In re the Estate of Brittain

John T. Clancy, S.

In this uncontested probate proceeding, the proposed instrument is dated September 5,1911. The testatrix died February 26, 1914. A search for the three witnesses to the purported will, showed one to be dead. After 56 years, no trace of the other two has been discovered. Admission of the document is therefore sought under the ancient document rule.

Wigmore sets three standards on which a document is to be admitted as an ancient document. The first is that it is over 30 years old, which is easily met here. The second is that it be taken from a natural place of custody, and the…