(Download) "Terry Et Al. v. King Et Al." by Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ~ eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Terry Et Al. v. King Et Al.
- Author : Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
- Release Date : January 05, 1934
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 61 KB
Description
RUGG, Chief Justice. This is an appeal from an order denying a motion to frame issues for trial by jury concerning the execution of a will. The motion was heard by the probate Judge on oral statements of expected evidence presented by the attorneys for the proponents and contestants. No witnesses testified. Statements in opposition to the motion, as well as in its support, may be considered. Cranston v. Hallock, 281 Mass. 182, 183 N.E. 351. The issue is whether upon these statements there was 'a real and true question of fact to be tried supported by evidence of a substantial nature.' Fuller v. Sylvia, 240 Mass. 49, 53, 133 N.E. 384, 386. The decision of the probate Judge that there was no such question is entitled to weight although we have before us everything on which he based his decision. Bemis v. Andrews, 280 Mass. 409, 182 N.E. 816. The decedent, John Enos Souza, was about 86 or 88 years of age when he died on February 2, 1932. He had never learned to read or write. The contestants are his two children with whom he had not been on good terms since 1912, and his five grandchildren. In 1913 he made a will leaving all his property to two grandchildren. In 1912 or 1913, following the death of his wife and marriage of his children, he moved from his family home and lodged in various places until in 1931 he became a boarder at the house of William Souza in New Bedford. The latter is a son of the decedent's father, but twenty-three years younger than the decedent. Both were born in the Azores Islands. The decedent, through William Tripp, a bank employee and friend on whom he depended for business advice, was in 1931 referred to the other proponent, a lawyer, who after some conferences with the decedent and with Tripp and William Souza and the wife of the latter, prepared the will. It was executed in September of that year. By its terms there is left in trust one thousand dollars for each child and one thousand dollars for each of four grandchildren. One grandchild is not mentioned. Legacies of $500 each are left to William Souza, Mrs. William Souza, two sisters, a nephew, and Tripp, who is named trustee. Two charitable institutions in the Azores are beneficiaries, and the residue is left to the four grandchildren and the nephew.
 "Terry Et Al. v. King Et Al." by Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ~ eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free){kind=link}