Degenhardt v. Joplin

239 S.W. 692, 1922 Tex. App. LEXIS 601
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 11, 1922
DocketNo. 9728.
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 239 S.W. 692 (Degenhardt v. Joplin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Degenhardt v. Joplin, 239 S.W. 692, 1922 Tex. App. LEXIS 601 (Tex. Ct. App. 1922).

Opinions

BUCK, J.

This is a suit filed by Mrs. S. E. E. Joplin, joined by her husband, to set aside the probate of a will made by her mother*, Mrs. Mary E. Caldwell, September 9, 1914.

The cause was submitted to a jury on two special issues, to wit:

• 1. “Did Mary E. Caldwell have mental capacity, as herein defined, to execute the will introduced in evidence?”
Answer: “No.”
2. “Was Mary E. Caldwell compelled to execute the will introduced in evidence by undue influence, as hereinafter defined, of Stella Caldwell Degenhardt, R. W. Caldwell, and James A. Caldwell?’’
Answer: “She was unduly influenced.”

Mrs. Caldwell was married- twice, and Mrs. Joplin was the child of the first marriage, while Mrs. Degenhardt and R. W. Caldwell and the father of James A. Caldwell were the fruits of the second marriage. At the time of the testatrix’s death, she was 75 years old. She bequeathed to R. W. Caldwell, her son, to Mrs. Stella Caldwell Degenhardt, her daughter, and to her grandson, James A. Caldwell, the west one-half of section 86, block 4, Houston & Texas Central Railway Company survey, share and share alike. This land was incumbered by a mortgage of $2,000. To her daughter, Stella C. Degenhardt, she bequeathed the residue of her property, including a home in Cisco, where the testatrix lived at the time of her death. The will provided that, if Mrs. Degenhardt should die without issue, the property devised to her should go to James A. Caldwell, and, likewise, if James A. Caldwell should die without issue, the property willed to him should go to Mrs. Degenhardt. She appointed Mrs. Degen-hardt independent executrix to execute her will

James A. Caldwell was about 19 years old at the time of his grandmother’s death, and had lived with her since he was 6 years old. Mrs. Caldwell was stricken with paralysis on August 12, 1914, and died on October 22d, thereafter. At the time she was stricken, none of her children were at home; James being the only one present. Her son, R. W. Caldwell, who lived in Lawton, Okl., arrived at Cisco on August 14, and remained 2 weeks. He then left Cisco and returned about 3 days before his mother’s death. Mr. and Mrs. Degenhardt lived at Mrs. Caldwell’s, but Mrs. Degenhardt was absent in New Tork at the time-Mrs. Caldwell was stricken, but she came home immediately. Mrs. Joplin lived at San Angelo. It appears that she had lived with her mother and stepfather for 14 years in Cisco; that during part of the time, at least, she was working, and gave to her stepfather a part of her earnings to invest in a home, with the expectation on her part, and the promise on the part of Mr. Caldwell, to have such loan returned to her. She had not visited her mother for a number of years, but her mother had visited her at San Angelo, and she testified that the relationship between them had always been affectionate and amicable.

Soon after Mrs, Caldwell was stricken with paralysis, R. W. Caldwell telephoned to Mrs. Joplin at San Angelo, telling her that her mother was quite sick, and that he would keep her posted as to her condition. She immediately came to Cisco, reaching there early in the morning. When she reached her mother’s home, James A. Caldwell met her at the door. He said, “Hello, Aunt Ella,” and Mrs. Joplin said, “I came to see my mother.” James then replied that his grandmother was not receiving visitors, and Mrs. Joplin said she did not count herself a visitor; that she counted herself one of the children. She then called for her brother R. W. Caldwell, and when he came to the door he said that the doctor would not let any one go in where his mother was except those who had been present before. Mr. Degenhardt said about the same thing. Mrs. Degenhardt did not come to the door or see her sister. Upon receiving the statements made by her brother, nephew, and brother-in-law, Mrs. Joplin, after waiting awhile on the porch, as she said to get her strength, went to the home of a niece near by. While there she again asked her brother, R. W. Caldwell, for permission to see her mother, and he again stated that she could not see her. After remaining a few days in Cisco, she returned to her home in San Angelo.

James Caldwell, R. W. Caldwell, Mrs. Caldwell’s pastor, and her lawyer who drew the will, and several of her neighbors, testified that Mrs. Caldwell was a woman of more than average mentality, and that during her last illness, on or about the day when the will was executed, they visited her and talked with her, and in their opinion she was [694]*694of sound mind and in possession of all of lier faculties, and that she discussed current topics in a most intelligent manner. Pier attorney stated that someone called him on September 9, 1914, to go down to Mrs. Caldwell’s to write a will; that he went, and found no one in the room, though the doctor was just coming out; that Mrs. Caldwell gave him a description of all of her property, told him how she wanted the property to go and that she asked him if it was necessary for her to make a bequest to her daughter Mrs. Joplin; That he told her, no, but that it might be well to put her name in the will, and he suggested that one dollar might be sufficient to show that she had not forgotten her daughter; that Mrs. Caldwell then replied, “put in $5.” The will had this clause:

“To my daughter Mrs. Ella Joplin I give, devise and bequeath the sum of five ($5.00) dollars to be paid to her by my executrix hereinafter appointed. My reason for not making a larger and more substantial bequest to my said daughter Mrs. Ella Joplin is, that all the property I own, or in which I have any interest, is community property of myself and my deceased husband, W. T. Caldwell, all of which was accumulated through his efforts, industry and economy, and I feel that justice demands it should go to, and be received, taken, held and enjoyed by his children and their descendants.”

With reference to this clause her attorney testified as follows:

“And when it came to that property being community property and had not been settled and had been accumulated through the economy and thrift of her husband Mr. Caldwell, and I insisted that that not go in, and she said she wanted that to go in there as explaining why she left that to Mr. Caldwell’s children and to his grandchildren.”

[1] It is our duty, under well-recognized principles, to sustain the judgment upon the facts, if by rejecting all evidence favorable to the contestees, appellants here, and considering only the evidence sustaining the verdict, the verdict rendered could have been reasonably reached by an unbiased jury upon the testimony. Cartwright v. Canode, 106 Tex. 502, 171 S. W. 696; Fort Worth & D. C. Ry. Co. v. Decatur Cottonseed Oil Co. (Tex. Civ. App.) 193 S. W. 392. The weight of the testimony and the credibility of the witnesses is exclusively for the jury, and the appellate court will not set aside their findings where the testimony is reasonably sufficient to support the verdict. Farmers’ & Merchants’ Gin Co. v. Simmons (Tex. Civ. App.) 178 S. W. 621; Moore v. Rogers, 84 Tex. 1, 19 S. W. 283.

[2] A will which is partial and unjust in its provisions, absurd, or clearly devoid of natural duty or affection, finds no hearty support in the courts. Such wills are not, indeed, absolutely void; but their execution may be regarded with jealousy and suspicion. 1 Schouler on Wills, etc., p. 91, § 77.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
239 S.W. 692, 1922 Tex. App. LEXIS 601, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/degenhardt-v-joplin-texapp-1922.