Rodgers v. Fleming

(after stating the facts as above). Special instruction No. 1, asked by the contestants and refused by the court, the refusal of which is assigned as error, was as follows:

“You are instructed that if at the time of the execution of the will by W. J. McDonald on May 8, 1925, he did not have strength of mind equal to the purpose to which it was applied, then he did not have testamentary capacity at said time.”

The instruction was seemingly intended to have the jury determine whether the testator at the time of making the will had such capacity of mind and memory as to enable him to intelligently…