Bannon v. Bannon
Bannon v. Bannon
Opinion of the Court
The above entitled cause is an appeal from a decree of the Probate Court of Central Falls setting off to the appellee, in addition to her dower, certain real estate of which her husband, Peter Bannon late of Central Falls, died seized and possessed. The said Peter Bannon died testate. His will was duly probated in the Probate Court of Central Falls and the appellant, John F. Bannon, was appointed and has qualified as executor thereof.
The appeal was heard before a justice of the Superior court sitting without a jury. No testimony was introduced but the counsel for the appellee stated to the court the needs of the widow and the amount and condition of the testator’s estate. Counsel for the. appellants did not question the truth of these statements and admitted that the decree of the probate court should be confirmed if an allowance to a widow whose husband died testate was warranted under the provision of Section 9, Chapter 313, General Laws, 1909. After hearing, said justice confirmed the decree of the probate court. The appellants duly excepted to this de *469 cisión and filed their bill of exceptions which was allowed by said justice. The cause is now before us upon the motion of the appellee that the bill of exceptions be dismissed on the ground that the appellants are without standing here because they did not file with their bill of exceptions a transcript of the evidence and have said transcript allowed. It might be urged that as no evidence was presented before the Superior Court no transcript of evidence could be obtained: If however we should treat the statement made by counsel for the appellee at the hearing in the Superior Court and assented to by counsel for the appellants as the evidential facts in the case upon which the Superior Court acted; and it should also appear that a written statement of such facts allowed by the judge could have been filed here, nevertheless the failure of these appellants to do so would not warrant us in dismissing their exception at this time.
If in the present case at the hearing upon their exception the appellants should attempt to attack the decision, as being contrary to the evidence the appellee might reasonably *471 urge that we should refuse to hear the appellants on that claim, because without the record of the evidence the appellants’ contention could not b.e passed upon fairly. If however, as the appellants state, their sole objection to the decision is one of law, which has no relation to any of the facts in the case not contained in the papers, and which solely concerns the construction of a statutory provision,' the presence .of the transcript here would furnish no assistance in the consideration of that question and would be entirely unnecessary for its determination. In our opinion this case presents a situation under the statute in which no transcript need be filed because the same is entirely unnecessary for the determination of the exception before the court.
The appellee’s motion to dismiss the bill of exceptions is denied.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- John F. Bannon Et Al., Appellants, vs. Annie M. B. Bannon, Appellee
- Status
- Published