OPINION
POMEROY, Justice.
Edward L. Friedman married appellant Beatrice Kamile Friedman on December 7, 1973. It was the second marriage for each, and they entered into an antenuptial agreement on the day of their wedding in which each renounced any interest in the estate of the other. Eleven days later Edward died, leaving a will executed in 1967, under which Beatrice takes nothing. In the court below Beatrice attacked the validity of the antenuptial agreement and asserted a breach by Edward of an oral contract to bequeath practically all of his estate to her. The orphans’ court upheld the antenuptial agreement and declined to find that a contract to make a will had been entered into. We affirm.
The procedural background is this. After Edward’s 1967 will was admitted to probate, appellant filed a petition in the orphans’ court division in March 1975 alleging that the antenuptial agreement was invalid and claiming her widow’s share in his estate and the family exemption. The decedent’s sisters-in-law by his prior marriage, who were the beneficiaries of his probated will, filed answers denying the allegations. In August 1975 Beatrice commenced an action in assumpsit against the executor of Edward’s estate claiming nearly all of the estate by reason of an alleged oral contract to make a will. The executor took the position of a stakeholder and the sisters-in-law (as residuary legatees under the 1967 will) were permitted by stipulation of counsel to intervene as parties defendant. The suits were consolidated and tried without a jury as a proceeding in the orphans’ court division, and the court thereafter dismissed the petition and entered a compulsory non-suit in favor of the defendants in the assumpsit action. Exceptions to the decree nisi were dismissed and a motion to take off the [618] non-suit was denied in a single decree, and these appeals followed.1
The issues raised here are, in essence, (1) whether the antenuptial agreement is valid; (2) whether modification of decedent’s 1967 will by operation of law, so as to entitle appellant to her intestate share of the estate, is barred by the terms of the agreement; (3) whether the lower court erred in entering the non-suit in the assumpsit action; and (4) whether the court erred in holding that claimant was incompetent to testify. Resolution of these issues requires a rather detailed recitation of the evidence, to which we now turn. The legal questions are discussed thereafter.
I.
Edward Friedman’s first wife died in 1965; there were no children of that marriage. Beatrice’s first husband died in 1967; two children were born of that marriage. At the time of their marriage, Edward was 71 years of age and Beatrice 58. As stated above, Edward lived only eleven days thereafter. Both Edward and Beatrice possessed substantial estates at the time of their marriage; statements appended to their antenuptial agreement indicated that Edward was worth at least $532,000, while Beatrice had assets of at least $300,000.2
The salient testimony in this case came from Gene E. McDonald, Esquire, who drafted the antenuptial agreement in issue and the proposed wills for Edward and Beatrice. [619] His testimony may be summarized as follows. On Friday evening, November 30, 1973, McDonald received a telephone call at his home in Latrobe from Edward Friedman, a neighbor whom he had represented from time to time over the years. Edward stated that he intended to remarry on Thursday, December 6, and asked whether, in view of his discussions with his prospective wife concerning property matters, McDonald could meet with them on Sunday, December 2. McDonald went to the Friedman home on that day and met with both Edward and Beatrice for about two hours. No one else was present.
McDonald described the nature of their conversation as follows:
“. . . [W]e did get into the actual discussion of what a Pre-Marital Agreement was, what it meant, as I understood the laws and cases of Pennsylvania. I indicated the difficulty of drawing a Pre-Marital agreement which in my opinion would be valid stressing to Ed primarily . the absolute necessity of making a complete and detailed disclosure of all the assets that he owned. This took some time in order to be sure in my mind that Ed understood that it had to be in complete detail . . . . In these discussions I learned that he and [Beatrice] prior to my visit apparently had been discussing their desires as to property, subsequent to the marriage and that Ed had some knowledge of the assets which [Beatrice] had. I then explained to Ed and [Beatrice] what would happen to her interest ... in [certain] real estate in the event of marriage and in the event she should die prior to Eld having died. In these discussions then [Beatrice] further indicated other assets which at least led me to believe that these assets would be substantial ... . After what I would call a give and take conversation among the three of us, as to the ramifications of the marriage, what effect it would have on each of the other’s property, it was Eld’s desire that they have a Pre-Marital Agreement. He wanted no interest in Mrs. Friedman’s property and he indicated that he wanted his property, if the marriage [620] were existing at the time of his death to go substantially to [Beatrice].
