Court Opinion

ID: 9536782
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 07:06:59.701284+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:55:15.249987
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Groves
dissenting:
I have great respect for the majority’s disinclination to overrule a long established line of cases. However, my sentiments on the subject are strong enough that I would overrule In re Shapter’s Estate, 35 Colo. 578, 85 P. 688 and the cases following it insofar as they hold that an executor named in the will is prohibited from testifying. The harm of this interpretation is particularly graphic here as the named executor was the testator’s attorney who drafted the will. Ordinarily, the attorney who prepares a will is better qualified than anyone else to speak as to material matters at issue in a will contest.
I am authorized to state that Mr. Justice Day and Mr. Justice Pringle join in this dissent.