Section 16.26 Pedigree Exception

• Library: Evidence 2017

E. (§16.26) Pedigree Exception

The “pedigree” exception to the hearsay rule allows, if the declarant is unavailable, testimony concerning:

· familial relationships;

· the fact of births, deaths, and marriages; and

· the time of these events.

In re Imboden’s Estate, 86 S.W. 263, 267 (Mo. App. E.D. 1905). The decedent’s declarations about a fact involving personal history are admissible as an exception to the hearsay rule if the fact is in controversy. Also, statements of an unavailable declarant are admissible under the “pedigree” exception. The declarants must be members of the family. Denbo v. Boyd, 185 S.W. 236, 238 (Mo. App. S.D. 1916). The statements can be written or oral. See § 490.370, RSMo 2016 (recitals in deeds or affidavits involving heirship or kinship). They may even be testimony from a prior trial or a verified petition filed in a prior case, although the issues in the prior case cannot be the same as in the case in which the hearsay testimony is offered. Brown v. Conway, 598 S.W.2d 549, 551–53 (Mo. App. W.D. 1980); see also Osmak v. Am. Car & Foundry Co., 40 S.W.2d 714, 718 (Mo. 1931).

The exception relies on two factors for the circumstantial guarantees of trustworthiness. First, the source of the statement must be family members who are assumed to be familiar with such matters of family history. Second, the statements must have been made before there was any motive to falsify. That is why Brown, 598 S.W.2d 549, specifies that...