******
. . [A]nd then I said to Ed it seems to me that what we are now talking about is an estate plan because, and I explained then in some brief detail some of the possible tax consequences that could occur in the event that Mr. Friedman did, in fact, make a will leaving everything substantially to [Beatrice] without any trust provisions ... I recommended then that he make a Will providing . . . the normal form of a marital deduction trust . . . Both he and [Beatrice] seemed to understand — not seemed, but understood what I was saying ....
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“Q. . . . [W]as there any discussion at that meeting with regard to what would happen to the property .. . in the event their marriage was dissolved or terminated” by divorce?
******
“A. . . . This discussion, this was really Mr. Friedman’s real concern, not concern that the marriage was going to be dissolved, but as he would say, God forbid, but if this dear woman and I were not able to get along I want to have control of my personal property; and [Beatrice] said well in effect — words to the effect, we are in agreement of [sic] that, that if the marriage is dissolved we want control over our own property, but if the marriage is subsisting at the time of my death, Ed Friedman says, then I want [Beatrice] to have the property as I have described it in this testimony.”
Beatrice 'also expressed a desire to make a will under which her estate would be divided between her two children. Edward would serve as executor but would receive nothing under the will. Beatrice also gave McDonald the names of two attorneys in Illinois who could aid in describing her assets; one was a relative of hers who prepared her income [621] tax returns. McDonald then explained that because of his schedule (which, as it happened, included an unrelated business trip to Chicago in two days) it would be impossible for him to draft the agreement and the wills by Thursday, and consequently the couple agreed to postpone their wedding one day.
The draft will which attorney McDonald prepared for Edward, as he described it, included three legacies of $5,000 each for two nephews and a niece. Approximately fifty percent of the estate was then placed in a so-called marital deduction trust for federal tax purposes, from which appellant would receive the income for life, with a right to take down principal as desired. Upon her death the balance of principal would go to such persons as she might appoint under a general testamentary power of appointment. The residue of the estate was also to go in trust to pay income to appellant for her life, with the remainder to her children outright.3
After doing some legal research on the case on Monday, December 3, McDonald went to Chicago on Tuesday, December 4, and received some information from Beatrice’s attorney there; he also called Edward and asked that additional information concerning Beatrice’s assets, along with Edward’s list of his own assets, be delivered to McDonald’s office. The next day, McDonald dictated at his office the antenuptial agreement and the drafts of wills for Edward and Beatrice. After another out-of-town business trip on Thursday, McDonald returned to Latrobe that night and reviewed the typed documents. The lists of assets had been delivered in the meantime and were also reviewed by McDonald on Thursday night.
All was apparently in order when Edward and Beatrice arrived at McDonald’s office on Friday morning to review and sign the agreement and wills. The meeting lasted about a half an hour and was described by McDonald as follows:
[622] “The documents, the Pre-Martial Agreement and the Wills, each of the Wills had been laid on my desk to the right side of it, and I gave to Eld Friedman who sat opposite the desk, a copy of the Pre-Marital Agreement. Mrs. Friedman was seated to my right. I had a curved desk so that as she sat at that end of the desk, the copy which was left on the desk was one that she could review.
******
“Q And can you describe what, if anything, you did by way of telling them what was in the Agreement?
“A Mr. Friedman had a copy of the Agreement in his hands, Mrs. Friedman was sitting to my right a copy available for her to review and follow. I went down the Agreement through the Preamble and then paragraph by paragraph and said this is what this paragraph says and means, rather than reading it verbatim.”
