Keely v. Moore

Citations

• 196 U.S. 38
• 25 S. Ct. 169
• 49 L. Ed. 376
• 1904 U.S. LEXIS 679

Syllabus

<p>The signature of a resident of the District of Columbia to a will executed abroad was witnessed on the day of execution by two witnesses; on the day following an American vice consul signed, as such and under seal, a certificate that the testator had appeared before him and acknowledged the will and his signaturé thereto. It did not state that the testator signed in his presence. The law in the District of Columbia required three witnesses in testator’s presence, but did not require the testator to sign in presence of witnesses. The will was attacked also on grounds of testator’s insanity and undue influence on the testator who had, previous to the execution of the will, been for a short time in an insane asylum. In' an action affecting title to real estate there were issues sent to a jury and the title under the will sustained, Held, that:</p> <p>Under the circumstances in this case the jury might properly draw the inference that the vice consul executed the certificates in the ordinary course of business and in presence of the testator.</p> <p>Although a notary taking an acknowledgment as required by law is not, in the absence of separate signature as such to be regarded as á witness, inasmuch as the certificate in this case was not required by law and. was unnecessary, -it was, together with the description appended 'to the vice consul’s name, immaterial and could be disregarded as surplusage and the vice consul’s signature regarded as that of a witness in his unofficial .capacity.</p> <p>The application of a relative, and the certificates of physicians, for the admission of testator to an insane asylum, from which he had been released apparently in sound condition prior to the execution of the will,- were properly excluded both because not sworn to and given in a different proceeding and on a different issue.</p> <p>There was no error in submitting the question of testator’s insanity to the jury with the instruction that if they found that the insanity was pe