First Gulf Beach Bank and Trust Co. v. Grubaugh

330 So. 2d 205
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedApril 9, 1976
Docket74-394
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 330 So. 2d 205 (First Gulf Beach Bank and Trust Co. v. Grubaugh) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
First Gulf Beach Bank and Trust Co. v. Grubaugh, 330 So. 2d 205 (Fla. Ct. App. 1976).

Opinion

330 So.2d 205 (1976)

FIRST GULF BEACH BANK AND TRUST COMPANY, As Executor of the Last Will and Testament of Bertha Ellen Weller, Deceased, Appellant,
v.
Leo GRUBAUGH, an Individual, Appellee.

No. 74-394.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.

April 9, 1976.

*206 John T. Allen, Jr., St. Petersburg, and James E. Elliott, St. Petersburg Beach, for appellant.

Philip W. Dann of Baird & Dann; and Belcher & Fleece, St. Petersburg, for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

This is an appeal from a summary judgment enforcing a contract to make a will. The pertinent facts are fairly set forth in the final judgment as follows:

"Based upon the affidavits, interrogatories, and other material properly before this court, the uncontroverted facts are found to be as follows: Bertha Ellen Weller died testate, a resident of Pinellas County, Florida, on June 3, 1971. Defendant, First Gulf Beach Bank and Trust Company, is the duly appointed and acting executor of Bertha Weller's last will which leaves Plaintiff herein an amount equal to 7% of the residuary estate.
"During July of 1964, Plaintiff received a letter in the handwriting of Bertha Weller and bearing her signature, informing him that
... what money I have I shall spend to be taken care of. [W]hoever [sic] will take care of me will get all that I have... . If you would be willing to give me a room and let your home be mine, I would be willing to pay you well and to give you all that I have left at the end... .
Whoever takes care of me would get all that I have except that I have to make out a will to give something to the church and [to pay] my funeral expenses.
Shortly after his receipt of the above quoted letter, Plaintiff departed from his home in Rochester, N.Y., and returned several days later with Bertha Weller who thereupon began living with Plaintiff in a room of her own specially modified at Plaintiff's expense to accommodate her.
"The decedent resided with Plaintiff, his wife, and children for approximately one year before departing with the understanding that she could return at any time she desired. Her departure was occasioned by the fact that her health, which had been poor upon her arrival in Rochester a year earlier, had improved considerably during her residency with Plaintiff and she therefore was no longer dependent upon others for care and provisions. Plaintiff assisted her in locating other housing in which she remained for approximately eight months or until March of 1966 when she moved to St. Petersburg where she remained until her death.
"On October 27, 1964, Bertha Weller executed in Rochester a last will and testament which provided:
FIFTH: Of my net estate ... I give, devise and bequeath ...
a) Eighty percent (80%) to my nephew, Leo Grubaugh... to have and to hold the same absolutely and forever provided my said nephew shall care and provide for me in a proper and fitting manner in his home from the time that I determine that I need such care because of failing health until my death. (emphasis added)
The will further left 15% to Highland Park Baptist Church and 5% to Detroit Bible College.
*207 "It is undisputed that the will of October 27, 1964 is in writing, bears the signatures of two subscribing witnesses, and was signed by Bertha Weller.
* * * * * *
"This court is of the opinion that there exists no genuine issue as to any material fact relative to the allegations contained in the pleadings herein; that the will of October 27, 1964, is a memorandum sufficient to satisfy the requirements of Florida Statute § 731.051; that the contract entered into by Bertha Weller and Plaintiff was valid under the law of New York and that it is, so far as it is reflected in the will of October 27, 1964, enforceable in the courts of this state; and that Plaintiff is entitled to a summary judgment as a matter of law."

The will of October 27, 1964, referred to by the court, was subsequently revoked, and Mrs. Weller died leaving a will in which the plaintiff-appellee was named the beneficiary of 7% of the net estate.

Appellant contends that the judgment must be reversed because it affirmatively appears that the alleged contract to make a will was not executed in conformity with the requirements of Fla. Stat. § 731.051 (1971), which reads as follows:

"731.051 Agreements to make a will, requirements. —
(1) No agreement to make a will of real or personal property or to give a legacy or make a devise shall be binding or enforceable unless such agreement is in writing signed in the presence of two subscribing witnesses by the person whose executor or administrator is sought to be charged.
(2) This section shall apply to agreements made on, after or prior to January 1, 1958."

Obviously, there was no compliance with the specific requirements of the statute. Even if Mrs. Weller's letter to appellee could be considered an agreement, it fell short of the requirements of the statute because it was not signed in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. The issue turns on whether, as in the case of the statute of frauds, there are circumstances short of literal compliance which could be said to satisfy the statute.

The Florida courts have discussed this statute on several prior occasions, though sometimes by way of dicta. Where several defenses had been raised to a suit for enforcement of an oral contract to make a mutual will in Hagan v. Laragione, Fla. App.2d, 1964, 170 So.2d 69, this court stated:

"Defenses # 3 and # 5 contend that, since this estate consists of a large amount of real property, the enforcing of this alleged oral agreement would be violative of Fla. Stat., Secs. 689.01 and 725.01, F.S.A., which require conveyances or contracts to convey realty to be in writing. The appellees contend that the appellant is estopped from raising the statute of frauds because the appellant's decedent accepted the full benefits of her first husband's will, i.e., the alleged oral agreement has already been partly performed. 37 C.J.S. Frauds, Statute of § 100, provides:
`* * * Also it is immaterial whether or not an agreement to make a joint will or mutual or reciprocal wills is evidenced by a writing sufficient to give it validity under the statute of frauds where the survivor elects to, and does, accept the full benefits accruing to him under the joint will or the will of the other party.'
See also 169 A.L.R. 9 and Keith v. Culp, supra [Fla.App., Ill So.2d 278]. Thus it was not error to strike these defenses.
"Defense # 4 states that if, as was pleaded in the alternative, the alleged contract was not entered into until 1958, then Fla. Stat., Sec. 731.051, F.S.A., quoted above, is applicable. This contention cannot be sustained. The doctrines of *208 part performance and estoppel enunciated in the last paragraph except this contract from the provisions of Fla. Stat., Sec. 731.051, F.S.A., as well as the other statutes of frauds. Keith v. Culp, supra."

In Fletcher v. Williams,

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Bluebook (online)
330 So. 2d 205, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/first-gulf-beach-bank-and-trust-co-v-grubaugh-fladistctapp-1976.