The Berkeley County Commission on Monday accepted a fiduciary commissioner’s report and voted to lodge a purported holographic will of Catherine Rebecca Burt (d. June 25, 2025) with the county clerk’s office as invalid on its face.

Will Larson, who briefed the commission, reviewed the case history: a handwritten will dated May 16, 2025, was submitted by the decedent’s sister, Linda Griffith, and Christopher Burt initially objected, saying the document was not in the decedent’s handwriting. The commission appointed fiduciary commissioner Michael Bush to take additional evidence. Bush held an evidentiary hearing and filed a written report recommending the will be treated as invalid.

Bush concluded the proponents of the will “failed to meet their burden of proving the will was actually written entirely in the hand of the decedent,” and that the will “more likely than not fails to meet the formal requirements of West Virginia Code Chapter 41.” The report summarized testimony from family members: Christopher Burt, who at one point withdrew and later renewed his objection, and David Burt, who said the signature appeared to be in the decedent’s handwriting.

Following presentation of the fiduciary report, Commissioner [motion made from the bench] moved to adopt Bush’s recommendation. The commission voted by voice to accept the report and lodge the will as invalid, which means the estate will proceed under West Virginia intestate succession law (Chapter 42). Will Larson explained that, under intestacy rules, the decedent’s children would inherit in priority to siblings.

The commission recorded no separate motion to admit the will into probate; instead, the formal action was to accept the fiduciary recommendation and have the clerk lodge the document as invalid on its face. The commission also signed an order reflecting that action.

The commission did not discuss any further probate administration changes at the meeting. Next steps for the estate will be handled through the county clerk’s office and normal intestacy procedures.