Court Opinion

ID: 9670136
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 03:15:26.440612+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:02.797872
License: Public Domain

On Motion for Rehearing.
SIMPSON, Justice.
Diligent counsel in application for rehearing have called to our attention the case of Jeffries v. Boyd, 269 Ala. 177, 112 So.2d 210, holding that the ex-wife of the testator who was named a beneficiary under testator’s will, was not entitled to letters testamentary, even though she was nominated as executrix in the will.
This case is to be differentiated from the case at bar in that the will in the Jeffries case had already been probated, whereas the present proceedings are to probate the will.
As stated in Conoway v. Fulmer, supra:
“If the paper is in form a will, is executed according to law, and the testator is shown to possess the requisite capacity, and no undue influence be shown, it is the duty of the court to admit it to probate.”
Also:
“It is no part of the duty of the probate court to construe the will, or to pass upon the effect of its provisions.” — 172 Ala. 285, 286, 54 So. 625.
This is exactly what the appellants are asking this court to do in this appeal.
Love v. Rennie, supra, affirms the holding of the Conoway case and re-affirms the principle that if any item of the will can have legal effect, the will should be admitted to probate, if it has been proven to be properly executed, and that the testator possessed the requisite capacity, etc.
Again quoting from Conoway v. Fulmer:
“The first clause performs one of the most important functions of a will— *575to wit, the revocation of all previous wills; and the item numbered ‘First’ directs that all of the testator’s debts be paid as soon as possible after the death of the testator. But, aside from that, the utmost that can be claimed is that, if all the devises are void * *, the result would be that, after the payment of debts, the property of the decedent should be distributed according to the statutes of descent and distribution; * * 172 Ala. 286, 54 So. 625.
We hold, therefore, to the conclusions reached on original deliverance. After probate if appellee should be proven disqualified to act as executrix under the ruling of the Jeffries case, that would be a matter for judicial determination when the matter is properly presented to the lower court.
Application for rehearing overruled.
LAWSON, STAKELY, GOODWYN, MERRILL and COLEMAN, JJ., concur.