. C. § 202.
.
See
Transcript of Oral Argument (Apr. 9, 2007) at 47 (agreeing that Bernice could not have “swapped in” a new Item 4 into her Will without adhering to testamentary formalities);
see also Walsh v. St. Joseph’s Home for the Aged,
. See 12 Del. C. § 212 (validating writings referred to in a valid will that dispose of certain tangible personal property if the writing is "either ... in the handwriting of the testator or ... signed by the testator").
. See 1 Page on the Law of Wills § 1.3 (2003) ("A codicil is a will. It must be executed with the same formalities required in the execution of a will_”).
. The central statutory provision addressing the formalities usually required in the execution of a will or codicil in New Jersey is § 3B:3-2 of New Jersey's probate code. That provision was amended on August 31, 2004 to state:
a.Except as provided in subsection b. and in N.J.S.3B-.3-3, a will shall be:
(1) in writing;
(2) signed by the testator or in the testator’s name by some other individual in the testator's conscious presence and at the testator’s direction; and
(3) signed by at least two individuals, each of whom signed within a reasonable time after each witnessed either the signing of the will as described in paragraph (2) or the testator's acknowledgment of that signature or acknowledgment of the will.
b. A will that does not comply with subsection a. is valid as a writing intended as a will, whether or not witnessed, if the signature and material portions of the document are in the testator’s handwriting.
c. Intent that the document constitutes the testator’s will can be established by extrinsic evidence, including for writings intended as wills, portions of the document that are not in the testator's handwriting.
NJ. Stat. Ann. § 3B:3-2. On the same day, the following provision, which is captioned "3B:3-3. Noncomplaint execution; clear and convincing evidence of intent," was enacted:
Although a document or writing added upon a document was not executed in compliance with N.J.S.3B:3-2, the document or writing is treated as if it had been executed in compliance with N.J.S.3B:3-2 if the proponent of the document or writing establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the decedent intended the document or writing to constitute: (1) the decedent’swill; (2) a partial or complete revocation of the will; (3) an addition to or an alteration of the will; or (4) a partial or complete revival of his formerly revoked will or of a formerly revoked portion of the will.
N.J. Stat. Ann. § 3B:3-3.
. N.J. Stat. Ann. § 3B:3-3;
see also In re Estate of Denner,
. See 2004 N.J. Sess. Law Serv., ch. 132 (West) (explaining that the New Jersey act was revised at least in part to "clarif[y] situations where writings that are intended as wills would be allowed” even if missing certain formalities); see also Restatement (Third) of Property: Wills & Other Donative Transfers § 3.3, comments a & b (2006) (endorsing "intent-serving” rules designed to excuse noncompliance with testamentary formalities as "harmless errors” where clear and convincing evidence of testamentary intent is present); John H. Langbein, Substantial Compliance with the Wills act, 88 Harv. L.Rev. 489, 531 (1975) (article by a leading scholar whose view that a "substantial compliance doctrine” should replace the "literal compliance doctrine” has gained many adherents in the thirty years since the article’s publication).
.
See
6
Del. C.
§ 2714(a) ("No action shall be brought to charge any person upon any agreement made ... upon any contract or sale of lands, tenements, or hereditaments, or any interest in or concerning them, ... unless the contract is reduced to writing, or some memorandum, or notes thereof, are signed by the party to be charged therewith, or some other person thereunto by the party lawfully authorized in writing....”);
Shepherd v. Maz-zetti,
. See 2004 N.J. Sess. Law Serv., ch. 132, §§ 10 & 95 (West) (amending New Jersey's probate code as of August 31, 2004 with an effective date 180 days thereafter).
. See N.J. Stat. Ann. §§ 3B:3-2 & 3B:3-3 (1985) (requiring all wills, including holographic wills, to be signed to be valid); see also N.J. Stat. Ann. § 3B:l-2 (including codicils within the statutory definition of a "will”).
. See N.J. Stat. Ann. § 3B.-3-3 (1985) (recognizing holographic wills as valid without attestation by witnesses).
.Thus, the petitioners have dropped their argument that even if the newly-enacted New Jersey statutes would save a writing like the Codicil, that law could not be applied retroactively to validate the Codicil at issue here. See Transcript of Oral Argument (Apr. 9, 2007) at 42-44 (dropping the allegation of retroactive application of the New Jersey statute "unequivocally”).
.
E.g., Matter of Will of Carter,
. 12 Del. C. § 202.
. 12 Del. C. § 1306 (emphasis added).
. Id.
. Id.
. Id.
. 12 Del. C. § 202.
. Respondent’s Reply Brief at 7.
.
See Newtowne Village Service Corp. v. Newtowne Road Development Company, Inc.,
.See, e.g.,
Mary Louise Fellows & Gregory S. Alexander,
Forty Years of Codification of Estates and Trusts Law: Lessons for the Next Generation,
40 Ga. L.Rev. 1049, 1063-64 (2006) (arguing that codification of intent-defeating rules ignores the intent-furthering traditions of estates and trust laws and could stunt doctrinal development in the field); John H. Langbein,
Excusing Harmless Errors in the Execution of Wills: A Report on Australia's Tranquil Revolution in Probate Law,
87 Colum. L.Rev. 1, 4 (1987) (arguing for the adoption of a harmless error rule and a focus on the decedent’s testamentary intent to avoid
.
Allstate Erectors, Inc. v. Boshell,
.
