In re the Probate of the Will of Mittelstaedt

The decedent died on October 20, 1949. Her will, dated June 4, 1921, has been denied probate. The Surrogate dismissed the petition for probate at the close of the proponent’s case and ruled that there were no issues of fact for submission to the jury.

The draftsman of the will, an attorney, testified that he had a custom of drawing wills in duplicate and having both counterparts executed in accordance with the statutory formalities. He did not remember whether he had prepared the will of this decedent in duplicate, but believed that he had followed his usual practice in this case. No ribbon…