Timmes' Appeal

Citations

• 237 Pa. 189
• 85 A. 136
• 1912 Pa. LEXIS 915

Syllabus

<p>Wills — Isstie devisavit vel non — Testamentary capacity — Evidence.</p> <p>1. Under section 41 of the Act of March 15, 1832, P. L. 135, an issue devisavit vel non, is of right where there is a substantial dispute upon a material question of fact, and the test is whether, under all the testimony, a verdict against the will should be allowed to stand.</p> <p>2. An issue devisavit vel non should be granted on the ground of lack of testamentary capacity where it appears that the testator was an old man greatly enfeebled in mind and body and the circumstances under which the decedent’s signature was obtained to an alleged ratification of the will indicate an indirection that calls for the closest scrutiny and requires clear proof that the decedent adopted the writing as his own at a time when he was in possession of his faculties and knew what property he owned and what disposition he desired to make of it.</p>