When the review of the antenuptial agreement was completed, but before any document was signed, McDonald turned to the wills, first reviewing Beatrice’s will. Following this, he summarized Edward’s will, and at this point Edward raised a question regarding the three $5,000 legacies to his two nephews and his niece. “He expressed an opinion that he really didn’t owe them anything” and stated that “he might want to leave those legacies” to his sisters-in-law (the residuary legatees under the 1967 will). This, said McDonald, “was not a firm statement. [The] [indication was he wanted to give it some consideration.” Because it would be impossible to redraft the will for signing before Edward and Beatrice were to leave for their wedding later that morning, McDonald (after ascertaining that the couple would remain in Latrobe after the wedding) suggested that the antenuptial agreement only be signed, and that the drafts of the wills and copies of the agreement be delivered to the Friedman home on Saturday. In this way “after review Mr. Friedman could then call me and we would either sign the will as prepared or if there were any changes to be made we could make them.” This suggestion was [623] agreed to by the couple. Duplicate copies of the antenuptial agreement were then signed and witnessed.
On Saturday night, December 8, McDonald delivered the agreement and the wills to Edward at home. There was no conversation concerning the substance of any of the documents. McDonald’s next contact with the Friedmans was on Wednesday, December 12, when Edward telephoned “to decide upon a time when we could meet and discuss the Wills and any changes Ed might want to make.” A meeting was arranged and held on Friday, December 14, one week after the wedding, at the Friedman home. At this meeting, which lasted about an hour, Edward, Beatrice, and McDonald were, as before, the only persons present. The central topic was Edward’s will, and he directed two changes therein. First, the specific bequests were to go to his sisters-in-law. Second, the will was to provide that if Beatrice predeceased him, Edward’s estate was to be divided equally between his sisters-in-law and Beatrice’s children. No other changes were to be made, and Edward “was just as specific as he had been before, that if [Beatrice] were in fact living at the time of his death he wanted her to have his estate and in the same way that we had set it up as a result of the December 2nd meeting. . . . ”
McDonald dictated these changes on Friday afternoon and the revised draft was typed on Monday, December 17. Edward Friedman never saw this new document, however, because he died on Tuesday, December 18. He had signed neither of the two wills prepared for him by McDonald during the preceding two weeks. The will of decedent which was admitted to probate was, as noted above, one which he had made in 1967.
II. We shall consider first the antenuptial agreement, and particularly appellant’s attack on its validity. The portions of the agreement relevant to this phase of the case are as follows:
“WHEREAS, Edward and Beatrice intend to be married; and,
[624] “WHEREAS, Edward is the owner of interest in real estate and the owner of personal property, each of substantial value, and which has been fully disclosed to Beatrice and is listed and contained in the schedule attached hereto, made a part hereof and marked Exhibit “A”; and,
“WHEREAS, Beatrice is the owner of interest in real estate and the owner of personal property, each of substantial value, and which has been fully disclosed to Edward and is listed and contained in the schedule attached hereto, made a part hereof and marked Exhibit “B”; and,
“WHEREAS, Edward and Beatrice desire to keep the property now owned or real estate acquired by each, free from any claims that the other may acquire by reason of the marriage or by the survival of the other party, except as provided otherwise in this Agreement; and,
“WHEREAS, Edward desires and agrees to accept the provisions of this Agreement in lieu of all marital rights either as husband, widower, heir or next of kin upon the death of Beatrice; and,
“WHEREAS, Beatrice desires and agrees to accept the provisions of this Agreement in lieu of all marital rights either as wife, widow, heir or next of kin upon the death of Edward.
“Edward and Beatrice, in consideration of the mutual promises, covenants and obligations, do hereby agree as follows:
“1. Edward does hereby waive, discharge and release any and all right, title or interest whatsoever which he may acquire in the property, now owned or acquired by Beatrice, by reason of their marriage.
“2. Beatrice does hereby waive, discharge and release any and all right, title or interest whatsoever which she may acquire in the property, now owned or acquired by Edward, by reason of their marriage.
