Masseth's Estate

Citations

• 213 Pa. 136
• 62 A. 640
• 1905 Pa. LEXIS 393

Syllabus

<p>Wills — Probate—Issue devisavit vel non — Testamentary capacity.</p> <p>On a petition for an issue devisavit vel non it appeared that the will in dispute contained seventeen clauses giving legacies and bequests of money and specific articles of personal and household use to nineteen different persons. According to the testimony of the counsel who drew the will testatrix dictated all these items to him from memory and without suggestion from others. The will was not read over to testatrix at the time she signed it. The attorney who drew the will testified that he wrote it according to her instructions, and that his omission to read it to her was by her own command. There was testimony as to delusions on the part of the testatrix, but it appeared that these arose from her habit of taking narcotics for the relief of pain. It appeared, however, that these delusions were not continuous, and did not affect the testamentary act. Held,, that the court committed no error in refusing an issue.</p> <p>The fact that a will is not read over to testator at the time of its execution is only material, when there is doubt whether the will correctly expresses the testator’s intent.</p>