WILLS-ADMISSIBILITY OF STATEMENTS OF TESTATOR IN PROCEEDINGS CONTESTING A WILL

Authors

Abstract

There are, perhaps, very few matters upon which ordinary men are more reticent than the testimentary disposition of their property. The testator, having made his will, often practices the utmost secrecy regarding it, evading questions and, sometimes, even violating the truth in order to preserve peace among his kinsmen until he is gone. And yet, when proceedings are brought for the purpose of contesting the will, we often find the courts admitting in evidence statements made by the testator before or after the making of the will. In a recent California case, in response to the objection that the alleged will was a forgery, the proponent called three witnesses who testified that the testator had told them of making a will (apparently the will had been made some time before) in which he left all his property to the proponent. The trial court admitted the testimony, and, on appeal by the contestants, the supreme court affirmed the decision, holding that the declarations of the testator were admissible as tending to show the existence of such a document prior to his death. In re Morrison's Estate (Cal. 1926) 242 Pac. 939.

Recommended Citation

WILLS-ADMISSIBILITY OF STATEMENTS OF TESTATOR IN PROCEEDINGS CONTESTING A WILL, 24 Mich. L. Rev. 704 (1926).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol24/iss7/7