Boehm v. Kress
Boehm v. Kress
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The issues of fact certified to the common pleas for trial were : 1st, whether at the time of signing said paper writing the said Leo Boehm had testamentary capacity; 2d, whether there was undue influence used to procure the execution by the said Leo Boehm of said paper writing; 3d, whether the said Leo Boehm had a full understanding of the nature of said paper writing and of the disposition contained therein; 4th, whether the said Leo Boehm executed said paper writing with an understanding and a purpose that it should be his last will and testament or a writing to take effect presently. The verdict was for the defendant, and the jury returned as special findings that Leo Boehm had at the time of the signing of the paper testamentary capacity, and that there was no undue influence used to procure the execution thereof by him, but that he did not have a full understanding of the nature of the writing and the disposition contained therein; that he did not execute it with the understanding and purpose that it should be his last will, but with the understanding that it should take effect presently.
In form and substance the writing is a will. It is drawn with the strictest formality. It is called a last will and testament, it provides for the payment of debts and funeral expenses and for the disposition of the testator’s property after his death; it appoints an executor; it revokes all former wills; it is signed, sealed and witnessed as and for the last will and testament of Leo Boehm. If such a writing as this, found to have been executed by a man possessed of full testamentary capacity and subjected to no undue influence, is to be set aside on the ground that he did not have a full understanding of its nature, and did not execute it for what it purports to be, and for what it on its face is, a will, it should be on very clear evidence.
The last three special findings of the jury can be sustained only by proof sufficient to overcome the writing itself, that it was the intention of Leo Boehm and his brother to enter into a contract for the support of Leo by the brother during his life,
Before the will was written Leo Boehm was asked by Mr. Rittenger if he wished a provision put into the will to cover what had been said about his going to live with Benedict, and being supported by him, and he replied that he did not, that the conversation on the subject had nothing to do with the will, and that it was to contain only the provisions as to the payment of legacies. After the will was signed Leo spoke to his brother of a mortgage of $2,000 and an insurance, certificate for $1,500 which he owned, and expressed a desire that the amount of the mortgage should be distributed to friends and charities named by him, and that the amount realized from the insurance should be used by Benedict to pay the expenses of his funeral and as a fund to keep his grave in order, but said he did not want this put in the will as he could trust his brother to do what was right. Under this testimony there could be no proper finding that he did not understand the writing or that he did not intend it to be his will.
These conversations between the brothers before and after the signing of the will are the basis of the claim by the contestants that the writing was intended as an agreement between them. Some of the witnesses spoke English very imperfectly, and it is exceedingly difficult to determine from the confused mass of tes,timony just what did take place, and the order of the events. At the hearing before the orphans’ court for an issue the witnesses failed utterly to distinguish between general conversations which took place before and after the will was written and the distinct and specific directions as to what it was to contain.
The assignments of error are sustained, and the judgment is reversed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Benedict Boehm v. Mrs. Franciska Kress and Martha Gloeckner
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Will — Issue devisavit v el non — Evidence—Province of court and jury. A writing, having the form and substance of a will and drawn with the strictest formality as to matters customarily inserted in wills, was executed by a childless widower in favor of his brother. It was signed, sealed and witnessed as and for a last will and testament. He had expressed a desire to close his house and live with his brother, on whose kindness and attention he might become dependent. He sent for the scrivener on the day the will was written, requesting him to bring testator’s brother, the principal beneficiary, with him. When they came he stated what disposition of his property he wanted to make. His brother, after suggesting that the provisions of the will should be less favorable to himself, left the room. Testator stated in reply to the scrivener that he did not wish to have anything inserted in the will as to his living with his brother and being supported by him, and that his conversation on the subject had nothing to do with the wilh The will was read in the presence of testator, first in English, and then translated line by line into German, the language which the testator best understood. It was claimed that the writing was not a will, but was an agreement for support, intended to take effect presently. The witnesses for contestant were obscure in their statements, and failed to distinguish between general conversations which took place before and after the will was written, and the distinct and specific directions as to what it was to contain. The jury found a verdict for defendants and found specifically that testator had full testamentary capacity, and was subjected to no undue influence, but that he did not have a full understanding of the nature of the writing and of 'the disposition of the -property which it contained; and that he did not execute it with the understanding and purpose that it should be his last will, but that it should take effect presently. Held, that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the verdict.