| Court: | Ethiopian Supreme Court |
| Facts: | Setrak made a will designating Chake as his sole heir. But the requisite number of signatures (four, here) were not on the document. When he dies, property goes to Artin as a result. |
| Posture: | The high court (on appeal) said that the will was invalid, and the widow appeals. |
| Issue: | Do we honor this will, given that intent was clear but form was invalid? |
| Holding: | Yes, it is valid. |
| Rule: | The intent is more important than the form-- that's why we have the form, in fact, to make sure that the intent is real. |
| Reasoning: | The intent is obvious-- nobody disputes it. And if you've got three reliable witnesses, a fourth wouldn't make the will any more reliable. |
| Dicta: | |