In Re the Probate of the Will of Smith
New York Court of Appeals
Appeal from judgment of the General Term of the Supreme Court, in the third judicial department, entered upon an order made January 23, 1883, which affirmed a decree of the surrogate of Ulster county, admitting to probate the will of Eliza M. Smith, deceased. The proponent, William Lawton, was the chief beneficiary under the will of September 13, 1880, propounded for probate.
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Appeal from judgment of the General Term of the Supreme Court, in the third judicial department, entered upon an order made January 23, 1883, which affirmed a decree of the surrogate of Ulster county, admitting to probate the will of Eliza M. Smith, deceased. The proponent, William Lawton, was the chief beneficiary under the will of September 13, 1880, propounded for probate. He was a lawyer, he drew the will, and had been the legal adviser of the decedent, for whom he had drawn several wills prior to the one in question. The will was drawn and executed on the day of its date, during the last…
1Opinion of the CourtAndrews, J.
Undue influence, which is a species of fraud, when relied upon to annul a transaction inter partes, or a testamentary disposition, must be proved, and cannot be presumed. But the relation in which the parties to a transaction stand to each other, is often a material circumstance and may of itself in some cases be sufficient to raise a presumption of its existence. Transactions between guardian and ward, attorney and client, trustee and cestui gue trust, or persons one of whom is dependent upon and subject to the control of the other, are illustrations of this doctrine. Dealings between…
2Cases cited5 opinions
- Marx v. . McGlynnNew York Court of Appeals · 1882
- Coffin v. . CoffinNew York Court of Appeals · 1861
- Nesbit v. . LockmanNew York Court of Appeals · 1866
- Schenck v. . DartNew York Court of Appeals · 1860
- Brick v. . BrickNew York Court of Appeals · 1876
3Cited by152 opinions
- In Re Revocation of Ancillary Letters Testamentary of the Estate of NewcombNew York Court of Appeals · 1908
- McCandless v. FurlaudSupreme Court of the United States · 1935
- Ten Eyck v. . WhitbeckNew York Court of Appeals · 1898
- Ginter v. GinterSupreme Court of Kansas · 1909
- In Re the Probate of the Will of KindbergNew York Court of Appeals · 1912
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