The sun., 1916-11-20

In an article printed In The Sun Of
November . On The Art of Making a
Will Satisfactory to the Court" the
writer emphasizes the Importance Of
every man having his will prepared and
It's execution supervised by q person
versed in the law OF wills.
The writer. however. say "flling up
q will with such a provision as that the
t%estator's debts be paid. matters which
would have to be done by his personal
representative In any event, and not in
GLIDING things Of real Importance never
go hand in hand In the we'll prepared.
well balanced will" The direction to
pay debts 10 often a valuable one. and 30.
also. Is h authorization or direction by
the testator that his executor shall sell
his real estate for that purpose. Under
our law real estate left by a decedent is
subject to the payment Of his debts after
the personal property has been ex-
hausted. and without such a direction
such real estate could not be conveyed
with an assuredly clear title for a period
OF eighteen months.
Probably the most common cause Of
trouble over Wills Is found In instances
where printed forms Of Wills have been
used. forms p%rocursble In the stationery
stores. These forms have led to endless
litigation. The ideas which some per-
sons have as to the essentials or reQui-
sites Of Wills are most amazing. Every
lawyer has had brought to his notice in
his practice abominable "home made
papers intended as willis, the execution
Of which lacked not only all the formali-
ties required by statute. but In some OF
which the testators with astonishing
confidence attempted to create trusts or
life estates which could be effected only
by consummate professional skill.
In these n In other instances Of
home made Wills the saving of the fee
which the lawyer would have charged
had been accomplished. and In most Of
such instances the seed was sown for
expensive litigation after the testator's
death. in which construction. phrase
olosy. context and intent would he scru-
tlnixed. analysed and dissected. and
energies. p%retexts and interpretations
limited only by the legal ingenuities
directed against the "will'' at a time
when II Is too late to fortify Il. and It
must stand as written. ] myself have
known Of a crude paper drawn with
testamentary intent. weak. but bearing
the formidable caption MY Irrevocable
Will." and OF a paper likewise so drawn.
defective In every material respect. which
the maker placed In his safe deposit box
with care as commendable as his at
tempt TO draw his own will was censur-
able. n his paper. ineffective to
convey his large estate In the event Of
his death. remained, In the steel vault
for many years.
Such a home made" will was In
volved in a very recent case In the Court
Of Appeals. The testator. after making
provision for the payment of his debts.
provided as follows:
! give. devise and bequeath unto my
living son and daughters manning theml
share and share alike. the same to be
equally divided between themselves,
Litigation arose over the will. which
trailed its course 10 the highest state
court, where the decision OF the Appel
late Division was reversed and the whole
matter after several years sent back to
the court where II originally started. the
Court Of Appeals holding that while It
would ALLOW great latitude in determIn-