Estate of Seegelken

A petition was filed for letters of administration with the will annexed in the above-named estate. Contest was joined upon the ground that the will had been destroyed by the testator with the intention of revoking it. The cause was tried before the court sitting without a jury and resulted in findings and judgment for contestants. Petitioners appeal upon typewritten transcripts.

The petition alleged that the physical destruction of the will was made at a time when the testator was of unsound mind and that it was accomplished through the undue influence and fraud of Louise Schmitz, a niece of the testator, whose participation in the estate would be greatly increased by the revocation of the will.

The will was duly executed in 1914 when the testator was admittedly sane. In 1918 he was committed to the insane asylum at Agnews after proceedings duly had in the Superior Court of Monterey County. Just prior thereto he had been duly adjudged to be incompetent in proceedings in the same court and a guardian of his person and estate had been appointed. A few months after his commitment habeas corpus proceedings were instituted in Santa Clara County upon the hearing of which he was…