Anderson v. Anderson

134 P. 553, 43 Utah 26, 1913 Utah LEXIS 49
CourtUtah Supreme Court
DecidedMay 9, 1913
DocketNo. 2416
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 134 P. 553 (Anderson v. Anderson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Utah Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Anderson v. Anderson, 134 P. 553, 43 Utah 26, 1913 Utah LEXIS 49 (Utah 1913).

Opinions

FRICK, J.

This proceeding is based on the provisions of Corrrp. Laws-1907, section 3796, to revoke the probate of the last will and testament of one Paul Anderson, deceased. The action was instituted by the widow of the deceased in her own behalf and also as guardian ad litem on behalf of her infant son,. Hay Anderson, of the age of three years, who, with herself constitute the only heirs at law of said decedent. The grounds upon which she sought to revoke the probate of said will were want of testamentary capacity on the part of decedent, and1 that the will was procured through undue influence practiced upon him by his brothers, John and Heber Anderson, the [28]*28latter being named in tbe will as executor, and duly appointed as such by the court at the time the will was admitted to probate.

Iiebei’ Anderson, both as executor and in his individual capacity as a beneficiary under the will, was made a party to the proceeding, and John Anderson was also made a party as residuary legatee under the will. Heber Anderson filed an answer as executor to the petition, and he and John also filed a joint answer thereto which, after admitting the execution of the will, the death of Paul Anderson, and' the probate of said will, denied all of the material allegations of the petition.

Upon the issues thus joined, a trial to a jury resulted in a general verdict in favor of petitioners, and in special findings in which the jury found that Paul Anderson was possessed of testamentary capacity when he made and executed the will in question, but further found that certain provisions therein ■contained were procured through means of undue influence practiced upon him by his brothers aforesaid. The court sustained the special findings of the jury, and entered judgment revoking the probate of those portions of the will which the jurors found had been procured by means of undue influence, and upheld the decree admitting said will to probate in all other respects.

Heber Anderson as executor appeals, and he and John, individually, also appeal from that portion of the judgment revoking and setting aside the probate of said will. Numerous errors are assigned by appellants, but those relied on are in substance as follows:

(1) Error in overruling appellants’ motion for nonsuit at the close of respondent’s evidence; (2) error in refusing to charge the jury at the close of all the evidence that there was no evidence to sustain the finding that the will or any part thereof was procured by undue influence; (3) error in admitting and excluding evidence; (4) error in charging the jury, and in refusing to charge as requested by appellants; (5) error in rendering the judgment revoking in part the probate of the will; and (6) that there is no evidence in support of the verdict of the jury and its special finding upon the issue [29]*29of undue influence. Specifications wherein the evidence is insufficient to sustain the verdict and finding aforesaid were permitted to be filed by this court at the hearing.

In view that the jury specially found that the decedent was possessed of testimentary capacity when he executed the will in question, and since no one excepts to said1 finding, we must proceed to dispose of the appeal upon the basis that the decedent was of sound mind, or that he possessed the necessary mental capacity to make the will in question. The evidence upon that branch of the case will therefore be referred to only in so far as the same may be material and relevant upon the question of undue influence.

1 The evidence adduced by the petitioners is in substance as follows: Paul Anderson, the decedent, and Rose L. Anderson, one of the petitioners, were married in Salt Lake City, Utah, on October 5, 1907. She was then about twenty-two years of age, 'and he was some twelve years older. Paul was ailing at the time. A very short time after their marriage they moved to Clifton, Idaho, near which place Paul and his two brothers, Heber and John, owned a sheep ranch and quite a. large number of sheep: Ray, the infant petitioner, was bom on July 23, 1908, during which year Paul and his wife moved back to Utah, to obtain, as she says, better medical care for Paul, and from that time forward they lived at Murray, Salt Lake County,' Utah. Paul was seriously afflicted with what is known as Bright’s disease of the kidneys, or what the doctors called a form of chronic nephritis. He kept getting worse until in February, 1909, he had uraemic convulsions, which were produced by the accumulation of uraemic poison in his blood which his kidneys were unable to eliminate from his system. According to Mrs. Anderson’s testimony, at about that time “P'aul said that his memory was not so good as it used to be.” She further testified that after their marriage, and up to the time he went to the hospital in May, 1909, he frequently suffered with severe headaches; that in the spring of 1909 she had a conversation with him “concerning the making of a will, and the fixing up of his property”; that he then said “it would be all right as [30]*30it was,” and that be was not in favor of making a will; that in-February, 1909, Paul-was sick at bis borne, and be and the-witness intended to go to California, in tbe bope of benefiting bis health; that a few days before tbey bad intended to start Heber Anderson came down from Idaho to see Paul, and1, in tbe language of tbe witness, Heber went into tbe room where-Paul was, “and closed tbe door, and Heber was talking in a-very harsh manner to Paul Anderson, but what was said I could not bear, because be closed tbe door after be bad went into tbe room”; that when Heber came out of tbe room tbe sister of tbe witness asked him to remain for dinner, but he-said, “No,” that be was in a burry, and tbe witness said that “be looked real angry”; that within a short time after He-ber’s visit be wrote a letter to Paul, which tbe witness, without Paul’s knowledge, read; that in that letter, quoting from her memory, tbe witness said that Heber Wrote “that if Paul decided to go to any warmer climate that either Heber or John Anderson would go with him, as Heber believed tbey were tbe only ones that were interested in bis welfare anyway, and be says, ‘You shall not be neglected.’ ”

Tbe witness further testified that after that she did not see either Heber or John until a considerable time after Paul bad gone to tbe hospital for tbe purpose of having an operation performed; that be went to tbe hospital for that purpose on May 2, 1909, and tbe operation was performed on June 28th thereafter. She also testified that although she-saw her husband on tbe day tbe will bears date, yet be did1 not inform her that be bad made a will, and that she did not know that be bad made one until after bis death. It was also-shown by other evidence that a few days before tbe doctors-intended to perform an operation upon Paul, which tbey considered a serious one, Heber came to tbe hospital to see bim^ that Heber went to Mr. Marks, an attorney at law with whom he was acquainted, and requested Mr. Marks to go to the hospital to see Paul about making a will; that Mr. Marks said be could not spare tbe time to go to tbe hospital, but requested Heber to go and get memoranda or notes from Paul in which be should state tbe property, tbe devisees, and tbe disposition [31]*31be desired to make of bis property, etc. Mr. Marks also says that be informed Heber that one-tbird of tbe property would :go to tbe wife, as a matter of law, in wbicb, owing to tbe ■character of tbe property, be was mistaken, but tbis is not material.

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Bluebook (online)
134 P. 553, 43 Utah 26, 1913 Utah LEXIS 49, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/anderson-v-anderson-utah-1913.