New-York tribune., 1901-01-27
TESTAMENTARY SHREi'S.
HOW WILL. WAS PROBATED. THOUGH
TORN INTO MINUTE SCRAPS.

1t is probable that a whole volume and very
interesting one at that. might be composed a
the freaks of legal evidence in will cases. The
evidence is often purely documentary hence tn
paradoxes which arise from time to time In fts
Interpretation. If ever such a volume comes to
be published it will surely be incomplete if the
following case told by John Corwin. of the firm
of Harris, Corwin & Gunnison is left out:
'The testatrix," says MIR. Corwin. died In
Brooklyn four or five years ago, and 1T devoived
upon me, as her lawyer. to find and probate her
will. In u trunk 1 found envelope containing
a number of very small pieces Of paper. on
both sides of which writing Inside the
flap of that envelope was written: This win b
all here in the handwriting and with the sig
nature of the testatrix-
You must remember that these scraps Of
paper were very~smarl indeed. The paradox In
this, that the extreme smallness OF the scraps
was the evidence that this torn paper the
last will and testament of the deceased. The law
recognizes tearing as one method by which q
testator may revoke will. and the intention to
revoke is presumed in a testator who 30 tears
one. But if a contrary intention can be proved
by another act done at the same time, then the
tearing of the will does not revoke it. Now, in
this case the words. This will is all here.
clearly showed that the testatrix meant those
scraps of paper to be regarded as her Will; n
remained to prove that she meant At the
time when she tore the paper. If she had torn
the paper at one moment, intending by that act
10 revoke the WILL and had subsequently writ
ten those words without witnesses or other legal
formaIity. meaning revive the force of the re-
voked will. then the later act was legally In
valid. and the will could not be probated- Sur
rogate Abbott took this view.
MY contention was that the writing on the
flap of the envelope was. in technical language,
a part of the same res gesta the tearing Of
the WILL I argued that if the testatrix had torn
that paper at one time and put it in that
envelope another some of the pieces small
as they were must surely have become lost In
the interval. The extreme minuteness of the
pieces. coupled with the fact that not piece
was missing. my evidence that the tearing
and the putting into that envelope were one res
Sesta The presence of every piece / proved by
taking a sheet of glass covered with white Of
egg and carefully recOnstrueting the whole
sheet of paper upon it. laying each piece with
the same side to the glass as it's fellows In
this way was able TO present the will in legible
shape. Its physical completeness established my
point to the Surrogate's satisfaction. for the
presumption that the placing of the pieces in the
envelope and the writing the flap were one
res gesta was in my favor. And so / succeeded
in probating that Will"
To the lay mind the mystery of the tearing
OF the will remains no less interesting than the
curious legal evidence of it's validity. People
who make wills notOriousIy indulge in strange
fancies at times and il may be that this woman
resorted TO the expedient of tearing up her
will precisely because that was one of the last
things which any one who wished TO preserve
will would be likely TO do with it, and, conse-
0uently. no one who wished TO steal the win
would be likely TO look for it in an envelopo
containing only minute scraps of paper.