Higdon's Will
Higdon's Will
Opinion of the Court
delivered-the opinion of the-court.
The county court having rejected n paper, purporting to be the last Will of Rachel Hig-don, and offered to that court for probate, the ease has been brought-to this court,, and here fully investigated; and we are of opinion, that the paper is the last Will of Rachel Higdon, and should, as such, have been admitted to record.
The proof of publication is ample. The acknowl-edgement in the presence of the subscribing witnesses, was strictly legal. The law does not require, ^le Will should be read by or to the subscribing, witnesses; nor that they should-know its contents-, All that is required-, is, that the paper should be iden-tiSed ^7 the witnesses,as that which they subscribed, and that they should prove that it was acknowledged by the testatrix, in their presence. All this has been fully proved in this case.
A just and reasonable consideration of all the facts which have been proved, will not allow this court to decide, that the testatrix had not, at the date of the publication, a disposing mind.
It is true, that she was about 85 years old; and that all her faculties were perceptibly decayed, and
The comparative indifference manifested towards, her other children, was not so unnatural or unreasonable, as to indicate mental derangement or delusion. Moreover, her estate was scarcely worth distributing among her children, situated as they were.
Nor is there any proof, that improper or undue means, or even any means whatever, were employed to influence her judgment or will, as to the disposition of her property.
In such a case, there being no other plausible objection to the Will, than the age of the testatrix, this court cannot concur with the county court.
Wherefore, it is adjudged and ordered, that the order of the county court be reversed and set aside, and that the will be admitted to record in this court, and certified to the county court of Nelson, to be there recorded, as the last Will and testament of Rachel Higdon, deceased.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.