Law Amusement
Surreal law facts
The truth is always stranger than fiction.
Fender Will
In the Canadian prairies, near Rosetown, Saskatchewan, Canada, on June 8, 1948, farmer Cecil Harris wrote his will while fatally injured, pinned down under a tractor.
He etched his holograph will onto the fender of his overturned tractor, using a pocket knife:
"In case I die in this mess I leave all to the wife. Cecil Geo Harris."
He was only found at 10 PM and was taken to hospital but died of his injuries.
The Canadian court noted that Saskatchewan recognized holograph wills and since his handwriting was not in issue, allowed probate of the will etched on a tractor fender, showing the length to which the court's will go to see that a testator's last written wishes are respected.
Home = Castle
Feisty Edith Macefield showed us all just how important that lovely and powerful Latin maxim cuius est solum ejus est usque ad caelum (Latin: who owns the land, owns down to the centre of the earth and up to the heavens) can be. This principle of land ownership has been greatly tempered by case law which has limited ownership upwards to the extent necessary to maintain structures. Otherwise, airplanes would trespass incessantly.
She owned a 1,000 square foot little piece of real property in Ballard, Washington. Developers bought up all the land around her but she would not sell her home. They even offered her $1-million for her $100K property.
So the new commercial development at Northwest 46th Street had to be built around her little bungalow.
Macefield died in June of 2008 without any heirs so she willed the house to the construction superintendent!
Source: www.duhaime.org
