Brad Ford is an 83 year old widower with four children named Clara, Anna, Sam and Wendy.

In 2019, Brad executed a simple last will and testament that revoked all his previous wills and codicils. The 2019 will was drafted by Dewey Cheatum, a local attorney. The will left $10,000 to each of his grandchildren. In addition, it stated, "I hereby grant my son, Sam, the right to live in my house for as long as he likes after my death, rent-free. After his death, or if he decides to leave the house, then the house shall be divided amongst my children, in equal shares." The Will then left his entire residuary estate to "my four children, in equal shares."

The will named Clara and Anna as co-executors, with Wendy to take over as co-executor in the event that either is unable to serve or to continue to serve.

On March 20, 2020, Brad was diagnosed with a terminal heart condition. The doctors informed him that he was unlikely to live another six months. This sent Brad into a tailspin of depression. During this time, Anna (who lived in San Diego) visited him several times a week. Sam also lived in San Diego, but did not visit his father often since his father's mood makes him upset. He preferred instead to speak to Brad by phone so that he could hang up if the conversation became too unpleasant. However, he did call his father frequently. Since the other children lived in different cities, they visited much less frequently.

During the months of March through June, Anna had many in person conversations with her father and frequently told him that since she has a large family, she is in need of money more than her siblings. As the summer approached, Anna started turning to this subject with more frequency until the point that rarely a day went by that Anna hadn't mentioned something about needing more money than her siblings.

On July 17, Brad took out a piece of paper and a pen and wrote the following handwritten note:

"I know that my previous will stated that Sam gets to live in my house after I die. But I changed my mind. Since Sam doesn't visit me as much as he should, Sam should not have the right to live in my house after my death. Also, since my daughter, Anna, visits me all the time and really needs money, she should get 40% of my estate and the other children should only get 20% each."

Brad signed his name in script and added the date at the bottom, and placed the paper in an envelope in his night table drawer. Later that day, Brad told his neighbor, Yvonne, that he "changed his will" to give Anna "more money than the rest of those ungrateful kids."

On July 31, 2020, Wendy died in a tragic car accident in Portland, Oregon, leaving her husband, Marvin, and three children.

On August 10, 2020, Brad died of congestive heart failure.

A few weeks later, Clara and Anna bring a probate proceeding in the appropriate California probate court. Please assume that all of the above facts are conclusively proven and not subject to any reasonable dispute.

Please discuss and answer the following questions:

1) 1. Is the handwritten page valid as a testamentary instrument? In connection with this, is Yvonne's testimony as to the conversation with Brad on July 17 relevant and admissible?

2) 2. Assuming that the handwritten page is valid as a testamentary instrument, what happens to the $10,000 gifts to the grandchildren?

3) 3. Clara and Sam challenge the July 17 "will," arguing that the handwritten paper, even if valid as a testamentary instrument, should be void based on incapacity and/or undue influence. Are these arguments likely to succeed?

4) 4. Who is entitled to Wendy's share of the estate?

5)5. Who is entitled to notice that the will is being probated?

You do not need to cite specific case law for this assignment. However, you must still support your answers with good legal sources from the State of California, and the law that you use must be consistent with the materials covered in class and in the reading assignments. You do not need IRAC-based essays