Wills, Trusts, and Estates
Harmless Error
UPC § 2–503 treats a document as if it had been executed in compliance with the formal requirements if the proponent of the document established by clear and convincing evidence that that decedent intended the document
to constitute his will or a modification thereof.
Evidence of dispositive intent is different from evidence that a piece of paper was intended to serve as a will.
VA Code § 64.2-404 follows the harmless error rule, but does not allow it to patch a missing signature except in the case of two people mistakenly signing each other's will.