Nix v. Stephens
Nix v. Stephens
Opinion of the Court
1. Error is assigned on the refusal of the court to charge the jury the following, on written request: “I charge you that the testator must have signed the will in question in the pres
2. The court instructed the jury as follows: “ It is also necessary that these three subscribing witnesses should sign in the presence of Mrs. Stephens, but it was not necessary that the subscribing witnesses should sign in the presence of each other or all at the same time.” Error is assigned on this charge, on the ground that it is “inappropriate to the contentions made by either side upon the trial of said case.” It is insisted that there was no evidence that the deceased witness signed the will at a later date, but that the issue was squarely upon the question of whether or not he signed at the time that the other witnesses signed. The language of this charge does not differ substantially from the principle recognized and requested by the caveators as quoted in the preceding headnote. Considered in connection with the context and the evidence in the case, no reversible error is shown.
3. The court instructed the jury as follows: “ Now, if the propounders have shown to your satisfaction here that one of the subscribing witnesses, W. P. Neese, is dead, that is if he was a subscribing witness, and they have also shown by proof that his name
4. Complaint is made that the court did not charge the jury in regard to that ground of the caveat alleging that the testatrix signed the will under a mistake of fact as to the conduct of her daughter's by a former marriage, and that she was laboring under the impression that they were endeavoring and planning to divert the estate of their grandmother so that the ’children by the second marriage would be entirely excluded from a share in her estate. After a careful consideration of the evidence on this issue, we do not think it is of such character as would require a charge upon that subject. The only evidence on that subject was that of M. A. Brown, one of the attesting witnesses, who admitted that his recollection was not good on account of his advancing age. He testified that when he and W. P. Neese arrived at the residence of the testatrix, “ Mrs. Stephens said that some of them had said that they was going to knock John’s children out of their part, but she said, ‘I am going to fix it so they will get their part.’ So Mr. Neese went on and wrote just like she told him; and she told him, ‘ When yon get that wrote I want you to will to John B.. Stephens what I possess,’ — all her part, the balance of it after she named what she had was John B. Stephens’; that was her present husr
5. On the issue as to the mental capacity of the testatrix to make a will the evidence was conflicting; but the jury determined that the preponderance on this and on all other issues was with the propounders. The trial judge approved the verdict, and it is our opinion that the evidence was sufficient to authorize the finding.
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.