Armario v. Franco

50 Cal. App. 3d 374, 123 Cal. Rptr. 458, 1975 Cal. App. LEXIS 1304
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJuly 1, 1975
DocketCiv. 2038
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 50 Cal. App. 3d 374 (Armario v. Franco) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Armario v. Franco, 50 Cal. App. 3d 374, 123 Cal. Rptr. 458, 1975 Cal. App. LEXIS 1304 (Cal. Ct. App. 1975).

Opinions

Opinion

GARGANO, Acting P. J.

These appeals are concerned with a probate action contesting the last will and testament of Carlo Franco and a civil action seeking to set aside a transfer of stock and to have title in the stock restored to the plaintiff; both actions were instituted by the decedent’s half sister, Caterina Armario. The defendant in the probate action was John Leroy Franco, the executor of decedent’s estate and decedent’s nephew. The defendants in the civil action were decedent’s older brother, John Franco, John Franco’s son, John Leroy Franco, individually and as executor of decedent’s estate, and John Leroy Franco’s wife, Reva Franco.

Because in each action the court granted a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, we review the record and recite the facts after resolving all conflicts in favor of and giving the benefit of all reasonable inferences to the jury’s verdicts. (Quintal v. Laurel Grove Hospital, 62 Cal.2d 154, 159 [41 Cal.Rptr. 577, 397 P.2d 161].)

The decedent was born in Genoa, Italy; he migrated to this country in his youth and died in Tuolumne County on May 30, 1970, at the age of 76. He was survived by his brother John, his sister Caterina and his sister Rosetta Vassello, who was living in Italy. A second brother, Joseph Franco, had died about two years earlier in Calistoga, California.

After settling in California, Carlo worked for many years as a farm hand on a ranch owned by Sal Ferretis near Groveland. Ferretis sold the ranch in the early 1940’s, and following the sale gave Carlo a lump sum payment of $20,000; Carlo used the money to purchase American Telephone and Telegraph stock in his name and in the name of Caterina as joint tenants. Later, he used the proceeds from the stock dividends to [378]*378purchase additional stock in his name and in the name of his Sister as joint tenants.

In 1957, decedent was employed as a caretaker on land in Groveland owned by Frederick McRae; McRae built a small cabin on the land for Carlo to live in and thereafter treated him as a member of the family; during the years that followed, the McRaes spent almost every Thanksgiving Day in Groveland with their employee.

On May 28, 1968, Joseph Franco died intestate, leaving an estate valued at $40,000; John Franco was appointed administrator of the estate. In the meanwhile, Caterina Armario went to Calistoga and made funeral arrangements for her deceased brother. She also took care of some other matters that needed attention, expending some of her own money in the process. Then, when Caterina’s son asked John Franco about presenting a claim in Joseph’s estate for reimbursement for his mother, John told the son to “pad” the claim; John Franco and his sister Rosetta Vassello had been feuding over the distribution of an estate in Italy, and John told Caterina’s son to double Caterina’s expenses so the “son-of-a-bitch in Italy [would] get as little as possible.” Later, John Franco showed the padded claim to Carlo and told his brother that Caterina was trying to cheat them out of their share of Joseph Franco’s estate; Carlo became very angry over the incident.

In the spring of 1969, John Franco and Reva Franco, the wife of John Leroy, went to Groveland to visit Carlo; they visited him again in early October. Prior to those visits, John Franco and his family had not visited Carlo more than 5 times over a period of 20 years. In November, John, John Leroy and Reva went to Groveland, picked up Carlo and transported him to their hometown of Merced for the Thanksgiving holidays.

On November 29, 1969, John Franco and his wife, Mary C. Franco, took Carlo to John’s attorney in Merced where Carlo executed his will; with the exception of a $300 gift to Caterina, the will bequeathed all of Carlo’s estate to John Franco’s two sons, John Leroy Franco and James Carlo Franco, to be divided equally between them; John Leroy was named executor of the estate.

On December 1, 1969, John Franco, Mary C. Franco, John Leroy Franco and Reva Franco took Carlo to a bank in Sonora where Carlo [379]*379had a safety deposit box; the names of the two women were added as owners of the box. From the bank, John Leroy Franco and Reva Franco transported Carlo to Caterina’s residence in Soulsbyville. Carlo got out of the car and, in a very hurried manner, told his sister, “Come on Caterina, come on, I want you to sign, go sign.” Believing that her brother wanted her to sign a dividend check, Caterina got into the vehicle, and the group proceeded to the bank in Sonora; at the bank Caterina signed the stock certificates, relinquishing to Carlo any interest she may have had in the American Telephone and Telegraph stock Carlo had purchased in his name and in her name as joint tenants.

In the middle of December 1969, Carlo mentioned to Frederick McRae that he was going to change his will. In April of the following year, Carlo told Mary D. Franco, a relative whom he visited almost daily, that he found out that his nephews just liked his money and did not like him; Carlo explained to Mary D. Franco that he had told this to his nephews and that Reva Franco then had called him names. He subsequently told Mary D. Franco that he desired to make a new will and that he wanted to provide for her mentally retarded son.

On May 10, 1970, Carlo died alone in his small cabin. Thereafter, his will was admitted to probate, and John Leroy Franco was appointed the executor of the estate.

On November 2, 1970, Caterina filed a petition for revocation of probate; the petition alleged that the will which was admitted to probate was obtained by undue influence and fraud. Later, Caterina filed an action to set aside the stock transfer and to have restored to her her alleged joint tenancy interest in the more than 1,000 shares of American Telephone and Telegraph stock which Carlo had purchased in his name and in her name as joint tenants; the complaint also was based on fraud and deceit and sought compensatory and punitive damages. By stipulation, the causes were consolidated for jury trial.

At the consolidated trial, it was established that Carlo Franco was illiterate; that he could write his name but he could not read or write English or his native Italian; that he had the mental maturity of a 14- to 16-year-old boy, was very naive in business matters and trusted anyone who was friendly with him; and that he was bashful, honest and very frugal.

[380]*380It also was established that Caterina Armario was illiterate in the English language and almost illiterate in the Italian language and that she had no understanding of business affairs. There was testimony that she would sign anything that was put before her, that she could be influenced easily and that she and her brother Carlo trusted each other implicitly.

At the conclusion of the consolidated trial, the jury, in the probate action, returned a special verdict finding that Carlo Franco’s will was obtained by undue influence but not by fraud; the court entered an order revoking the probate of decedent’s will. In the civil action, the jury returned a general defense verdict and, in answer to a special interrogatory, stated that the decedent did not intend to make a gift of any part of his stock in American Telephone and Telegraph*to his sister, Caterina; the court entered judgment in favor of defendants on all issues.

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Armario v. Franco
50 Cal. App. 3d 374 (California Court of Appeal, 1975)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
50 Cal. App. 3d 374, 123 Cal. Rptr. 458, 1975 Cal. App. LEXIS 1304, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/armario-v-franco-calctapp-1975.