Estate of Shoenberger

Citations

• 139 Pa. 132
• 20 A. 1050
• 1891 Pa. LEXIS 965

Syllabus

<p>[To be reported.]</p> <p>1. The decree of the register of wills, admitting to probate the last will and testament of a decedent, is a judicial act; and, where it does not appear upon the face of proceedings that he had no jurisdiction, his decree, unappealed from and unreversed, is conclusive, and cannot be attacked collaterally.</p> <p>2. Conceding that, construing §§ 6 and 12, act of March 15, 1832, P. L. 136, together, the copy of a will proved in another state can be proved in this state only where the principal part of the estate is found, it is for • the register, to whom such copy is presented, to inquire and determine • where such principal part of the estate is situate.</p> <p>3. That question is a jurisdictional question, which it is the register’s duty as well as his right to decide; and, therefore, having jurisdiction of the subject matter, his decision admitting the copy to probate cannot be set aside collaterally as void: Prick’s App., 114 Pa. 29; Wall v. Wall, 123 Pa. 545, distinguished.</p> <p>4. Section 5 of said act of 1832 contains no provision that the register of wills shall preserve the evidence upon which he acts; wherefore, his decree is not subject to collateral attack, on the ground that his record does not show that the principal part of the estate of a non-resident testator is within his county.</p>