Case Name: Gibbs vers. Gibbs
Court: Superior Court of Judicature of the Province of Massachusetts Bay
Jurisdiction: Massachusetts
Decision Date: 1767-08
Citations: 1 Super. Ct. Jud. 251
Docket Number: 
Parties: Gibbs vers. Gibbs.
Judges: Prefent: The whole Court.
Reporter: Reports of cases argued and adjudged in the Superior Court of Judicature of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, between 1761 and 1772
Volume: 1
Pages: 251–252

Head Matter:
Gibbs vers. Gibbs.
Prefent: The whole Court.
Questions of Law on the Construction of a Will must be raised by special Verdict, and not by an Objection to Evidence, on the ground that it does not support the declaration.
THE Demandant counts as Heir in Tail under a Will.
Mr. Auchmuty
objected to the Will going in as Evidence to the Jury, because the Will did not support the Declaration, as it gave only an Estate for Life to the Ancestor of the Demandant.
1767.

Opinion:
The Court,
after a short Argument, were unaniously of Opinion that the Exception was the first of the kind ever made; that, if allowed, would destroy all Wills from being Evidence, as it would bring the real Point in (as they expressed it) upon a Side Motion, and would be subversive of the sitherto uninterrupted Course of Practice. The Exception being overruled, the Court said, the Will should go in, as Evidence to the Jury, who, upon finding the special Matter, would bring the Point of Law properly before the Court.