that a person by becoming a witness disqualifies himself from taking any portion of the testator's property except that which he would have received had the testator died intestate.

500. Revocation of wills. Great care should be taken in attempting to revoke a will. The statutes of most states provide that a will may be revoked by a subsequent will, or by burning, cancellation or destruction by the testator or by some one else in his presence and some years past in my employment, as executor in his place and stead. I further direct that none of the persons above named as executors shall be required to give any bond or security for the proper discharge of their duties.

Ninth. I hereby authorize and direct my said executors to rent a suitable office for the transaction of the business of my estate and to employ and pay out of the funds of my estate all the clerks and bookkeepers that may be necessary for the proper care and management thereof.

Tenth. I hereby revoke all former or other wills and testamentary dispositions by me at any time heretofore made.

Eleventh. Should any of the beneficiaries under this my will other than my said wife object to the probate thereof or in any wise directly or indirectly contest or aid in contesting the same or any of the provisions thereof or the distribution of my estate thereunder, then and in that event I annul any bequest herein made to such beneficiary, and it is my will that such beneficiary shall be absolutely barred and cut off from any share in my estate.

In witness whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name and affixed my seal at No. 2 Wall Street, New York City, Borough of Manhattan, this 11th day of February, 1901, in the presence of Edward Townsend and Richard W. Freedman, whom I have requested to become attesting witnesses hereto.

RUSSELL SAGE. (L. S.)

The foregoing instrument was subscribed, sealed, published and declared by Russell Sage, as and for his last will and testament in our presence and in the presence of each of us, and we at the same time at his request in his presence and in the presence of each other hereunto subscribe our names and residences as attesting witnesses this 11th day of February, 1901.

EDWARD TOWNSEND,

No. 130 West One Hundred and Twenty-first Street,

New York.

R. W. FREEDMAN,

No. 32 West One Hundred and Twenty-third Street,

New York.

with his express consent, and with the intention of revoking. In Florida and New Jersey a will of personalty may be revoked by a writing approved by the testator in his lifetime, and in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Tennessee wills of personalty and real property may be revoked in the same way. In a few states a will is revoked in whole or in part by a man's marriage and the birth of issue to him. The marriage of a woman subsequent to the making of her will usually revokes it by operation of law.

501. Making the will.-The following suggestions to persons making wills are taken from "Schouler on Wills," and will amply repay reading to anyone who contemplates writing his own last will and testament:

at the outset,

502. Legal disqualifications.—Consider whether you are disqualified by the law, wholly or partially, from making a will; or to speak, more particularly, whether you are a minor, a married woman, or an alien.

Consider whether, by reason of old age or other infirmity, there is any ground for the imputation that your mind is unsound; and if so, make no will unless you have a good reason; and when making one, fortify carefully against litigation, both in your scheme of disposition and the proof you leave behind of your mental capacity at the time of the act and that the will was properly executed.

Similar considerations apply where you are of intemperate habits, or lately delirious in a fever, or reputed to be queer or crazy on some subject.

Consider whether your situation exposes you to the suspicion of being defrauded, coerced, or subject to the undue influence of certain persons; as if, for instance, you should be blind, illiterate, or confined to a sick room and excluded from social intercourse. Here, again, be very careful of the proof that you executed intelligently and of your own free will,

and be sure that the instrument is altogether genuine. If your disposition is to benefit some one whose access and opportunity of influencing you is much greater than others having equal natural claims upon your bounty, hedge in the testamentary act all the more carefully with strong and ample proof.

A will entirely in your own handwriting affords the best proof that it is genuine. But take heed, when writing out your own will, that its legal expression is sufficiently clear and exact, else a contest may arise over its meaning. One cannot afford to be too secretive.

