[1] When ʻAbdu'l-Bahá died in 1921, he left a will that designated Shoghi Effendi as the one that Baháʼís should turn to for guidance.
Her claim was based in part on her belief that ʻAbdu'l-Bahá would never advocate for a hierarchy, much less the establishment of a "papacy".
White hired a criminologist Charles Ainsworth Mitchell to review photocopies of the original Will and Testament of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá in an attempt to prove it was a forgery.
[2] Neither White nor Mitchell could read Persian, and her claims of a forgery were not taken up by many other Baháʼís opposed to Shoghi Effendi, such as Ahmad Sohrab.
[3][4][5] White was designated a Covenant-breaker by Shoghi Effendi, and was excommunicated sometime after 1926 when the extent of her opposition became clear.