In re Steinke's Will

• Decision Date: 02 February 1897
• Citation: 95 Wis. 121,70 N.W. 61
• Parties: IN RE STEINKE'S WILL.
• Court: Wisconsin Supreme Court

95 Wis. 121

70 N.W. 61

IN RE STEINKE'S WILL.

Supreme Court of Wisconsin.

Feb. 2, 1897.

Appeal from circuit court, Milwaukee county; Charles V. Bardeen, Judge.

Petition by Louise Strehlow to establish the alleged lost will of Marie Steinke, deceased. The petition was denied, but on appeal to the district court the will was allowed, and admitted to probate; and Franklin A. Becker, guardian ad litem of the minor heirs, appeals. Affirmed.

Appeal from a judgment of the circuit court, establishing and admitting to probate an alleged lost will of Marie Steinke, deceased. Louise Strehlow presented a petition to the county court of Milwaukee county, stating, in substance, the death of said Marie Steinke on the 28th of October, 1893, having previously made and executed her last will and testament, in which Frank Mueller was named as the executor, said deceased being at the time of her death an inhabitant of Milwaukee county; that her heirs at law were the said Louise Strehlow and John Steinke, and two children therein named of Johanna Tietje, a deceased daughter of the said deceased; that, about one year previous to her death, the said Marie Steinke made and executed her will, and deposited the same for safe-keeping with one Charles Holzhauer, and, after the death of her said mother, she went to his office to obtain the will from him, so as to propound the same for probate, but was informed that the will was not in his custody, and that the testatrix, Marie Steinke, had called for and had taken it away, and never returned it to him, whereupon she made a thorough inspection of and search among the title papers of said Marie Steinke, but the said will could not be found, and had evidently been misplaced, and was lost. She stated the provisions of the will in substance: That (1) she gave and devised the west 30 feet of lot 3, block 225, Brown's addition, Ninth ward, city of Milwaukee, to the petitioner, Louise Strehlow; second, she gave and devised to her son, John Steinke, the east 10 feet of lot 3, and west 20 feet of lot 4, block 225, in said Brown's addition; third, she gave and bequeathed to each of her said grandchildren the sum of $200, to be paid by Louise Strehlow, with interest at 6 per cent; fourth, she named Frank Mueller as her executor. A hearing was had upon said petition, Franklin A. Becher having been appointed guardian ad litem of the minors interested in the proceeding. The county court refused to admit said alleged will to probate, and the petitioner, Louise Strehlow, appealed from such determination to the circuit court of Milwaukee county, where, after a trial and hearing, said will was allowed and established as a lost will, in substance as stated in said petition, and also as bequeathing to her said daughter, Louise Strehlow, and her son, John Steinke, her “few personal household articles of furniture.” The minor grandchildren, by their guardian ad litem, appealed from the judgment of the circuit court. The finding of the trial judge purports to set forth at length the substance of the evidence in the circuit court, and finds: That the appellant and respondent, by their counsel, having admitted that the several bequests and dispositions of her estate by deceased were correct, and as stated by the witnesses, the only issue of fact to be found is: Was the will of Marie Steinke, deceased, in existence at the time of her death, and did she die believing it was in the care and custody of Charles Holzhauer, with whom it was placed? That the said will was duly executed in February, 1893, and delivered to the care of the custodian, at her request; and that she did not have access thereto, and at the time of her death she fully believed her last will and testament was in existence, and in the care and custody of the person to whom she had so intrusted it; and that she intended...