Buchanan v. Pierie

Citations

• 205 Pa. 123
• 54 A. 583
• 1903 Pa. LEXIS 529

Syllabus

<p>Will — Issue devisavit vel nortr — Belief in spiritualism — Delusions—Insanity.</p> <p>The will of one who believes in spiritualism is not on that account void, nor is it evidence of mental unsoundness. It must be shown in order to avoid a will on that account, that it was the offspring of such belief.</p> <p>A will will not be set aside because the testator held to the conviction that he could through mediums communicate with the spirits of the departed, where it does not appear that he believed or admitted that he was influenced in any way by spirits in the preparation of his will.</p> <p>Testator after providing for the comfort of his daughter and his housekeeper during their lives, in such a manner as to consume a large portion of the income of his estate, gave the entire remainder of his estate to an association of spiritualists. On the trial of an issue devisavit vel non, there was no testimony which questioned the general sanity of the testator, or which showed any lack of ability upon his part to conduct in an entirely rational and proper manner, the ordinary transactions of life ; nor was there any evidence that his belief in spiritualism in any way affected the making of his will ; nor was there any evidence of any delusion which affected the making of his will. There was evidence that father and daughter had frequent disagreements upon the subject of spiritualism, and that the daughter did not hesitate to express her contempt for his belief. Notwithstanding these disagreements the father continued to provide a house for his daughter and her family to live in. The daughter testified to a number of instances of queer and whimsical conduct on her father’s part, but these instances were distributed through a period of about thirty years. Many of them occurred years before the will was made, and none of them were connected with its execution. Held, that the evidence was insufficient to sustain a verdict against the will.</p>