The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1884-02-27
70 PREVENT WILL CONTESTS.

AHC VOW O1n AC5ioiaCuAO 10 o1o'
cussing bill which it seems to Ut
should be passed and then copied
by the legislatures CT the states and
territories generally. 1t provides
that man may make his will and
during life have it properly pro-
bated, when il shall become in
contestible after the death Of the
teatator. It strikes us that the
average man Of intelligence knows
about how he would like to have
his property disposed of when he
shall cease to manage and control
it; and it is equally clear that mas
much as the property belongs to
him, he ought to have the right Of
doing with it as he deems proper, or
as he pleases. No intelligent and
honest person will deny the propo-
sition that every man should have
the privilege OF preventing the
wasting of his means In litigation
to the detriment and loss of his Off
spring or friends who survive him /;
Of preventing malicious claimants
and hungry lawyers squandering
his estate; Of preventing unscrup-
u!ous persons and hyena al
torneys digging into his fam.
ly affairs, exposing filth and
blsckening his character and that of
those nesr and dear to him. 1t has
coma to be the rule to which excep-
tions are rare, that when a rich man
dies his will is contested by disap-
pointed parties who go to work to
deliberately and scientifically prove
that he was insane, was incapable
of knowing his own mind, wss the
victim of undue influence, was a
drunkard, or from some other cause
was incapacitated from doing busi~
ness as it should have been done.
II he is very rich his character is
blackened all the more. It doesn't
make any difference that he had led
a blameless life, was sober, upright,
clear-headed, respectable, and sbso-
lutely sane-he is certain to disap-
point some one IN the d stribution of
his wealth, and as q consequence
the Utmost details Of his private life
must be mouthed by a scandal-loving
community, his eccentricities mag
nified into ugliness; if his relatives
and friends were kind and attentive
to him and he was humane enough
to recognize the fact. he must be
proven to be weak-minded or lu-
natic, and their kindly attentions dis
torted into acts of undue influence,
The poor fellow being dead he can
refute nothing, and his name must
60 down to posterity with the black
est stain. In many instances, if
man could know how he would be
talked about, how lied about, how
his property would be gobbled up
by cormorsnt lawyers, and how
those to whom he would give his
wealth would be robbed ofit through
PERJURY, bribery and corruption, he
would feel like touching match to
the pile and sending it all up In
smoke.
The only parties who can seri-
ousIy oppose the bill mentioned are
the sbyster lawyers and those hang.
ers-on to estates who thrive by
stealing from honest claimants, and
these are the persons who should be
legislated against. The bill does not
compel people to probate their Wills
before death, and disappointed
claimants are not prevented from
disputing the validity or the justice
OF the will, but they must prefer
their charges and present their
claims curing the Ilfetlme or the
testator. This will enable the latter
to prove himself sane, reputable and
competent, and also to protect his
heirs. The bill is said to find much
favor in the Legislature, and will
probably become law, in which
event the resources of the scandal
mongers will be materially reduced,
one class of unworthy lawyers will
find their main source Of profit cut
off, and rich men can die reasonably
satisfied that their property will go
to those upon whom they intended
to confer it.