Margaret McKeon, Appellant v. Frederick N. Van Slyck, as Administrators With the Will Annexed of the Estate…

Summary

The New York Court of Appeals reversed the judgment for the defendants, holding that a plaintiff in a civil action against an executor need only meet the preponderance of evidence standard, that an oral contract promising payment in a will is enforceable without a written instrument or corroboration by disinterested witnesses, that intoxication does not per se invalidate a contract, and that a jury may be instructed to award quantum meruit damages even if no express contract is found.