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Decedent became hesitant to take any action concerning his
financial affairs; such few actions that he did take were only
after extensive consultation with Dale, and decedent made very
few changes to his investments. Also, during 1993, decedent's
health deteriorated to the point where he could no longer care
for himself and required full-time help at home. However,
decedent's mental acuity remained unimpaired; he was competent to
execute a disclaimer at all relevant times.
In late December 1992 and early January 1993, decedent
prepared 12 8� x 14 inch pages (Exhibit 5-E) on which petitioner
primarily relies to support the contention that decedent made a
valid disclaimer under Oregon State law and section 2518.
Exhibit 5-E was found by Mr. Wetzel, petitioner's trial counsel
in this case, in the files of Meyer & Wyse, along with Exhibit 8-
H, discussed infra. After this discovery, petitioner asserted
that the pages found by Mr. Wetzel constitute decedent's written
disclaimer. Only 5 of the 12 handwritten pages in Exhibit 5-E
were originals--the remaining 7 pages were photocopies.2 Four
of the five original pages were handwritten by decedent on the
reverse side of "Meals-on-Wheels" menus; another page was
2 On some of the duplicates, decedent added information in
blue ballpoint pen, but the additions are not material to the
issues in this case.
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