{ "id": 8653921, "name": "In re WILL OF ELIZA J. SAUNDERS", "name_abbreviation": "In re Will of Saunders", "decision_date": "1919-03-05", "docket_number": "", "first_page": "156", "last_page": "157", "citations": [ { "type": "official", "cite": "177 N.C. 156" } ], "court": { "name_abbreviation": "N.C.", "id": 9292, "name": "Supreme Court of North Carolina" }, "jurisdiction": { "id": 5, "name_long": "North Carolina", "name": "N.C." }, "cites_to": [ { "cite": "175 N. C., 3", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "174 N. C., 502", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "136 N. C., 243", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "case_ids": [ 8659488 ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc/136/0243-01" ] }, { "cite": "139 N. C., 3", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "case_ids": [ 8651931 ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc/139/0003-01" ] }, { "cite": "124 N. C., 78", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "case_ids": [ 8657899 ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc/124/0078-01" ] }, { "cite": "101 N. C., 600", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "113 N. C., 42", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "case_ids": [ 8652212 ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc/113/0042-01" ] }, { "cite": "103 N. C., 147", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "case_ids": [ 8649448 ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc/103/0147-01" ] }, { "cite": "95 N. C., 65", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "169 N. C., 574", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "case_ids": [ 8660432 ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc/169/0574-01" ] } ], "analysis": { "cardinality": 245, "char_count": 3298, "ocr_confidence": 0.464, "pagerank": { "raw": 4.03580807328026e-08, "percentile": 0.2076221432214774 }, "sha256": "4ffd8c7bfd890c9b927f72d80c0f06f77023e8b89371ae3397615e477a941aa8", "simhash": "1:0a0a0b9cd811f58f", "word_count": 562 }, "last_updated": "2023-07-14T17:15:26.203458+00:00", "provenance": { "date_added": "2019-08-29", "source": "Harvard", "batch": "2018" }, "casebody": { "judges": [], "parties": [ "In re WILL OF ELIZA J. SAUNDERS." ], "opinions": [ { "text": "Claek, O. J.\nThe will of tbe testatrix bas been probated, both in common and solemn form. Tbe only question presented was as to-whether certain words which had been erased with pen and ink were erased by the testatrix or some one else at her request, or whether it was. done without authority. When the will was opened the erasures were in the will. There was testimony that the testatrix had told the witness that these names had been marked out by her, and that the propounders,, her daughter and her grandson, would get all the property.\nThe exceptions are solely to-the competency of the grandson and the-daughter, devisees under the will. The grandson, Elias Windley, testified that when the will was opened these erasures were in the paper, and that he did not make them.\nMary E. Windley, the daughter of the deceased and also a beneficiary in the will, testified that she did not see the will before her mother\u2019s, death, and that she did not make the alterations.\nThese were matters which occurred after the death of the testator, and. which were not transactions or communications between her and the witness.\nThe declaration of the testator, after he made the will, that he had. stricken out any part thereof, was competent, and the burden was on the parties claiming to hold under the erased part that it was not erased by the testator. Barfield v. Carr, 169 N. C., 574.\nUnder Revisal, 1631, formerly Code, 590, the parties in interest are disqualified from testifying only as to personal transactions with the-deceased.\nFor.instance, such party could testify that a paper-writing was in the-handwriting of the deceased (Hussey v. Kirkman, 95 N. C., 65; Armfield v. Calvert, 103 N. C., 147; Sawyer v. Grandy, 113 N. C., 42), or as to any independent fact which was neither a transaction or communication with the testator. McCall v. Wilson, 101 N. C., 600; Cox v. Lumber Co., 124 N. C., 78; Davidson v. Bardin, 139 N. C., 3. The subject is fully discussed, with citation of authorities, Johnson v. Cameron, 136 N. C., 243; Brown v. Adams, 174 N. C., 502. The latest ease on the-subject is Sutton v. Wells, 175 N. C., 3, which holds that \u201cA party in interest may testify to any substantive fact which is independent of any transaction or communication with the deceased, or is based upon independent knowledge not derived from such source.\u201d\nNo error.", "type": "majority", "author": "Claek, O. J." } ], "attorneys": [ "Abernethy, Henderson & Willis for propounders.", "A. D. Ward and A. F. Ward for caveator, appellant." ], "corrections": "", "head_matter": "In re WILL OF ELIZA J. SAUNDERS.\n(Filed 5 March, 1919.)\n1. Evidence \u2014 Wills\u2014Erasures\u2014Deceased Persons \u2014 Transactions and Communications \u2014 Statutes.\nUpon the trial of a caveat to a will, the testimony of the beneficiaries thereunder that certain erasures were in the will- when it was opened, after the testator\u2019s death, and that they did not make them, is not a communication or transaction with a deceased person prohibited by Revisal, sec. 1631.\n2. Evidence \u2014 Wills\u2014Erasures\u2014Burden of Proof- \u2014 Trials.\nDeclarations of the testator that he had stricken out certain parts of his . will is competent evidence when testified to by a disinterested witness, and the burden of proof is upon the persons claiming thereunder to show that the testator had not made the erasures.\nAppeal by caveators from Whedbee, at November Term, 1918, of GRAVEN.\nAbernethy, Henderson & Willis for propounders.\nA. D. Ward and A. F. Ward for caveator, appellant." }, "file_name": "0156-02", "first_page_order": 214, "last_page_order": 215 }