109 Ky. 636 | Ky. Ct. App. | 1901
Opinioit op the court by
Reversing.
John Bailey 'died intestate in 1890. He left as his only heirs at law the appellants, Israel, 'Sam, Dock, Susan, Paulina and Elizabeth, and the appellees, E. C. Barclay and Sarah Bailey. After his death, E. C. Barclay and her husband instituted suit, asking a. settlement of the accounts of the administrator, an equalization of the advancements received by the heirs at law, and a division of the estate of the decedent. S'he alleged that all of the heirs had received .an equal amount of advancements, and
The first question to be passed on is the competency of this evidence, and its sufficiency for the purpose for which it was used. The question whether the gift of a father to a child was an absolute one, or made by way of advancements, was a question of the intention before the enactment of what is now section 1407 of the Kentucky Statutes. That section of the statutes made any gift of real or personal property or money by a parent or grandparent to a descendant an advancement, which should be estimated according to the value of the property when given, unless it appeared that the gift was without any view to a settlement in life, or for purposes of maintenance and education. In passing upon the competency of