Grimes' Estate v. Norris

Citations

• 6 Cal. 621

Syllabus

<p>The will of a testator, dying before the organization of the State government, did not require to be probated under the then existing laws.</p> <p>Our Statute of Wills not only fails to require the probate of wills executed before its passage, but it must, from its terms, be concluded that the Legislature actually intended to exclude such wills from the operation of the statute altogether, leaving their validity to depend upon the laws under which they were made, and not disturbing rights which had grown up under the former system.</p> <p>A will only becomes executed upon the death of the testator, and therefore this construction does not affect wills made before the passage of the statute, where the testator did not die till after its passage.</p> <p>The Probate Court is an inferior Court, and therefore cannot take jurisdiction or administer remedies other than those given in, and in the manner prescribed by, the statute.</p>