Estate of Harvey

Citations

• 181 Pa. 207
• 37 A. 261
• 1897 Pa. LEXIS 529

Syllabus

<p>Will — Devisavit vel non — Evidence.</p> <p>In an application for an issue, if the testimony is such that after a fair and impartial trial resulting in a verdict against the proponent of the alleged will, the trial judge, after a careful review of all the testimony', would feel constrained to set aside the verdict as contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence, it cannot be said that a dispute within the meaning of the act has arisen ; but if the state of the evidence is such that the trial judge would not feel constrained to set aside the verdict, the dispute should be considered substantial, and an issue should be directed.</p> <p>Will — Issue devisavit vel non — Undue influence.</p> <p>An issue devisavit vel non to determine whether a will was made under undue influence will not be granted where the evidence shows that, while there were some circumstances of a suspicious nature, the will was not drawn by the principal beneficiary, but by an attorney; that the principal beneficiary was not present when it was written, and had no knowledge of its contents until some days after its execution; that she did not solicit the execution of the will, or do anything in procuring the provision therein in her favor, or use any deception, artifice or undue influence to prejudice testatrix against her other children.</p>