Pease v. Allas
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Appeal by the person named as executor in an instrument purporting to be the will of William S. Allis, from a decree of the Probate Court, disallowing the instrument as the will of William S. Allis. At the hearing, before Ames, J., it appeared that one of the three witnesses to the instrument was the wife of William S. Allis.
Read the full summary
Appeal by the person named as executor in an instrument purporting to be the will of William S. Allis, from a decree of the Probate Court, disallowing the instrument as the will of William S. Allis. At the hearing, before Ames, J., it appeared that one of the three witnesses to the instrument was the wife of William S. Allis. The judge reported the case for the determination of the full court “ upon the question of law involved ; if the wife was a competent witness, the will to be admitted to probate; otherwise, the appeal to be dismissed, and the decree of the Probate Court affirmed.”
1Opinion of the CourtChapman, C. J.
By the Gen. Sts. e. 92, § 6, a will must be subscribed by three or more competent witnesses. They must be competent at the time of the attestation of the will. By the common law, it was a settled principle that husbands and wives could not in any case be admitted as witnesses for or against each other, independently of the question of interest. None of our statutes have changed the rule in this respect as to the attestation of wills, and the rule applies to such attestation. Davis v. Dinwoody, 4 T. R. 678. Hatfield v. Thorp, 5 B. & Ald. 589. Sullivan v. Sullivan, 106 Mass. 474.
*158As the wife of…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Sullivan v. SullivanMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1871
3Cited by7 opinions
- O'Connell v. DowMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1903
- Fisher v. SpenceIllinois Supreme Court · 1894
- Boston Safe Deposit & Trust Co. v. BaconMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1918
- Hodgman v. KittredgeSupreme Court of New Hampshire · 1892
- Jenkins v. DawesMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1874
2 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.