Seaman v. Colley
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Contract to recover the sum of $500, alleged by the plaintiff to have been promised to him by the defendant in consideration of the withdrawal of his objections to the allowance of the third codicil to the will of one Nathaniel Springfield.
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Contract to recover the sum of $500, alleged by the plaintiff to have been promised to him by the defendant in consideration of the withdrawal of his objections to the allowance of the third codicil to the will of one Nathaniel Springfield. Writ dated May 29,1899. The answer contained a general denial and also alleged that the contract declared on was void as being against public policy. 'At the trial in the Superior Court, before Bond, J., it appeared, that Nathaniel Springfield, formerly a slave, came North before the Civil War, and died testate on December 17, 1896, leaving an estate of…
1Opinion of the CourtHolmes, C. J.
This is an action on a contract to pay tjie plaintiff $500 in consideration of his withdrawing his opposition to the probate of the third codicil to his grandfather’s will. The probate court had admitted the will and codicils to probate, an appeal had been taken, and the plaintiff and the other next of kin had prevailed before the jury on the issues of sanity and undue influence of the defendant, who was one of the executors. These findings had been set aside, and when the case came on for another trial the plaintiff waived his objections, and the will and codicils were allowed. The court was…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Bar Ass'n v. GreenhoodMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1897
- Adams v. . OuthouseNew York Court of Appeals · 1871
3Cited by11 opinions
- In Re the Probate of the Will of CookNew York Court of Appeals · 1926
- Culpeper National Bank v. MorrisSupreme Court of Virginia · 1937
- Bailey v. . McLainSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1939
- Sellars v. JonesCourt of Appeals of Kentucky · 1915
- Shierman v. SheaNebraska Supreme Court · 1935
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