“3. Edward and Beatrice each waives, discharges and releases any and all claims and rights that each may acquire by reason of their marriage:
[625]*6253.1 To share in the estate of the other upon the death of one of them either by way of dower, widow’s interest or allowance, widower’s interest or allowance, statutory allowance of distribution in intestacy; and
3.2 To elect to take against the Will of the other; and
3.3 To act as executor or personal representative in the estate of the first of them to die other than as specifically stated in the Last Will and Testament of the first of them to die.
3.4 To share in any way in the property of each other including both real and personal, in the event of separation or of the marriage being dissolved at any time in any manner other than by death.
“4. In the event that Beatrice predeceases Edward, then Edward shall receive no assets from the estate of Beatrice.
“5. In the event that Edward predeceases Beatrice, then Beatrice shall receive no assets from the estate of Edward except those assets or interest in his estate which shall be devised to Beatrice in any Will which Edward shall make after the date of this Agreement.
“6. Nothing contained in this Agreement shall be deemed to constitute a waiver by either Edward or Beatrice of any bequest, legacy or interest in an estate that may be left by one to the other. The parties acknowledge that no promises have been made by either of them to the other with respect to any such bequest or legacy except as herein specifically provided.”
A reading of these provisions suffices to dispose of appellant’s contention that if the agreement is valid, its terms do not bar her from claiming half the estate of her husband on the theory that the 1967 will was modified by operation of law.4
[626] Next to be considered is appellant’s attack on the validity of the agreement. Although one purpose of ante-nuptial agreements is to foreclose litigation, there have been many cases in which the validity of such contracts has been contested. In Hillegass Estate, 431 Pa. 144, 149-51, 244 A.2d 672, 675-76 (1968), the pertinent principles for determining the validity of antenuptial agreements were restated by this Court as follows:
“Parties to an Antenuptial Agreement providing for the disposition of their respective estates do not deal at arm’s length, but stand in a relation of mutual confidence and trust that calls for the highest degree of good faith and a reasonable provision for the surviving spouse, or in the absence of such a provision a full and fair disclosure of all pertinent facts and circumstances. Gelb Estate, 425 Pa. 117, 123, 228 A.2d 367; Kaufmann Estate, 404 Pa. 131, 136, 171 A.2d 48; McClellan Estate, 365 Pa. 401, 407, 75 A.2d 595; Whitmer’s Estate, 224 Pa. 413, 73 A. 551.
“However, it is too often forgotten that one of the two principal purposes of an Antenuptial Agreement is to change the provisions which the statutory law of Pennsylvania makes for a surviving spouse. Emery Estate, 362 Pa. 142, 147, 66 A.2d 262.
“(1) An Antenuptial Agreement is presumptively valid and binding upon the parties thereto.
“(2) The person seeking to nullify or avoid or circumvent the Agreement has the burden of proving the invalidity of the Agreement by clear and convincing evidence that the deceased spouse at the time of the Agreement made neither (a) a reasonable provision for the intended spouse, nor (b) a full and fair disclosure of his (or her) [627] worth. Gelb’s Estate, 425 Pa. page 123, 228 A.2d 367, supra; Kaufmann’s Estate, 404 Pa. page 136, 171 A.2d 48, supra; McClellan’s Estate, 365 Pa. page 407, 75 A.2d 595, supra; Emery’s Estate, 362 Pa. pages 142, 146, 66 A.2d 262, supra; Snyder’s Estate, 375 Pa. 185, 188, 100 A.2d 67.
“(3) In evaluating the reasonableness of the provision for the survivor, such reasonableness must be determined as of the time of the Agreement and not by hindsight. Gelb’s Estate, 425 Pa. page 123, 228 A.2d 367, supra; Kaufmann’s Estate, 404 Pa. page 137, 171 A.2d 48, supra. Reasonableness will depend upon the totality of all the facts and circumstances at the time of the Agreement, including (a) the financial worth of the intended husband; (b) the financial status of the intended wife; (c) the age of the parties; (d) the number of children each has; (e) the intelligence of the parties; (f) whether the survivor aided in the accumulation of the wealth of the deceased spouse; and (g) the standard of living which the survivor had before marriage and could reasonably expect to have during marriage.
