Golden v. Stephan

This is a will contest. After trial a decree was entered denying contestants’ petition to revoke the will and contestants appeal. A statement of the factual background is necessary to an understanding of the issues.

The decedent, Georgie Lee Golden, was a bachelor without close relatives. He was 69 years old at the time of his death and had lived by himself since the death of his mother in 1953. Mr. Golden’s property had descended to him mostly from his mother who had been the second wife of his father, Frank Golden. Decedent had never worked but the property which he owned was sufficient to…