Bundy v. West, 13664.
| Decision Date | 21 April 1921 |
| Docket Number | No. 13664.,13664. |
| Parties | BUNDY et al. v. WEST et al. |
| Court | Illinois Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Suit by Anna Mildred Bundy and others against Josephine West and others to set aside a will. Decree for plaintiffs, and defendants appeal.
Affirmed.Appeal from Circuit Court, Marion County; Thomas E. Ford, judge.
Kagy & Kagy and E. B. Vandervort, all of Salem, for appellants.
Wham & Wham and Noleman & Smith, all or Centralia, for appellees.
William K. Bundy died on April 24, 1919, at the age of 92 years, having executed a will on November 17, 1917, which was admitted to probate. He left a widow, and his heirs were his two sons, Frederick and Isaac M. Bundy, four daughters and four grandchildren, the children of his deceased daughter Mary. The will bequeathed to his wife all the testator's household goods and live stock and the income from one-half of all moneys, notes, certificates, stocks, and bonds, and devised 160 acres of land to her for life. Ten dolars was bequeathed to the testator's son Isaac and a devise of 112 acres was made to him. The will stated that it was land which the testator had deeded to him which he was to pay for but did not. All the testator's farm utensils and tools were bequeathed to Frederick, and 80 acres of land was devised to him for life, with remainder, if he should marry and have children, to his bodily heirs, and if he should die without bodily heirs, to the testator's four daughters. The will stated that on account of expenses incurred in caring for his daughter Mary French and his granddaughter Lizzie French, the testator bequeathed $100 each to Lizzie and the other three grandchildren. Besides the contingent remainder in the 80 acres devised to Frederick, the will devised to the four daughters 160 acres of land and the remainder in the 160 acres devised to the widow for life, and bequeathed to them one half of all moneys, notes, certificates, stocks, and bonds after the payment of doctors' bills and funeral expenses, and also the other half of such moneys, notes, certificates, stocks, and bonds subject to the right of the widow to receive the income during her life. There was a gift of the residue to the widow for life and after her death to the four daughters and Frederick. George J. West, the husband of one of the daughters, was named as executor. All the other heirs filed a bill in the circuit court of Marion county against the four daughters and the executor to contest the will on the ground of mental incapacity and undue influence. Issues were made up and submitted to a jury, and a verdict was returned finding that the instrument was not the last will and testament of William K. Bundy, that he was not of sound and disposing mind and memory at the time the instrument purports to have been executed, and that he was then under improper restraint or undue influence. A decree was rendered setting aside the will and the probate thereof, and the defendants have appealed.
[1] The testator was a very old man. About 40 witnesses testified in regard to his mental condition, and there was a nearly equal division of the opinions expressed as to whether or not he was of sound mind in the later years of his life. The testimony was of the usual character in such cases, consisting of the statements of the various witnesses as to their acquaintance with the testator, their association with him, seeing, hearing, and observing his conversation and actions, and their opinions based upon their observation. Counsel for the respective parties have argued the question of the sufficiencyof the evidence to sustain the verdict, but it would serve no useful purpose to discuss the evidence at length in this opinion. There were no outstanding cirstances, no conspicuous or sudden breaking down of the mental powers, no acute disease or injury, but only a gradual mental decay accompanying old age and physical weakness, and the question of fact was the extent of the loss of mental capacity. There is no doubt that the evidence on either side of the controversy, alone, is amply sufficient to sustain a verdict for that side. The verdict depends not only upon the number of witnesses, but upon the weight to be given to the testimony of the respective witnesses based upon their opportunities for observation and the formation of an opinion,...
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Challiner v. Smith
...was not sufficient to set aside a will, together with an issue of lack of testamentary capacity, would not cause reversal. Bundy v. West, 297 Ill. 238, 130 N.E. 709; Aftalion v. Stauffer, 284 Ill. 54, 119 N.E. 981. In these cases there was either no motion made to exclude the evidence on un......
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Marco v. McGill
...count charging unsoundness of mind is proved, such proof would be sufficient to sustain the verdict, and cites the cases of Bundy v. West, 297 Ill. 238, 130 N.E. 709, and Aftalion v. Stauffer, 284 Ill. 54, 119 N.E. 981, in support of her position. In the Bundy case the defendants made no mo......
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