“(4) Full and fair disclosure does not require the disclosure of the exact amount of his or her property: Kaufmann Estate, 404 Pa. page 136,171 A.2d 48, supra; Emery Estate, 362 Pa. page 146, 66 A.2d 262, supra; Holwig Estate, 348 Pa. 71, 74, 33 A.2d 915; McCready’s Estate, 316 Pa. 246, 255, 175 A. 554.
“(5) Even where there is a valid Antenuptial Agreement, this does not prohibit subsequent inter vivos gifts and testamentary bequests to a surviving spouse.” (Emphasis in the original.)
Because the agreement before us made no provision for appellant, appellant focuses her attention on whether there was a full and fair disclosure of assets by decedent. We agree with the court below that there was.5 It is true, as appellant points out, that the value of Edward’s common [628] and preferred stocks was not set out in the schedule of his assets attached to the agreement.6 But the exact value of either prospective spouse’s property is not required in order for the disclosure of that property to be full and fair. Hillegass Estate, supra, and cases cited therein. Here, there was a complete listing in the agreement of the stocks owned by decedent, and the total of the values assigned to the other assets disclosed was approximately $532,000. It is plain that appellant was on notice that Edward’s estate was worth somewhat more than that. How much more is shown by the inventory filed by the executor of Edward’s will in which all his assets, including the stocks, are valued at $612,303.45. Since the effective date of this valuation is but eleven days after the date of the contract, the values were sufficiently contemporaneous with the contract to allow the lower court to take the inventory into account in deciding whether appellant had sustained her burden of showing by clear and convincing evidence that the disclosure was insufficient. See Vallish Estate, 431 Pa. 88, 94, 97, 244 A.2d 745, 748, 750 (1968). Given the complete listing in the agreement of what stocks were held by decedent, the discrepancy of less than 14% between the total value disclosed by the agreement and the total value disclosed by the inventory is not material.7 Appellant’s contention that the decedent’s disclosure was not full and fair must fail.
A related argument by appellant is that the shortness of the meeting of the intended spouses and Edward’s lawyer, Mr. McDonald, on the wedding day, together with the absence of independent counsel for appellant at each of the [629] two meetings of the couple and Mr. McDonald, should invalidate the agreement as a matter of law. It is conceded that neither the presence of independent counsel nor a fixed period of time to review the agreement before signature is required by our cases. Appellant urges, however, that the factors noted above, in view of all the circumstances, should render the agreement invalid. We do not agree.
In essence, appellant is asking us to infer that she did not know what the agreement meant or the nature and extent of Edward’s disclosure when she signed the agreement. As the lower court noted, neither party had seen the agreement as reduced to writing by McDonald before they met on the day of the wedding. But the inference we are asked by appellant to draw from this evidence is severely weakened by other evidence. McDonald’s testimony, which was accepted by the court below, showed that appellant and decedent discussed the effect of marriage on their estates for about two hours in a “give and take conversation” five days before they executed the agreement; that appellant had two attorneys in Illinois who were familiar with her affairs and her interests; that McDonald insisted on a full disclosure by decedent, and that decedent understood these instructions; and that McDonald on the day of the wedding, while not reading the agreement verbatim, “went down the Agreement through the Preamble and then paragraph by paragraph and said this is what this paragraph says and means,” and that a copy of the agreement was available for Beatrice to review and follow. In addition, as noted above, the evidence shows that the disclosure contained no material misrepresentations of the value of decedent’s estate. In view of this evidence, most of which was part of appellant’s own case, the lower court was unwilling to conclude that appellant had carried her burden of showing by clear and convincing evidence that the agreement was invalid. We will not disturb this conclusion, for “[i]t is not our task to try the case anew.” Ziel Estate, 467 Pa. 531, 537, 359 A.2d 728, 731 (1976). Whether appellant was overreached, given the circumstances of this case, is a question of ultimate fact. [630] And although it is true that “deductions or inferences made by the court below may be set aside if they lack evidential support,” Girsh Trust, 410 Pa. 455, 467, 189 A.2d 852 (1963) (citations omitted), where, as here, the lower court’s view of the evidence has ample support in the record, we will not disturb it. See, e. g., Klein Estate, 474 Pa. 416, 426, 378 A.2d 1182, 1187 (1977); Girsh Trust, supra.8
