The Oklahoma Bar Journal November 2024

27. Id. 28. Exemplified in this author’s experience by a will leaving all to the staff of a diner where the client ate breakfast and lunch every day for some 30 years, to the exclusion of out-of-state cousins who had no contact for the same period beyond an annual Christmas card. 29. Today, and particularly in this brave new post- pandemic world, many attorneys advocate for a relaxation or outright abolition of traditional formalities in the drafting and execution of wills. While many of these bear consideration, they lay beyond the scope of this article. See generally David Horton and Reid K. Weisbord, “COVID-19 and Formal Wills,” 73 Stan. L. Rev. Online 18 (2020-2021); Crystal Collins , “The Future of Electronic Wills in Rhode Island After COVID-19,” 27 Roger Williams U. L. Rev. 423 (2022). 30. 84 O.S. 44 (2021). 31. Matter of Estate of Richardson, 2002 OK CIV APP 69, 11, 50 P.3d 584. 32. 643 S.W.2d 204 (Tex. App. 1982). 33. Compare Nichols v. Rowan, 422 S.W.2d 21, 22-23 (Tex. Civ. App.-San Antonio 1967), essentially the same as Morris, supra. The Morris will was upheld notwithstanding defects and disabilities where beneficiary was an actual relative.

37. Id. at Pars 8-10. 38. Oklahoma Rules of Professional

Responsibility, Preamble, Par. [2]. See also: “[6] As a public citizen, a lawyer of the law beyond, and its use for clients, employ that knowledge in reform of the law and work to strengthen legal education.” Id. at Par. [6] should seek improvement of the law, access to the legal system , the administration of justice and the quality of service rendered by the legal profession. As a member of a learned profession, a lawyer should cultivate knowledge. 39. Rule 1.14 addresses the client suffering, or liable to be perceived as suffering, with diminished capacity. For purposes of this article, I am also including the client desiring an estate plan perceived as contrary to prevailing societal norms. 40. See, e.g., Lee v. Lee , 337 So.2d 713, 714 (MS 1976). The testator executed the will and deed on the same day. The court upheld the will but invalidated the deed. 41. Susan A. Bandes and Jeremy A. Blumenthal, “Emotion and the Law” (October 2012) Annual Review of Law and Social Science , 161 at 164; “Difference Blindness vs. Bias Awareness: Why Law Firms with the Best of Intentions Have Failed to Create Diverse Partnerships” (2015) 83 Fordham Law Review 2407. 42. Oklahoma Const, art II, Sec. 6 (emphasis supplied).

34. 1995 OK 40, 897 P.2d 268. 35. 1934 OK 43, 8, 31 P2d 152. 36. Syl 3.

Statements or opinions expressed in the Oklahoma Bar Journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Oklahoma Bar Association, its officers, Board of Governors, Board of Editors or staff.

NOVEMBER 2024 | 39

THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL