Evening star., 1951-12-06
Bank 10 Appeal
Verdict Voiding
$750,000 Will
Prince Georges Jury
Decides Mrs. Lyon
Was of Unsound Mind

Counsel for the Washington
Loan and Trust company today
prepared to appeal verdict set
ting aside the $750,000 will Of
Mrs. Irene Elizabeth Moore Lyon.
A Prince Georges County jury
decided yesterday that the long,
time District socialite was Of un-
sound mind when she signed a
will disinheriting her husband.
DR.. James Alexander Lyon, prom
inent Washington heart specialist.
The panel Of six men and six
women balloted only once in So
minutes of deliberation before
handing in it's verdict to Judge
Charles c. Marbury in Upper
Marlboro circuit court.
Weeps at Decision.
God is just" said the 70-year-
old physician, decorated World
War I hero. He Vept when the
finding was announced by fore
man Joseph A. Burton, a milk
chemist Of Brandywine.
'It will be a happy Christmas
for Dad and me and all the rest
of u.s." chortled Mrs. Elizabeth
Moore Lyon Kelley. rs. only child
Of DR.. and Mrs. Lyon.
The father and daughter, after
a long estrangement, became re-
conciled when the trial began.
They had filed separate actions
in Montgomery County. which
were shifted to Prince Georges
and tried simultaneously.
/ Both plaintiffs rushed to con-
gratulate their jubilant attorneys.
Louis B. Arnold for DR.. Lyon, and
David I. Abse for Mrs. Kelley. both
of whom have Offices in Washing
ton. Then they shook hands with
jurors. court attaches and specta-
tors Of the 8-day trial.
Other Litigation Pending.
"It's like breaking up a family"
remarked one of the last to leave
when the courtroom and corridors
were emptied an hour later.
Bank Counsel J. Edward Bur-
roughs. jr.. of Washington and
Frank M. Hall of Upper Marlboro
made no comment. except that the
cases will be taken to the Mary
land Appeals Court.
Litigation pending in the Dis
trict and Montgomery County
must be disposed of before the
final decision is reached as to how
Mrs. Lyons holdings are to be dis
tributed.
She died on September %, 1850,
at the age Of 68 in her 35-room
Colonial mansion at Glenview. a
119-acre estate near Rockville.
Md. Death came three years
after her left side was paralyzed
by two cerebral attacks.
Early in 1949, Mrs. Lyon de-
posted 100000 in cash and Sc
curities in the Washington Loan
and Trust Co. under a trust agree
ment she amended a month later.
Income From Trust.
Her will. signed on June 8 Of
the same year, did not mention
Dr." Lyon but directed that Mrs.
Kelley receive the income from the
trust during her lifetime. It fur
ther provided that at Mrs. Kel-
ley's death the entire estate was
to go to Theodore Alfred Deutsch,
Mrs. Kelley's 6-year-old son by q
former marriage.
Under Maryland statutes, DR..
Lyon is entitled to one-third Of
that portion of his wife's property
not included in the trust.
Legal moves yet to be ruled on
are aimed at voiding the trust
agreement. If they are successful,
Mrs. Lyons entire holdings may
be divided equally between DR..
Lyon and Mrs. Kelley. as ordered
in a will she signed in 1925.
| The remaining suits are based
on the contention successfully
used In the will actions that Mrs.
Lyon was mentally incapable of
understanding legal instruments
when she affixed her signature to
the trust agreements.