In re the last will & testament of Able
In re the last will & testament of Able
Opinion of the Court
This is an appeal from a decree of the' orphans court of Hunterdon county, upon a verdict of a jury denying probate of the last will and testament of Kate Able, deceased. The testatrix was a widow with two married children, a son and daughter. In the later years of her life she lived with her son, and by her will gave to him all of her estate. The daughter filed a caveat, and upon her motion the cause' was certified into the circuit court for a trial before a jury. Before that tribunal the will was contested on the grounds that it was a forgery; that it was not executed according to the statutory requirements; that the testatrix was incompetent, and that the paper was procured by undue influence. A verdict was returned that the .testatrix was of sound and disposing mind, and that the will was duly executed, but that it was the result of undue influence, imposition or fraud exercised upon the testatrix by her son Edwin F. ’Able, and, therefore, was not her last will and testament.
There was no evidence produced at the trial of fraud or imposition and if, besides the proof of confidential relation existing between the mother and son, there was some of “slight additional circumstances” to raise a presumption of undue in
The decree will be reversed and the will admitted to probate.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.