Appellant next contends that the agreement is invalid by reason of what she calls “constructive fraud.” The evidentiary basis of this claim is that McDonald explained to the couple on December 2 that the antenuptial agreement and the wills as explained by him pursuant to their conversation “would all fit together,” interlocking his fingers for emphasis. Five days later, Edward indicated that he was unsure who should receive the specific legacies. Pursuant to McDonald’s advice, Edward and Beatrice decided not to sign their proposed wills, but did sign the antenuptial agreement. Although Edward later instructed McDonald to make certain changes in the draft of his will, he died before he could execute the will prepared for him. McDonald also testified that when, on the wedding day, Edward decided not to sign the proposed will, McDonald did not specifically advise Beatrice that if she survived Edward she would receive nothing from his estate unless the will was signed.
It is not contended that any statement by Edward or McDonald was untrue. But appellant argues that Edward’s decision not to sign the proposed will “rendered untrue and misleading the representations of December 2, that the documents would fit together and result in Mrs. Friedman’s inheriting her husband’s entire estate less $15,000.” It is emphasized that Mrs. Friedman was not informed, prior to [631] signing the antenuptial agreement on December 7, “of the possible effect of doing so without Mr. Friedman’s contemporaneous signing of his will.” Appellant’s Brief at 22-23. As we understand this argument, it is that appellant was led to believe that the agreement and the wills would stand or fall together, and that upon the change in Edward’s thinking about the terms of the will and Ms sudden death, her expectations were shattered.
Appellant’s claim of “constructive fraud,” like her other claims, must be shown by clear and convincing evidence. Bee, e. g., Vallish Estate, supra, 431 Pa. at 97, 244 A.2d at 750; Hillegass Estate, supra. We agree with the court below that this post hoe, ergo proctor hoc argument does not satisfy that burden. Undoubtedly, the documents here were parts of an estate plan, but “constructive fraud” simply does not follow from the fact that one of the contemplated parts of the plan was not made operative.
There are two unstated minor premises in appellant’s argument which we are unable to accept. The first premise is that appellant, despite her discussions with McDonald and his paragraph-by-paragraph explanation of the antenuptial agreement, was unaware that it was necessary for Edward’s proposed will to be signed before she could acquire any interest in Ms property upon his death. There is no basis for such an assumption. Second, it must be assumed that there was an enforceable obligation upon Edward to provide for claimant in his will. But the wills as drafted, even had they been signed, contained nothing that would bar revocation. See Imbruglia Estate, 479 Pa. 95, 387 A.2d 851 (1978); Kester Estate, 477 Pa. 243, 383 A.2d 914 (1978). Moreover, there was no “clear and convincing” evidence of any promise to leave anything, let alone practically the entire estate, to appellant;9 indeed, the provisions for the residue of the estate in Edward’s proposed wills, noted above, are to the contrary.
[632] Another principal roadblock to the conclusion that appellant would have us draw is the language of the agreement itself:
“5. In the event that Edward predeceases Beatrice, then Beatrice shall receive no assets from the estate of Edward except those assets or interest in his estate which shall be devised to Beatrice in any Will which Edward shall make after the date of this Agreement.
6. . The parties acknowledge that no promises have been made by either of them to the other with respect to any such bequest or legacy except as herein specifically provided.”
In addition, McDonald testified as follows:
“Q. ... At the meeting of December 7th, did either Mr. or Mrs. Friedman say or otherwise indicate that in signing the Pre-Nuptial Agreement its effectiveness was conditioned upon the signing of the drafts of the Wills you had prepared?
