Stevens v. Casdorph, 203 W. Va. 450, 508 S.E.2d 610 (Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia 1998)
Stevens v. Casdorph is a leading West Virginia case on the formal requirements for executing attested wills.
Whether a will that the testator signed before a notary, but that the two attesting witnesses signed outside the presence of the testator and of each other (and without the testator's acknowledgment to them), satisfies West Virginia's statutory execution requirements or can be saved by substantial compliance or harmless error.
Under W. Va. Code § 41-1-3, a will not wholly in the testator's handwriting must be signed by the testator (or signed by another at the testator's direction) and the signature must be made or acknowledged by the testator in the presence of at least two competent witnesses present at the same time; those witnesses must subscribe the will in the presence of the testator (and, under West Virginia's interpretation, in the presence of each other). West Virginia requires strict compliance with these formalities and does not recognize a judicially created substantial-compliance or harmless-error doctrine to excuse noncompliance.
The will was invalid. Because the witnesses did not sign in the presence of the testator or each other and the testator did not acknowledge his signature in their joint presence, the statutory execution requirements were not met; West Virginia law does not permit substantial compliance or harmless error to cure such defects.
Stevens v. Casdorph is a cornerstone strict-compliance case. It teaches that in some jurisdictions, will formalities are bright-line requirements: failure to secure two witnesses in the testator's presence (and in each other's presence) cannot be cured post hoc. The case is a powerful contrast to UPC § 2-503's harmless-error rule and an exam-ready reminder that the availability of substantial compliance depends on the jurisdiction. For practitioners, it underscores the need for disciplined execution ceremonies—simultaneous presence, acknowledgment, and signatures—to avoid probate failure despite clear testamentary intent.