Estate of Jepson

Frederick Emil Jepson died in Los Angeles County on November 5, 1915, survived by his wife, Elise Jepson, and several nephews and nieces, the children of a deceased brother and sister of Jepson. No will appearing, the widow applied for letters of administration, which were granted to her. Upon her petition for the setting apart of a homestead, the nephews and nieces appeared in opposition. The superior court ruled that they were not entitled to oppose the widow’s petition, for the reason, as she claimed, that the entire estate passed to her under the law of succession. The nephews and nieces appealed, and this court, on a motion to dismiss, and later, in passing on the merits of the appeals, decided that the appellants were entitled to share in the estate of the supposed intestate. (Estate of Jepson, 174 Cal. 684 , [ 164 Pac. 1 ]; Estate of Jepson, 176 Cal. 648 , [ 170 Pac. 1182 ].)

About a year and a half after Jepson’s death, and shortly after our decision on the motion to dismiss, the widow filed a paper as the last will of the decedent, together with a petition for its admission to probate. The nephews and nieces filed a contest, putting in issue the genuineness of the…