Ohio Woman’s Will is Good on Wood
A Johnstown, Ohio woman wrote her own last will and testament in a fashion that made it hard to miss – on a large piece of plywood.
Marilyn Rhodeback, who died at age 73 last April, first wrote her will on the piece of wood in 1996. She was living in Florida at the time, and her husband had recently died without a will. Inspired by his oversight, she took a piece of shelving left over from a shelf she had built for a microwave oven and scribbled her last will and testament.
Over the years, she made a few changes, which she dated and had her sisters witness. The final version was witnessed in early 2010. Prior to her death on April 7, she asked her daughter to bring her will to the hospital. The daughter, Debra McHugh-Clark, called her mother when she couldn’t find the will. "Never in my wildest dreams did I think that an actual piece of wood was what she was talking about," McHugh-Clark said.
Probate attorney Larry Shafer took the plywood will to the Licking County (Ohio) Courthouse for probate. He noted that, “It was a first for all of us, but it was an original, in her handwriting, and the court considers it a legal document.”
If you are interested in taking a more conventional approach to writing your will, contact our Jacksonville estate planning law firm.
