In re Estate of John W. McDonald III

The issue on appeal was whether Elizzette Duvall Minnicelli sufficiently established that she was the surviving spouse of John W. McDonald, III and, as such, the sole heir of his estate. The administrator of the estate argued that the marriage was not valid because John lacked the capacity to marry without first seeking a best interest hearing from a court. The circuit court barred Elizzette from testifying at trial based on the Dead Man’s Act and held that she failed to present a prima facie case establishing the validity of her marriage. The Supreme Court observed that Elizzette bore the burden of proof to establish that she and John had entered into a valid marriage, including that he had the capacity to marry. The court found that the trial court erred when it barred Elizzette’s testimony pursuant to the Dead Man’s Act as it was amended in 1973, but that the error was harmless because no testimony she could have offered would have established that John had the capacity to enter into a valid marriage where only a court could authorize the marriage after conducting a best interest hearing. (GARMAN, NEVILLE, MICHAEL J. BURKE, concurring. THEIS, OVERSTREET and CARTER, concurring in part and dissenting in part.)