In Re Estate Of Maria Armstrong

CURTIS, J. Appeal from an order granting a new trial after a will contest in which the probate of the will was revoked. Revocation of the will of Maria Armstrong was sought upon the ground that the will had not been executed with the formalities required by section 1276 of the Civil Code as it stood at the time of the execution of the will. (Now section 50, Probate Code.) George Potter, a former employee of the Mortgage Guarantee Company, in the city of Los Angeles, testified upon the trial that the document had been brought to him by a fellow-employee who requested him to sign it at the place designated, and that he signed it at his own desk, and at the time he signed it, he was not in the presence of Maria Armstrong, and did not sign it at her request. This testimony was contradicted by the other witness to the will. The action was tried by the court with a jury, and these two interrogatories were presented to the jury: "(1) Did George Potter sign the will in the presence of Maria Armstrong, the decedent, and in the presence of the other witness?  (2) Did George Potter sign the will in the presence of Maria Armstrong, the decedent, and at her request?" The jury returned a general verdict which reads as follows: "We, the jury in the above-entitled action, find for the contestant, George Robson, and that the document is not the will of Maria Armstrong, deceased. This 20th day of July, 1933. W.M.F. Village, Foreman." Judgment revoking the probate of the will was thereupon entered.