| Court: | Wis Supreme Court |
| Facts: | Goldstein hires Crawford to re-do his will. There's confusion at the time of signing, and we don't get the right number of witnesses. The revised will gave Auric $25K, but it's not valid. |
| Posture: | Probate Court (Racine) orders an earlier version of the will probated, and denies the more recent one because it was executed wrong. Auric files suit against Crawford and his malpractice insurer for negligence and breach of implied contract. |
| Issue: | Should we hold attorneys who screw up wills liable? |
| Holding: | Yes. Liability is proper. |
| Rule: | The state constitution says you can dispose of your property via a will (actually, it doesn't), and Wis Stat § 853.03(2) says how wills are to be executed. |
| Reasoning: | Public policy supports holding attorneys whose mistakes frustrate testators' wishes accountable. This will result in increased care on the part of attorneys. |
| Dicta: | |