Barclay's Estate

Citations

• 259 Pa. 401
• 103 A. 274
• 1918 Pa. LEXIS 424

Syllabus

<p>Jurisdiction, O. C. — Decedents’ estates — Domicile of decedent— Change of domicile — Evidence—Presumption against change — Pro-hate of will.</p> <p>1. A domicile once acquired is presumed to continue until it is shown to have been changed, and where a change of domicile is alleged the burden of proving it rests upon the person making the allegation. To constitute the new domicile two things are indispensable, first, residence in the new locality, and, second, the intention to remain there. Mere absence from a fixed home, however long continued, cannot work the change; until the new one is acquired the old one remains.</p> <p>2. On an appeal from the probate of a will on the ground that deceased was not a resident of the State at the time of her death, it appeared that deceased died in Canton, Ohio, on November 18, 1915, leaving the testamentary paper in question dated December 13,1915, with the addenda in her handwriting, “July 1,1915, Pittsburgh, Pa., 1615 Buena Vista St., N. S.” The will named a resident of Pittsburgh as the executor. It further appeared that deceased was born in Ohio, came to Pittsburgh in 1871, and lived there with her husband from that time until his death in 1878; that her husband’s will was probated and his estate administered in Allegheny County; that decedent went to Paris in 1880 and lived there until 1904, when she went to New York City and lived until February, 1913; that she then furnished two rooms in a house owned by her in Canton, Ohio, and occupied by her cousin, and boarded with him until her death; that when she purchased the house in question in Canton it was her intention to have the deed made to her cousin but she was advised by counsel that she could as well give it to him by her will; that she was a member of a church in Pittsburgh; that her husband and one child and herself were buried in a cemetery near Pittsburgh; that in previous wills prepared for her in 1908 and 1911 the introductory clauses referred to Pittsburgh a