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Final Copy 290 Ga. 433 S11A1951. MASON v. PHILLIPS.

HUNSTEIN, Chief Justice. William J. Mason appeals the probate court's order denying his petition to probate the will of Frances E. Hobbs. The issues on appeal are whether the petitioner proved that the will was properly executed or that the signature to the will was in Mrs. Hobbs's handwriting. Because the trial court did not err in concluding that the petitioner failed to prove that the document is the will of Frances E. Hobbs, we affirm. The proffered will was dated August 17, 1974; was not self-proved; and had three subscribing witnesses. Frances's husband, executor, and sole

beneficiary, Walter C. Hobbs, made no attempt to probate the will following his wife's death in 1989. Her will was discovered after Walter's death in 2005, and his executor filed the petition to probate the will in solemn form. Wallis J. Phillips, Frances's daughter and Walter's stepdaughter, filed a caveat averring that the will was not properly executed and witnessed. Following a hearing, the probate court denied the executor's petition to probate the will. The court found

that the executor failed to meet the requirements to produce the testimony of all subscribing witnesses and the one subscribing witness's testimony did not prove proper execution and attestation of the will. Alternatively, the court concluded that the executor failed to prove through the testimony of two credible disinterested witnesses that the signature to the will was in the handwriting of Frances Hobbs. 1. To probate a will in solemn form under the pre-1998 Probate Code, the petitioner may prove the will "by all witnesses in life and within the jurisdiction of the court, or by proof of their signatures and that of the testator if the witnesses are dead, blind, incompetent, or inaccessible." OCGA

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