Wolf v. Bollinger

Citations

• 62 Ill. 368

Syllabus

<p>1. Will—alteration—new attestation required to give effect to. A testator, after the publication of his will, sent for the executor and custodian of the same, and informed him that he-wished to alter his will so that A should have a tract of land devised therein to B, and the executor, at the instance of the testator, cancelled the name of B by drawing a line through it with a pen; leaving the name still legible, and interlined over it the name of A, so that the devise read as to A; but the will, as altered, was never republished, or attested by two witnesses in the presence of the testator: Held, that in favor of A, for want of attestation, the will, as altered, was wholly inoperative.</p> <p>2. Will—revocation. The mere act of cancellation, erasure, or obliteration, will not constitute a valid revocation of a will, unless done with intent to revoke. Although every act of cancellation imports prima facie that it is done with intent to revoke, this presumption may be rebutted by the accompanying circumstances.</p> <p>3. Will—revocation—presumption. When a testator makes an alteration in his will by erasure and interlineation, or in any other mode without authenticating the same by a new attestation in the presence of witnesses, or other form required by the statute, it will be presumed that the alteration was intended to be dependent upon the alteration taking effect as a substitute ; and when such alteration fails to take effect, the will will stand as originally drawn, so far as the same is legible after the attempted alteration.</p> <p>4. Same. Th us when a testator directed the erasure of the name of a devisee, and the interlineation of the name of another person, with intent not to revoke the devise itself, hut simply to substitute another devisee in place of the original one, which was done by drawing a pen through the original name, but still leaving it legible, and the alteration failed for want of a new attestation: Held, that the erasure of the name of