Rodney v. Burton

Citations

• 27 Del. 171
• 4 Boyce 171
• 86 A. 826
• 1912 Del. LEXIS 9

Syllabus

<p>1. Trial—Province of Jury—Following Instructions and Evidence.</p> <p>A finding of the jury must be based exclusively upon the testimony in the case and the law as declared by the court.</p> <p>2. Wills—Testamentary Capacity in General.</p> <p>Any person of the age of twenty-one years or upwards, being of sound and disposing mind and memory, may make a will.</p> <p>3. Wills—Testamentary Capacity—Burden of Proof.</p> <p>Every person is presumed to be of sound mind until the contrary is satisfactorily shown; but, where incapacity at a time prior to the execution of the will is once clearly established, the burden shifts, and it devolves upon those propounding the will to show that it did not exist when the will was made.</p> <p>4. Wills—Testamentary Capacity—Evidence—Conditions Prior to and Subsequent to Execution of Will.</p> <p>Evidence as to the mental and physical condition of testator, both before and after the execution of the will, is admissible on the issue of testamentary capacity when the will was executed.</p> <p>5. Wills—Testamentary Capacity—Degree.</p> <p>There are varying grades of mental capacity, ranging from weak to strong. Intellectual weakness alone, or mere weakness of the understanding, whether the result of injury or disease, does not disqualify a person from making a will; and a partial failure of mind or memory is not in itself sufficient ground for setting aside a will. The question is not so much the degree of mind or memory possessed by the testator, as whether he was capable, at the time of executing the will, of exercising thought, judgment, and reflection, and of knowing how he was disposing of his property.</p> <p>6. Wills—Testamentary Capacity—Weight of Evidence.</p> <p>The question of testamentary capacity must be determined from the facts and circumstances established by the evidence, and in weighing such evidence the jury should carefully consider the integrity of the witnesses, their bias and interest on one side or the other, i