22 Mo. 518 | Mo. | 1856
delivered the opinion of the court.
Some time in April, 1855, John Goode died in Franklin county, having previously made his last will, with a codicil thereto. This will and codicil were admitted to probate about the last of April, 1855 ; and this petition is brought by some of the legatees of said John Goode to reform the will, so as to make it córrespond with the alleged intention of the testator.
To this petition a demurrer was filed, which was sustained by the court below, judgment rendered thereon for defendants, and the plaintiffs bring the case here by appeal.
This action is substantially a proceeding to correct a mistake in a will, and we hesitate not to declare that such a proceeding can not be allowed or sustained ; and, consequently, that the Circuit Court decided the case properly, and its judgment must be affirmed.
Adams, in his treatise on Equity, p.'172, says.: “ A will can not be corrected by evidence of mistake, so as to supply a cause or word inadvertently omitted by the drawer or copyer; for there can be no will without the statutory forms, and the disappointed intention has not those forms. But it seems that if a clause be inadvertently introduced, there may be an issue to try whether it is part of the testator’s will.” Jarman says : “ Evidence is not admissible to supply any clause or word which may have been inadvertently omitted by the person drawing or copying the will.” (1 Jarman on Wills, 353.) In Mann et al. against the executors of Mann et al. (1 Johns. Ch. Rep. 231,) Chancellor Kent says: “It is a well settled rule that seems not to stand in need of much proof or illustration, for it runs through all the books, from Cheny’s case (5 Coke, 68)
Chancellor Kent says : “ Perhaps a solitary dictum, may occasionally be met with (for there are volumes of cases on the
Judge Story, in his equity jurisdiction, (1 Sto. Eq. § 179,) says : “In regard to mistakes in wills, there is no doubt that courts of equity have jurisdiction to correct them when apparent on the face of the will, or are to be made out by construction of its terms ; for, in eases of wills, the intention will prevail. But, then, the mistake must be apparent on the face of the will, otherwise there can be no relief ; for, at least, since the statute of frauds, which requires wills to be in writing, (whatever may have been the case before the statute,) parol evidence, or evidence dehors the will, is not admissible to vary or control the terms of the will, although it is admissible to remove a latent ambiguity.”
Parol evidence of the intention of the testator is inadmissible to vary the express terms of a will. (Avery et ux v. Chappel, 6 Connec. 270; Earl of Newburgh v. Countess Dowager of Newburgh, 5 Maddox Ch. R. 364.)
Apply the universally'admitted doctrine of courts of equity to this case now before us, about reforming wills or correcting mistakes in wills, and there will remain no doubt of the correctness of the decision of the court below.
Here, the parties (plaintiffs) seek to change a sentence or paragraph of the will of the testator, by adding the names of other legatees, so as to alter materially the bequests, — indeed, seek to cut out one paragraph in effect and set up a new one. Admit this doctrine, and you may as well repeal the statute requiring wills to be in writing, at once. Witnesses will then make wills and not testators.