A $125,000 Estate, a Missing Will, and the Assyrian Husband Left Out
A Tacoma legal adviser says a missing will leaves a $125,000 estate to him—while the dead woman’s Assyrian husband may get nothing.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
TACOMA, Jan. 11.—Special.—J. H. Palmer, for several years Mrs. Marie J. Jasous’ legal adviser, has petitioned the court to be made her administrator. He says she made a will over a year ago, leaving her property to him, and that the will is in one of her trunks in the safety deposit vaults. The will has been ordered into court.
As there has been no community property accumulated since the marriage of Mrs. Bernhardy to the Assyrian, Mitchell Jasous, he will receive nothing if the will was made as stated by Palmer. Jasous could hold no property while a foreigner, but he has filed notice of intention to become a citizen. Palmer says the estate is now worth about $125,000.
“As there has been no community property accumulated since the marriage ... he will receive nothing if the will was made as stated.”
The Jasous case turns on a question still litigated today: who gets the money when a marriage, a will and immigration status collide? The detail that Mitchell Jasous could not hold property while a foreigner shows how legal disability could strip a spouse of standing. The will itself—if it exists—remains the pivot.
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