[objection and ruling omitted]
A. Neither Mr. Friedman nor Mrs. Friedman indicated that the signing of the Pre-Nuptial Agreement was conditioned upon the signing of the Wills.”
Thus, even assuming that parol evidence could be heard to vary the plain meaning of the agreement, that there was no condition precedent to the waivers contained therein,10 there was no “clear and convincing” evidence that the changes in circumstances amounted to rendering untrue the statement that had been made by McDonald concerning the relationship of the agreement to the wills, thus giving rise to a duty of further disclosure. Appellant’s “constructive fraud” argument is without merit.
III.
We turn to appellant’s second cause of action, in which it is contended that appellant and decedent entered into a [633] binding oral contract whereby decedent promised to leave his entire estate, less $15,000 in specific legacies, to her.
Appellant’s first contention is that the existence of this contract was admitted in the answers of the estate and the intervenors to appellant’s complaint in assumpsit. In support of this argument, appellant notes that the answers filed by the executor and two of the three intervenors were verified by their respective attorneys,11 and that prior to the date on which these verifications were made, these attorneys had attended a deposition of McDonald taken on appellant’s behalf. The answers of these parties all denied the material factual allegations in appellant’s complaint on the ground that, after reasonable investigation, they were without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of the averments. Appellant contends that in light of the depositions, these denials should be disregarded as patently false, thus causing the allegations of appellant’s complaint to be deemed admitted.
Our procedural rule relevant to this argument is Pa.R. Civ.P. 1029, which reads in pertinent part:
“(b) Averments in a pleading to which a responsive pleading is required are admitted when not denied specifically or by necessary implication. A general denial or a demand for proof, except as provided by subdivision (c) of this rule, shall have the effect of an admission.
“(c) An averment shall be deemed to be denied if proof thereof is demanded and the pleader states . . . (1) that after reasonable investigation he is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of the averment .... The pleader shall not be required to state what investigation he has made or to rely upon information received from an adverse party or hostile person.”
We agree with the court below that the defendants’ denials were sufficient. This is not a case in which a party does not bother to ascertain a matter of public record, Strank v. [634] Mercy Hospital of Johnstown, 376 Pa. 305, 308, 102 A.2d 170 (1954), or in which he asserts lack of knowledge of a matter in which he or his agent was directly involved or of which he must have records. See Medusa Portland Cement Co. v. Marion Coal & Supply Co., 204 Pa.Super. 5, 201 A.2d 285 (1964). See generally 2 Goodrich-Amram 2d § 1209(c) :1, at 278-81 (1976), and cases cited therein. “A pleader is not required to make inquiry of third persons when it is likely that they would not disclose the desired information to the pleader and when in any event he would have no guarantee of the accuracy of this information.” 2A R. Anderson, Pennsylvania Civil Practice § 1029.10, at 560 (1969). Such is the case here. Having no guarantee of the accuracy of McDonald’s deposition evidence, appellees could not be charged with his knowledge, and could legitimately aver their own lack of knowledge and put appellant to her proof.
