Glockner v. Glockner

Citations

• 263 Pa. 393
• 106 A. 731
• 1919 Pa. LEXIS 439

Syllabus

<p>Wills — Probate—Issue devisavit vel non — Lost will — Evidence— Revocation — Presumption.</p> <p>1. On an issue devisavit vel non where the issues were as to the execution, the contents and the execution of a lost will, a verdict in favor of the proponents, will be sustained, where the witnesses testified that, shortly before the death of .the decedent, the latter showed them separately and at different times a small book in which he had written his will, containing a money legacy to his brother and a gift of the residue to his wife; that both witnesses were familiar with his handwriting and read the will, and agreed as to its contents; that the decedent had used language to them indicating that it was his will; and that other witnesses testified to declarations of testator to the effect that he had distributed his estate in accordance with the provisions of the will written in the small book referred to in the other testimony in the case.</p> <p>2. In such case the presumption that testator had revoked the will, arising from the fact that it was last seen in his possession, is overcome by testimony in effect that on the evening when the decedent showed one of the witnesses the little book, he did not retire with his family, but left the house, returning the following morning sick, cold and frozen, that he was put to bed by his daughter where he remained until taken to a hospital two weeks thereafter, where he died two days later; that on the evening previous to being taken to the hospital he had referred to the will and the little book indicating it to be in existence at that time; that subsequently to this he had not been out of bed; that on the following day he was unable to recognize his wife; and that from the time of his removal to the hospital until his death he remained in an unconscious condition without opportunity to destroy the will.</p>