Morson v. Second National Bank of Boston

While traveling in Italy, Herbert Turner gave Mildred Copperman 150 shares of Mohair Plush Company stock, a Massachusetts corporation, handing her an envelope of certificates he later signed over to her before a notary and two witnesses; the certificates were then delivered to Second National Bank of Boston (defendant). After Turner's death, the administrator of his estate, Morson (plaintiff), sued to recover the stock, arguing Italian law governed the transaction and that Turner's gift failed to satisfy Italian ownership-transfer requirements, while Second National argued Massachusetts law, as Mohair's state of incorporation, controlled; the trial court agreed with Morson that the gift failed under Italian law.