Miller v. Oestrich

Citations

• 157 Pa. 264
• 27 A. 742
• 1893 Pa. LEXIS 1417

Syllabus

<p>[Marked to be reported.!</p> <p>Will — Issue devisavit vel non — TJndue influence — Evidence.</p> <p>Where there is no evidence that a legatee in a will solicited or requested testatrix to make the legacy, and it appears that the legatee neither wrote the will nor procured it to be written, evidence that testatrix and the legatee were very friendly, or that she nursed testatrix during her illness, or that she managed testatrix’s affairs, or that she spoke disrespectfully of contestant, is insufficient to prove undue influence, and such evidence should not be submitted to the jury.</p> <p>Testamentary capacity— Will — Evidence.</p> <p>A person of sound and disposing memory is one who has a full and intelligent knowledge of the act he is engaged in, a full knowledge of the property he possesses, and intelligent perception and understanding of the disposition he desires to make of it, and of the persons and objects he desires shall be the recipients of his bounty. It is not necessary that he should collect all these in one review. If he understands in detail all that he is about and chooses with understanding and reason between one disposition and another, it is sufficient for the making of a will.</p> <p>On the trial of an issue devisavit vel non to determine the testamentary capacity of testatrix, both subscribing witnesses testified that at the time the will was made there was nothing unusual in the manner of the testatrix to indicate mental unsoundness. Other disinterested witnesses testified that immediately before and after the execution of the will, testatrix, though weak, was able to transact business, and that she was sensible and intelligent. By her will she gave legacies of moderate amount to her nurse, who had been unusually kind and attentive to her, and to her physician. It appeared from the evidence on behalf of contestant that testatrix took morphine, and that, when awaking from the effects of the drug, she was subject to delusions. It also appeared