188 Ga. 691 | Ga. | 1939
Error is assigned on the disallowance of an amendment offered by the plaintiff, in which it was asserted that the written agreement was void because it was in effect testamentary and was not executed with the formality required. The plaintiff relies on Daniel v. Veal, 32 Ga. 589. That decision announces the general principle that if from the terms of the instrument it appears that the donor intended that the title to the property specified should remain in him until his death, and then pass to the donee, it is a testamentary paper, whatever be. its form. The facts were that Daniel signed an instrument wherein he undertook to convey to Yeal a negro slave. It contained the following clause: “If the said Harriet [the slave] should die previous, then the son to have all, hereby reserving to myself the right of revoking this deed of gift.” The slave was advertised for sale, after Daniel’S' death, as the property of his estate, and Yeal filed a claim. The court held, first, that the instrument was a deed. Answering the argument there made that the reservation of the power to revoke showed the instrument to be a memorandum of a loan and not of
Under the pleadings and the evidence, the trial court submitted but a single issue to the jury, to wit, the mental capacity of the donor. The motion for new trial complains of certain portions of the judge’s charge, and also of his failure to charge. No new principle is involved in any of these grounds, and it would serve no useful purpose to treat them in detail. None of them present any reason for the grant of a new trial. The charge was full and fair.
The evidence was sufficient to sustain the verdict.
Judgment affirmed.