Sedgwick v. Sedgwick

California Supreme Court
Sedgwick v. Sedgwick, 52 Cal. 336 (Cal. 1877)
1877 Cal. LEXIS 113
Coubt

Sedgwick v. Sedgwick

Opinion of the Court

By the amendment to the Code of Civil Procedure, made in 1874, the Legislature precluded parties to an action from testifying therein when the action is against an executor or an administrator of a deceased person upon a claim or demand against the estate of such deceased.

The present action on the note is by the executrix, and not against her, and is on a demand in favor of the estate of her testate, and not against said estate.

D. S. Terry and W. L. Dudley, for the Respondent, cited Blood v. Fairbanks, 50 Cal. 420, and Mitchell v. Hagenmeyer, 51 Cal. 108.

By the Coubt :

The third subdivision of section 1880, Code Civil Procedure, as amended in 1874, provides that the following persons cannot be witnesses: “ Parties to an action or proceeding, or in whose behalf an action or proceeding is prosecuted, against an executor or administrator, upon a claim or a demand against the estate of the deceased.” This action is brought by the executrix, and is brought, upon a demand, not against, but in favor of the estate, and therefore does not fall within the above cited provision. The Court erred in excluding the testimony of the defendant.

Judgment and order reversed, and cause remanded for a new trial.

Reference

Full Case Name
ALBINA A. SEDGWICK, of the Estate of THOMAS SEDGWICK, Jr. v. THOMAS SEDGWICK, Sr.
Cited By
11 cases
Status
Published
Syllabus
Witnesses in Action in Favob of an Estate.—The section of the Code of Civil Procedure which prohibits parties in whose favor an action is prosecuted against an estate from being witnesses, does not prohibit a person against whom an action is prosecuted by an executor on a claim in favor of an estate from being a witness in their own favor.