Court Opinion

ID: 9700807
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 21:50:05.901722+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:21:14.732348
License: Public Domain

Concurring Opinion by
Mr. Chief Justice Jones:
The opinion for the court recognizes that the instrument executed by Isaac R. Herr and his wife, Nora, on January 20, 1942, partakes of the characteristics of both a will and a contract and assumes that the instrument cannot function as both but must be construed exclusively as either a will or a contract. With that assumption, I do not agree.
The instrument in question is a joint and mutual will. It is joint because it is one instrument containing wills of two persons: and it is mutual because the wills were made pursuant to an agreement whereby each testament served as the consideration for the other. It is the element of reciprocity which distinguishes mutual wills from ordinary wills. But, there is no rule of law or logic which requires that the contractual element exist aliunde the wills, or that it be not contained in the same instrument or instruments as the wills. Indeed, convenience of establishing mutuality is greatly enhanced if the wills and the reciprocal agreement both appear in the same instrument.
Mr. Justice Benjamin R. Jones joins in this concurring opinion.