In re Panousseris’ Will,
. The only revision to these sections has been a gender neutrality law that clarifies that the term "testator” refers to both men and women. Del. S.B. 221, 138th Leg., 1st Sess., 70 Del. Laws, ch. 186, § 1 (1995); see also Del. S.B. 450, 127th Leg., 2nd Sess., 59 Del. Laws, ch. 384, §§ 1-3 (1974) (enacting §§ 202 and 1306 of Title 12).
. Respondent’s Reply Brief at 7.
.
E.g., Tomei v. Sharp,
.
See Daniels v. State,
.
E.g., Church of the Holy Trinity v. U.S.,
.
E.g., Sturges v. Crowninshield,
. See John F. Manning, The Absurdity Doctrine, 116 Harv. L.Rev. 2387, 2389-90 (2003) ("Congress does not always accurately reduce its intentions to words because legislators necessarily draft statutes within the constraints of bounded foresight, limited resources, and imperfect language. The absurdity doctrine builds on iSiat idea: If a given statutory application sharply contradicts commonly held social values, then the Supreme Court presumes that this absurd result reflects imprecise drafting that Congress could and would have corrected had the issue come up during the enactment process.”).
.
E.g., Newtowne Village Service Corp. v. Newtowne Road Development Company, Inc.,
.
Magill v. North American Refractories Co.,
.See Barnhart v. Sigmon Coal Co., Inc.,
.
E.g., Dir. of Revenue v. CNA Holdings, Inc.,
.
See Home Insurance Co. v. Maldonado,
.
See Matter of Will of Carter,
. By way of example, the Delaware Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act, 6 Del. C. § 17-101,
et seq.,
is modeled on the Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act,
see Hillman
v.
Hillman,
. 12 Del. C. § 1306 (emphasis added).
. UPC 1969 § 2-506.
. 12 Del. C. § 202(a).
. Section 2-502 of UPC 1969 provides:
Except as provided for holographic wills, writings within Section 2-513 [incorporated writings], and wills within Section 2-506 [choice of law], every will shall be in writing signed by the testator or in the testator’s name by some other person in the testator’s presence and by his direction, and shall be signed by at least 2 persons each of whom witnessed either the signing or the testator’s acknowledgment of the signature or of the will.
UPC 1969 § 2-502.
. See Fellows & Alexander, 40 Ga. L.Rev. at 1063 n. 51 (citing only six other states that have adopted statutes similar to New Jersey’s § 3B:3-3).
. The amendment to the UPC in 1990 ("UPC 1990”) combined UPC 1969 §§ 2-502 and 2-503 into one section — UPC 1990 § 2-502, which provides:
(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) and in Sections 2-503, 2-506, and 2-513, a will must be:
(1) in writing;
(2) signed by the testator or in the testator’s name by some other individual in the testator's conscious presence and by the testator’s direction; and
(3) signed by at least two individuals, each of whom signed within a reasonable time after he [or she] witnessed either the signing of the will as described in paragraph (2) or the testator's acknowledgment of that signature or acknowledgment of the will.
(b) A will that does not comply with subsection (a) is valid as a holographic will, whether or not witnessed, if the signature and material portions of the document are in the testator’s handwriting.
(c) Intent that the document constitute the testator’s will can be established by extrinsic evidence, including, for holographic wills, portions of the document that are not in the testator’s handwriting.
UPC 1990 § 2-502. Following that section, UPC 1990 added a harmless error provision as a new § 2-503. That provision reads:
Although a document or writing added upon a document was not executed in compliance with Section 2-502, the document or writing is treated as if it had been executed in compliance with that section if the proponent of the document or writing establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the decedent intended the document or writing to constitute (i) the decedent’s will, (ii) a partial or complete revocation of the will, (iii) an addition to or an alteration of the will, or (iv) a partial or complete revival of his [or her] formerly revoked will or of a formerly revoked portion of the will.
UPC 1990 § 2-503.
. See, e.g., Haw.Rev.Stat. § 560:2-503 (2006); Mich. Comp. Laws Ann. § 700.2503 (West 2006); Mont.Code Ann. § 72-2-523 (2006); N J. Stat. Ann. § 3B:3-3 (2006); S.D. Codified Laws § 29A-2-503 (2006); Utah Code Ann. § 75-2-503 (2006).
. The relevant Colorado statute states:
Subsection (1) of this section [which is identical to UPC 1990 § 2-503] shall apply only if the document is signed or acknowledged by the decedent as his or her will or if it is established by clear and convincing evidence that the decedent erroneously signed a document intended to be the will of the decedent’s spouse.
Colo.Rev.Stat. § 15 — 11—503(d)(2). The limited exception to the signature requirement for "switched-will” cases in Colorado might be inspired by the scholarship of John Langbein who recognized that the presence of a "[signature is the formality that permits us to distinguish between drafts and wills” but supported recognition of switched wills because the act of signing indicated that the act was "purposive.” See Langbein, 87 Colum. L.Rev. at 23-27 (expressing reservations about validating an unsigned will where there may have been possible explanations for the failure to execute the will other than mere inadvertence).
. At that time. New Jersey had adopted a version of UPC 1969, which did not contain an analog to the current New Jersey harmless error provision codified at § 3B:3-3.
. See Transcript of Oral Argument (Apr. 9, 2007) at 15-16 (reflecting Gornik’s counsel's acknowledgment that it was incredibly unlikely that the decedent "knew anything about the choice of law statute” and recognizing that the amendment of the New Jersey statutes was a "fortuitous change”).
. This court’s role in that constitutional order is limited to construing the statutes passed by the legislature with the "predominant goal of statutory construction [being] ‘to ascertain and give effect to the intent of the legislature.’ ”
See Weiss v. Weiss,