Brooks

The case at bar is a suit in equity seeking the specific enforcement of a parol agreement to bequeath and devise made by Walt Whitman, deceased. The parties defendant are the heirs and devisees under the will of said decedent and also the executor of said testament. It might be noted, in passing, that since the institution of the action certain defendants have died and substitution has been made. Preliminary to a statement of the facts, we may discuss generally the nature of actions of this character.

Under the provisions of section 1624 of the Civil Code and section 1973 of the Code of Civil Procedure, any agreement to devise or bequeath property or to make provision for any persons by will must be in writing. However, the courts in the exercise of an equitable jurisdiction have, to some extent, relaxed the rule, to the extent that parol agreements may and will be enforced pursuant to established and well-defined principles of equity jurispru dence. (Wolf v. Donahue, 206 Cal. 213, 220 [ 273 Pac. 547 ]; O’Brien v. O’Brien, 197 Cal. 577 [ 241 Pac. 861 ].)

In order that plaintiff might succeed, there were two things she must show. First, that by parol the decedent had agreed to…