On the merits of her assumpsit claim, appellant contends that the court erred in entering a compulsory non-suit. A non-suit, of course, is to be entered only in clear cases; the plaintiff must be given the benefit of all evidence favorable to her, together with all reasonable inferences of fact arising therefrom; and any conflict in the evidence must be resolved in her favor. E. g., Apple v. Reichert, 443 Pa. 289, 293, 278 A.2d 482, 484 (1971). But it is also true that appellant must meet the exacting evidentiary burdens placed by our law upon one who seeks to establish an oral contract to make a will. These burdens were summarized by us in Fahringer v. Strine Estate, 420 Pa. 48, 53-55, 216 A.2d 82, 85-86 (1966):
“Certain rules have been established in this area of the law: (a) a contract to make a will or to bequeath by will, as other contracts, must be established by proof of an offer, an acceptance and legal consideration (Reynolds v. Williams, 282 Pa. 148, 127 A. 473; Kocher Estate, 354 Pa. 81, 46 A.2d 488; Goldstein Estate, 384 Pa. 1,119 A.2d 278); (b) the terms of the contract must be shown with certainty and lucidity (Soffee v. Hall, 377 Pa. 306, 105 A.2d 144; Hook's Estate, 207 Pa. 203, 56 A. 428); (c) the evidence [635] must be scrutinized with great care (Burgess v. Burgess, 109 Pa. 312, 1 A. 167; Bradshaw’s Estate, 243 Pa. 114, 89 A. 831; Stafford v. Reed, supra [363 Pa. 405, 70 A.2d 345]); (d) there must be ‘direct evidence’ in proof of the contract (Calvert v. Eberly, 302 Pa. 152, 156, 153 A. 146; Consentino v. Vittoria, 394 Pa. 538, 541, 147 A.2d 839); (e) as in the case of other claims against a decedent’s estate, the evidence in proof of the contract, must be ‘clear, direct, precise and convincing’ (Petro v. Secary Estate, 403 Pa. 540, 170 A.2d 325; Klemow Estate, 411 Pa. 136, 140, 191 A.2d 365); . . .
. There must be shown by believable testimony that the decedent, in the presence of the claimant, made statements, in the form of a promise or offer, upon which the claimant could reasonably be expected to act in reliance on such statements. Such a rule is sound because a contract to bequeath by will must be shown as any other contract must be shown; essential to such proof is evidence that the minds of the parties met on the terms of the contract . . . (footnote omitted) (emphasis in the original).
Once again, appellant is faced with the terms of paragraphs 5 and 6 of the antenuptial agreement, quoted ante at 624. Assuming, arguendo, that appellant could contradict the plain meaning of this language,12 it is plain from the record that appellant simply did not sustain her burden of showing a promise by evidence that is “clear, direct, precise and convincing.” Fahringer v. Strine Estate, supra. There is no need to repeat the review of the evidence set forth above. It is sufficient to say that Edward’s testamentary desires, both as testified to and as recorded in the proposed wills by McDonald, differed in significant respects from appellant’s claim that the entire estate (less $15,000 in specific legacies) was to go to her.13 We agree with the court below that “[t]o characterize these events as amount[636] ing to a contractual relationship between decedent and claimant, as claimant would have us believe, would result in virtually every estate plan prepared by a lawyer for a husband and wife being a contractual relationship.” (Opinion of Keim, J., at 26).14
IV.
Remaining for consideration is the attack on the lower court’s ruling that appellant was incompetent to testify under the “Dead Man’s Act.” 15 First, it is. asserted that the Act was waived because the executor raised no objection to appellant’s competency and because the intervening defendants, legatees under the probated will, had no standing to do so. This argument ignores the fact that the executor, without objection, took the position of stakeholder in this litigation. Moreover, the legatees could and did properly assert the statute. See Reap v. Dougher, 261 Pa. 23, 103 A. 1014 (1918); Lieber v. Eurich, 201 Pa.Super. 186, 188, 192 A.2d 159 (1963). Second, it is argued that the Act was waived when the executor took the stand to testify concern[637] ing the filing of the estate’s first and partial account at a hearing held a year prior to the trial of appellant’s claims, and mentioned in the course of his testimony that decedent had told him in a telephone conversation that he was planning to execute a premarital agreement. This too is without merit. The executor’s testimony, made in the course of authenticating documents submitted in connection with this account, did not come within the terms of Section 1 of the Act of June 11, 1891, P.L. 287, No. 218, 28 P.S. § 325 (1958).16 See, e. g., Gelb Estate, 425 Pa. 117, 121-22, 228 A.2d 367 (1967), and cases cited therein. There was no waiver of the Dead Man’s Act by the appellees.17
The decree at No. 176 and the order at No. 203 are affirmed.
Each party to bear own costs.
MANDERINO, J., did not participate in the consideration or decision of this case.
ROBERTS, J., files a dissenting opinion in which LARSEN, J., joins.