Estate of Cooper

Minnie Smith, sister of the testator and residuary beneficiary under his will, filed objections to the final account and petition for distribution filed by the executor, praying that the claim of H. J. Warnke be disallowed and that the proposed distribution of the 1948 Hudson sedan automobile be disapproved.

Following a trial upon said objections the probate court found that the claimant Warnke performed services at the special instance and request of decedent, for which decedent promised to pay $5.00 per day; that the reasonable value of said services was $1,437 and that there was a balance of $1,272 due claimant Warnke. The court also found that it was the intention of the testator at the time the will was drafted that the word "now" as used therein should refer not to the date of the making of the will but to the date of the testator's death, and that "Miss Hage" should receive the automobile owned by him at the time of his death. This appeal is from the judgment entered in accordance with said findings.

[1] Appellant first contends that there was no substantial evidence to support the Warnke claim. However, the following summary of the evidence by the…