Cunningham v. Lockett

63 So. 2d 401, 216 Miss. 879, 24 Adv. S. 14, 1953 Miss. LEXIS 710
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 16, 1953
DocketNo. 38694
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 63 So. 2d 401 (Cunningham v. Lockett) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cunningham v. Lockett, 63 So. 2d 401, 216 Miss. 879, 24 Adv. S. 14, 1953 Miss. LEXIS 710 (Mich. 1953).

Opinion

Holmes, J.

On September 4, 1946, the appellant was the owner of 400 acres of land, more or less, situated in Panola County, Mississippi, which she inherited as the sole and only legal heir of her former husband, C. J. Johnson, who died intestate in'about the year 1928. Appellant later married James Cunningham, a preacher, with whom she [881]*881lived until Ms death in the month of April, 1946. She had no children. On September 4, 1946, she executed a deed to her brother, George Lockett, conveying to him the aforesaid land and reserving unto herself a life estate therein. George Lockett died intestate on or about August 29, 1950, leaving as his sole and only heirs at law his widow, Ardella Lockett, and one son, Elmore Lockett, both of whom were adults. At the time of the death of the said George Lockett, he was living apart from his lawful wife, Ardella Lockett, and living with one Dorothy Lockett, also called Dicey Lockett, with whom he had contracted a ceremonial marriage without previously obtaining a divorce from his said wife, Ardella Lockett. Immediately following the death of George Lockett, and in fact on the day before he was buried, to-wit, September 2, 1950, the said Ardella Lockett and Elmore Lockett conveyed unto Joseph Lockett and Katie Lockett Dean, the brother and sister respectively of appellant, an undivided one-fourth interest each in the remainder interest in said land. At the time of the death of the said George Lockett, the Taylor Mercantile Company was asserting a claim against the said George Lockett in the amount of approximately $2,000 and asserting the right, following the death of the said George Lockett, to. enforce payment of said claim out of any property owned by the said George Lockett at the time of his death. On November 29, 1951, the appellant filed her original bill in the Chancery Court of the First Judicial District of Panola County, Mississippi, against Joseph Lockett, Katie Lockett Dean, Ardella Lomax Lockett, Elmore Lockett, and Taylor Mercantile Company, a corporation, seeking the cancellation of the aforesaid conveyance executed by her to the said George Lockett on September 4, 1946, and the aforesaid conveyance executed by Ardella Lomax Lockett and Elmore Lockett to Joseph Lockett and Katie Lockett Dean, charging that the aforesaid conveyance executed by appellant to the said George Lockett on September 4, [882]*8821946, was procured through, fraud and mistake and undue influence and at a time when the appellant, because of old age, weakness of mind, and sickness, was incapacitated to understand and appreciate the nature and effect of said conveyance.

The suit of appellant was not contested by the said Joseph Lockett, Katie Lockett Dean, and Elmore Lockett, and in fact these named defendants appeared as witnesses in behalf of the appellant. The said Ardella Lomax Lockett and Taylor Mercantile Company answered, denying the allegations of the original bill and the grounds therein relied upon for the cancellation of the conveyances therein sought to be cancelled.

The chancellor, after hearing the evidence, found adversely to the appellant, both as to the law and the facts, and entered a decree dismissing the original bill, from which decree the appellant prosecutes this appeal.

The appellant seeks a reversal of the decree of the court below upon the ground that the same is contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence.

The issues presented to the chancellor were whether the deed which the appellant executed to George Lockett on September 4, 1946, was procured through fraud or mistake, or as the result of undue influence, or whether at the time of the execution of the deed by appellant she was of great weakness of mind caused by the infirmities of old age and illness or other cause to the extent that she was mentally incapacitated to understand and appreciate the transaction and the effect of her act. The proof on these issues was conflicting. The proof on behalf of the appellant showed that she was about 85 years of age, unable to read and write, in bad health, suffering from arthritis and stiffness and swelling of the limbs, and was unable to go about without difficulty, but made frequent trips to the doctor, and had been in a confused state of mind since the death of her husband, James Cunningham, in April, 1946; that her physical ailments grew progres[883]*883sively worse following the death of her husband, James Cunningham, and that she would occasionally start to say something and forget what she was going to say and that after the death of her said husband she occasionally inquired where he was or when he was coming home; that George Lockett visited her on frequent occasions and assisted her in her business, and influenced her to go with him to the office of McClure and Fant, attorneys, at the time the deed in question was prepared for execution; that she executed the deed thinking that it was a will; that she did not discover her mistake until after George Lockett became ill during the latter part of the year 1949, when she visited him in his home; that on this occasion, Dicey Lockett remarked in her presence that George Lockett could not get well and that on his death she was going to sell the land; that the appellant then told her that she could not sell the land since she had only willed it to George Lockett, and that Dicey replied that she, the appellant, thought she had willed it to George but she had in fact executed a deed to the property; that appellant then had inquiry made at the clerk’s office and learned that the instrument which she executed was a deed; that she then had prepared a deed for the reconveyance of the land to her by George Lockett, and took the same to the said George Lockett and requested him to execute it, and that he said he would do so, stating that he realized he had acted wrong and that she, the appellant, thought she was executing a will; that George Lockett, however, refused to execute the deed reconveying the property to appellant; that thereafter the appellant had another deed prepared to be executed by George Lockett conveying to Joseph Lockett and Katie Lockett Dean a two-thirds interest in the land, pursuant to an understanding with the said Joseph Lockett and Katie Lockett Dean that they in turn would convey such interest to the appellant, and that she, the appellant, undertook to get George Lockett to execute this deed but [884]*884that he failed or refused to do so; that immediately upon the death of the said George Lockett, and in fact before his burial, appellant prevailed upon Ardella Lockett and Elmore Lockett, the sole heirs of George Lockett, to execute a deed conveying a one-fourth interest each in the land to the said Joseph Lockett and Katie Lockett Dean, pursuant to an understanding that the said Joseph Lockett and Katie Lockett Dean would in turn convey such interest to the appellant; that Joseph Lockett and Katie Lockett Dean failed thereafter, however, to execute such a conveyance to the appellant.

The proof on behalf of the appellees showed on the contrary that the said George Lockett did not assist appellant in the conduct of her business; that on the occasion when the deed in question was prepared, appellant, without any suggestions from George Lockett, requested him to go with her to the office of the attorneys; that the only relationship existing between appellant and George Lockett was that of brother and sister; that on May 20, 1946, the appellant obtained a loan from the State Bank of Como for $421.50, executing a deed of trust on the aforesaid land to secure the same; that Mr.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
63 So. 2d 401, 216 Miss. 879, 24 Adv. S. 14, 1953 Miss. LEXIS 710, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cunningham-v-lockett-miss-1953.