Petersen
Domestic & Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States v. Petersen
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Devine, J.
This is an appeal from a judgment denying probate of a purported will, which had been entered upon verdicts that the decedent did not have testamentary capacity and that she was acting under undue influence. Proponents appeal also from an order denying motion for judgment notwithstanding verdicts.
On the issues of testamentary capacity, the appeal is based entirely on insufficiency of the evidence to support the verdict.
A. Facts
1. General Facts
Syvia A. Morgan died December 30, 1960. Her age was not known with certainty, but was given for the death certificate by Alice B. Petersen, her companion, an appellant, as 93 years. She had been widowed twice. She had no direct descendants. Her only relatives were her two grandnephews, Phillip Werner and Paul E. Werner, who are among the appellants, She left an estate of about $600,000, of which more *159 than $300,000 was in bank deposits. The will under attack was executed November 30,1960.
2. Medical and Quasi-Medical Evidence
Donald D. Lum, M. D., was Mrs. Morgan’s physician from February 1960 until her death. He saw her on about ten or twelve occasions, spread through the months, which he counted as professional visits and for…