Gannon v. MacDonald

This is an appeal from a decree of the Probate Court approving and allowing as the last will and testament of Margaret R. Libbey an unexecuted carbon copy of her last will and testament. “It is settled law that where a will once known to exist cannot be found after the death of the testator, there is a presumption that it was destroyed by the maker with an intent to revoke it.” Smith v. Smith, 244 Mass. 320, 321, and cases cited. However, the presumption is rebuttable. The contents of the lost will may be proved by secondary evidence, which may consist of a carbon or other copy of the lost…