Black v. Richmond

2005 ND 145, 701 N.W.2d 897, 2005 N.D. LEXIS 179
CourtNorth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 25, 2005
DocketNo. 20040360
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 2005 ND 145 (Black v. Richmond) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering North Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Black v. Richmond, 2005 ND 145, 701 N.W.2d 897, 2005 N.D. LEXIS 179 (N.D. 2005).

Opinions

KAPSNER, Justice.

[¶ 1] Karen Black appealed from a revised judgment granting Donald Richmond’s motion for summary judgment dismissing Black’s petition to contest the last will and testament of her mother, Lois Helen Richmond, and ordering Black as the personal representative to distribute the estate in accordance with the provisions of the will. We conclude Black failed to raise a genuine issue of material fact to support her claim of fraudulent misrepre[899]*899sentation, and we therefore affirm the revised judgment.

I

[¶2] Donald Richmond married Henrietta Bauts on May 20, 1943, in Cook County, Illinois. Donald and Henrietta lived in various cities in Illinois and Ohio during their marriage and the couple had three children born in 1947, 1950 and 1956. Donald’s employment required frequent travel, and Donald and Henrietta eventually separated in 1978 or 1979.

[¶ 3] Donald met Lois Bristol during the fall of 1976 while he was working at a trade show in Bismarck. Lois’s husband, William Bristol, had died in 1971. Karen Black is Lois and William Bristol’s only child. Donald and Lois developed a relationship and Donald ultimately moved from the Chicago area to Bismarck. At the time he left the Chicago area, Donald was not divorced from Henrietta, but he “kn[e]w that she had at least started the divorce process.” According to Donald, Lois wanted to get married, but Donald told her he was not sure Henrietta had obtained a divorce from him. In January 1982, Donald took Lois along to a trade show he was attending in the Chicago area so Lois could talk to Henrietta about the status of Donald and Henrietta’s marriage. Donald testified:

So she came and we called up Henrietta to make an appointment and she said yes, she’d see her. So I gave her the car because I’m at the show, so I showed her how to get out there. So when she came back, she told me, Well, I saw Henrietta, and Henrietta said the divorce is complete. She showed me some papers, and she’s going to send me copies of them. So she said, You’re divorced. She said, No sense in putting it off. Let’s get married. So we got married.

Lois and Donald were married on March 23, 1982, in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. According to Donald’s daughter, she met with Donald and Lois in 1986 in Ohio and Lois told her “she had spoken to my mother and she knew that the divorce had taken place.”

[¶ 4] Lois executed wills on December 18,1987, and on November 8, 2001. In the 2001 will, similar to the earlier will, Lois bequeathed the home they shared at 815 North 1st Street in Bismarck “to my husband Donald George Richmond, if he survives me. If he does not survive me, said real and personal property shall become a part of the residue of my estate.” Lois bequeathed the residue of her estate “to my daughter Karen Kay Black.” Lois also nominated Black to be the personal representative of her estate.

[¶ 5] Lois died on March 5, 2003, at the age of 88. Shortly after Black had signed an application for informal probate of Lois’s will, Donald’s son contacted Black and told her he believed Donald and Henrietta had never been divorced. Henrietta has been mentally incompetent for several years and Black’s search of the office of the Clerk of Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, produced no records of a divorce between Donald and Henrietta between 1965 and 2004. Donald’s daughter testified she was unable to find documentation of Donald and Henrietta’s divorce in Henrietta’s personal papers. Black testified she also found no divorce papers in her mother’s personal effects. On February 21, 2004, Black filed a petition to contest her mother’s will under N.D.C.C. § 30.1-15-07. Black alleged that Donald “knowingly and willfully mis-le[]d the decedent into an unlawful void marriage by misrepresenting to decedent that he was divorced from his first wife,” and because “the devisee designation [in Lois’s will] was a product of Donald Rich[900]*900mond’s fraudulent conduct and misrepresentation, which continued through decedent’s date of death, those portions of the Will by which Donald Richmond benefits are invalid.” Black sought a ruling that Donald is not entitled to any portion of Lois’s estate.

[¶ 6] Donald moved for summary judgment dismissal of the will contest. Following a hearing, the trial court granted the summary judgment motion, reasoning:

Black’s only evidence to support the allegation of fraudulent misrepresentation is the inability for either party to produce a divorce decree or judgment. On the other hand, Richmond produces affidavits and deposition testimony indicating Lois knew of his prior marriage and that Lois had actually addressed the issue of the prior marriage before marrying Richmond. The further fact that Richmond and Lois were married for over twenty years is a factor to be considered in determining if such a marriage was based on fraudulent misrepresentation perpetrated by Richmond to inherit Lois’s estate.
This Court finds that based on the record before me, Black has failed to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of fraudulent misrepresentation and there are no genuine issues of material fact.

The trial court dismissed the petition to contest the will and ordered that Lois’s estate be distributed in accordance with her will. Black appealed.

II

[¶ 7] Donald contends that Black lacks standing in this probate proceeding to contest any issues relating to Donald and Lois’s marriage because allowing her to challenge the marriage after Lois’s death violates public policy.

[¶ 8] Donald relies on this Court’s decision in Gibbons v. Blair, 376 N.W.2d 22, 25 (N.D.1985), which held that an action to annul a marriage on the ground of fraud under N.D.C.C. ch. 14-04 can only be brought by the defrauded spouse while both parties to the marriage are living. In Gibbons, 376 N.W.2d at 23, a father sued his deceased son’s widow to annul the marriage for fraud. Black’s probate court action does not seek to annul her mother’s marriage to Donald. Rather, Black challenges her mother’s testamentary devise to Donald on the ground of fraud, and attempts to use the possible invalidity of the marriage as evidence of Donald’s fraudulent conduct.

[¶ 9] As the personal representative of Lois’s estate and as a residuary beneficiary and child of the decedent who stands to acquire the disputed property if her action is successful, Black qualifies as an “interested person” under N.D.C.C. § 30.1-01-06(25) with standing to bring this will contest. See Jordan v. Anderson, 421 N.W.2d 816, 818 (N.D.1988). Donald has not cited, and we have not found, any authority that would prohibit Black from attempting to rely upon the alleged invalidity of the marriage as proof of fraud for purposes of challenging her mother’s testamentary devise to Donald. Compare Norris v. Harrison, 198 F.2d 953, 954 (D.C.Cir.1952) (indicating in dictum that appellants could attack marriage and conveyance of property if will which devised to them disputed property was admitted to probate).

[¶ 10] We conclude Black has standing in this probate proceeding and is not prohibited from relying on the alleged invalidity of Donald and Lois’s marriage as evidence of fraud.

Ill

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Related

In Re Estate of Richmond
2005 ND 145 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 2005)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2005 ND 145, 701 N.W.2d 897, 2005 N.D. LEXIS 179, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/black-v-richmond-nd-2005.