503. Accuracy of description.-Laymen often err in supposing they can draw wills with more breadth of apprehension and accuracy than a lawyer, and in expressing themselves as though persons in their own trade were to profit by or interpret them. The technical words of the law are better understood and more copiously defined by the courts than those of any mere business pursuit; and both for clearly comprehending the legal effect of your scheme of disposition and for clearly expressing what you comprehend, you should take professional advice. If you purpose an unnatural or complicated disposition of property, involving a considerable estate, it would be very unwise to make the will without consulting some competent third person and submitting to him your plans or your draft. Lawyers themselves have often plunged their own estates into doubtful disputes, by over-confidence in drawing their own wills, without asking for advice and criticism.

as to

In these days the safest will is that which deals justly by the natural objects of one's bounty and distributes in a simple manner; attempting little beyond limiting property so give the income to some person for life, with capital over on his death, if limiting at all. If your estate be a small one and the beneficiaries needy, all the more should you make a simple will and not attempt complex dispositions.

Avoid, if possible, precatory words, and uncertainty in gifts, and be careful as to creating conditions, limitations, remainders,

etc.

Skillful expression and technical knowledge may here prove indispensable. Joint and mutual wills, contingent wills, and all such peculiar kinds give rise to grave disputes.

Take care not to transgress local rules against perpetuities and in restraint of accumulation, nor in other respects to make provisions subversive of good morals and sound policy.

Remember that in various aspects, bearing upon the construction of wills and the right of persons to take under such dispositions, each state has its own legislation.

In the description of the property devised or bequeathed, and of the object of the gift (not to add the interest given), be careful and accurate.

Be explicit and clear of mind as concerns the time when interests immediate or expectant shall vest. It is best to keep in view that your will naturally intends to take effect at your death upon your property as it then exists and the objects of bounty, or their relatives, who may then be living. Prefer that interests shall vest at that period or not much later, and that the expressions of your will correspond.

There are some technical words, such as "heirs," "heirs of body," "issue," which should be employed with discrimination, and the more so where real estate is disposed of.

A will is hardly worth making if you intend to give nothing outside your immediate family, and as among these to fix their proportions strictly by the statutes of descent or distribution. But a will may be useful for naming an executor, or you may wish to make only a partial disposition or to execute a power, or to empower your executor to sell your real estate.

504. Technical requirements. Observe scrupulously the statute requirements when executing your will, as to signature, the presence of witnesses, the method of their attestation, their number, their competency and the like. Be sure to have witnesses sufficient for compliance with local law wherever your real estate may be situated. If, from any cause, your free and intelligent consent to the instrument is likely to be challenged after your death, be as punctilious and circumspect as the circumstances permit. Talk with the witnesses and others, and

impress upon them your capable condition. Your witnesses should be disinterested, clear-headed persons, whose testimony will carry favorable weight in support of the will. In some cases it will be prudent to have the instrument read aloud in the presence of others before you sign. Never have a legatee for a witness; select no witness who is likely to stultify himself or yield to bribes; and if there is danger of a contest, do not let those whom disappointed relatives will charge with unfairly influencing your disposition be too prominent when the instrument is actually executed.

Permit no alteration of any kind, as a rule, in the instrument after it has been once executed; but if a change be needful, re-execute with care, or execute a new instrument. As for altering or revoking your will more generally, consider the modes permitted by law, and pursue those modes strictly.

Remember that marriage, or at all events marriage and the birth of a child, revokes a will already made; that modern statutes infer a revocation pro tanto, to let in a child born later than the will, for whom no provision is made; that a child to be disinherited should be named; and that a surviving wife (and in some states a surviving husband) may elect against the will of a spouse, to take as the local statute permits.

505. Codicils and new wills.-As for making a new will or codicil, you should be guided by circumstances. A last will composed of one instrument with several later amendments is inconvenient for various reasons. If your health and situation render it doubtful whether the latest codicil or codicils can be admitted to probate, keep the earlier instrument intact, if you would rather have that take effect than die intestate. But if intestacy is your preference, or if you are undoubtedly competent and free to make your present will, the better course is to destroy utterly whatever instrument or instruments precede, and make a new will which shall embrace the whole disposition and stand as sufficient by itself. The best and simplest revocation, moreover, is to burn and utterly destroy; for, to keep an old will among your papers, with marks of canceling not sufficient to obliterate what was written, or alter