Futterlieb v. Wight

The question raised by the appeal is whether the witnesses, or any of them, signed in the presence of the testator as required by sec. 2282, Stats. Were this a' case of first construction of the statute it might well be that the facts bring the attestation within the statute, giving N to the word “presence” the broad liberal meaning that some courts have given it. But our court in an early day in the case of Will of Downie, 42 Wis. 66, decided in 1877, held that the witnesses must subscribe in a place where the testator, if not blind, may, if he so desires, see them sign, and *244that the statute…