Estate of Scott

Citations

• 1 Coffey 271

Syllabus

<p>Insanity of Testator—Evidence and Burden of Proof.—The Jdgal presumption is in favor of the sanity of a testator, and the burden of proof is on the contestant of his will to demonstrate the contrary; and if the contestant prevails, in a case of doubt, it must be by a preponderance of proof, and the number, character and intelligence of witnesses, and their opportunity for observation, should be taken into account.</p> <p>Witnesses—Credibility as Affected by Station in Bife.—Persons employed in domestic service and other categories of honest labor are entitled, as witnesses, to credence equally with those who plume themselves on their higher level, affecting to look down on those who work for wages as inferior. Before the law there is no such distinction, and in courts of justice all must be co-ordinated, irrespective of the accidents of artificial and conventional social relations.</p> <p>Witnesses—Manner of Testing Credibility.—Each witness is a man or woman to be treated as an individual, a moral unit, tested for integrity and veracity on his merits or her title to credit by the inherent and extrinsic elements of belief, or the circumstantial criteria of credibility. These are the only considerations for the court in weighing evidence.</p> <p>Insane Delusions—Business Capacity.—Business capacity may coexist with monomania or insane delusions.</p> <p>Insane Delusions—Vulgarity of Testatrix.—Where the vulgarity in behavior and speech of a testatrix is relied upon to establish the presence of insane delusions, her whole conduct, at home and aboard, should be considered, and not merely her conduct within her own house, the alleged acts of immodesty in this case being confined to the home premises of the testatrix, while her behavior abroad was not subject to adverse criticism.</p> <p>Insane Delusions—Eccentricities not Suddenly Acquired.—Eccentric habits of speech, if not suddenly acquired, are not evidence of insanity.</p> <p>Expert Evidence—Its Nature and Value.—