Estate of Perkins

The decedent, Clara Anna Perkins, a widow, whose will is the subject of contest in this proceeding, died on the twenty-sixth day of October, 1922, at Monrovia, California, at the age of about fifty-six years. She left an estate, consisting of real and personal property, appraised, approximately, at $57,000. She left surviving' her a sister, Mattie Belle Fink, and two brothers, Benjamin M. Bentley, .who had been an invalid for some twenty years, and Frank Bentley. Mattie Belle Fink and Benjamin M. Bentley are the only contestants. They for many years lived in the city of Des Moines, Iowa. The decedent formerly resided there. She, with her husband, came to California some ten years prior to her death. Frank G. Bentley, the noncontesting brother of the decedent, has lived in California for some twenty-four years. The death of the decedent was due to aneurism of the descending aorta and chronic neuritis. She was also a sufferer before her death, in a moderate degree from nephritis or chronic Bright’s disease.

The decedent by the provisions of her will devised and bequeathed to Mattie Belle Fink, her sister, $250; to Benjamin M. Bentley, her brother, $250; to two nieces and a…