11 Misc. 218 | N.Y. Sur. Ct. | 1895
Two papers, each purporting to he a will of Mrs. Julia Ann Spratt, have been presented for probate. The first was executed on April 24, 1893, and the second thirty-one days after, on the twenty-fifth of May. The general scheme of each is the* same, except that the residuary estate which,"by the first paper, is given iu equal shares to-three ladies therein named, in the second is left to William ¡Nelson Le Page, who, under the first will, receives nothing. A trust fund of $3,500 provided for Simon Hazelton in the first is reduced to $3,000 in the second. The executors, three in number, are the same in each instrument — one being Le Page, the principal beneficiary named in the second paper.
The estate of Mrs. Spratt consists of a house and lot on East Fortieth street, a quantity of gold coin and bank notes, some United States bonds and a certain indebtedness -of Le Page, the amount of which is in dispute. The whole estate is claimed by the contestants of the last will to be of the value of about $25,000.
Mrs. Spratt was a woman of seventy years of age or over. For several years her right' side had been paralyzed and her speech was sometimes affected thereby. ■ She was of a generous nature, inclined to be confiding, but at times she was resolute in expressing her views. Both papers were executed in accordance with the requirements of the statute when she was possessed of the mental capacity to make a will. The only question for me to decide is that of undue influence which the beneficiaries under the first will have put in issue in respect of the paper of May twenty-fifth.
Mrs. Spratt died on the 18th day of October, 1893, about five months after the execution of the paper last in date. She had been for several years in feeble health. ¡None of the legatees and devisees named in either paper are of kin. There can be no doubt that the will of April twenty-fourth expressed, uninfluenced, Mrs. Spratt’s testamentary wishes at the date of its execution, and that she then not only had no thought of making a provision for Le Page, but that her settled purpose was to give her residuary estate to Mrs. Clara Spratt, Mrs.
The circumstances attending the preparation of the will of April twenty-fourth are important to be considered.. On the eighth of April Mrs. Spratt sent for Mr. Ward, an attorney, to come to her residence. He called, and after a brief consultation an appointment was made for the twelfth, when he received from her instructions for the provisions of the will.. On the twentieth he again visited her with a draft of the instrument, read it to her and she expressed her satisfaction, except in respect to a minor matter which she wished to have changed. Mr..Ward took the draft away, wrote the will, and on the twenty-fourth came to her residence, bringing with him Mr. Hubbard, also an attorney, to act as the second subscribing witness. The paper was then executed. Ho person interested in the will was present at either interview, and on the occasion of the execution no one was in the room with Mrs. Sprattexcept the subscribing witnesses. All the facts proven in connection with the preparation of the paper show that it was a matter of care and deliberation with her, and that its execution was her free and unconstrained act. At one of her interviews with Mr. Ward she imagined that she saw Le Page passing the house. -She expressed apprehension lest it be he, and stated that she did not wish him to know anything' about it. Such being the facts in respect to the origin of the will, her relations with the residuary legatees and her feelings of ■aversion to Le Page, the scheme of the first instrument was. rational, and one which would be expected under the circumstances. These facjs stand in sharp contrast with those attending the preparation of the second paper.
The contestants availed themselves of the right, under section' 2618 of the Code of Civil Procedure, to examine as witnesses Mr. and Mrs. Le Page. From their testimony, and the facts shown by the documentary evidence produced, Le Page appears in an unenviable light. For several years he had taken advantage of the good nature of a feeble old woman, had obtained loans from her to the amount of nearly $10,000, if not more, without adequate, if any, security. In view of his character, as shown by his own evidence, the procurement of a will in his favor would be a natural sequence of a scheme to cancel his debt to Mrs. Spratt-.
Le Page’s relations to Mrs. Spratt were of such a close and
It is not necessary to set forth in detail the many facts disclosed by the evidence which show Le Page’s ways in his business transactions, and which reflect against his integrity not only in his relations with Mrs. Spratt, but others.
Ordered accordingly..