Garden v. Haines

148 P.2d 745, 158 Kan. 554, 1944 Kan. LEXIS 19
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedMay 6, 1944
DocketNo. 36,130
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 148 P.2d 745 (Garden v. Haines) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Garden v. Haines, 148 P.2d 745, 158 Kan. 554, 1944 Kan. LEXIS 19 (kan 1944).

Opinion

[556]*556The opinion of the court was delivered by

Dawson, C. J.:

This appeal presents the question whether an appellant was barred of her widow’s share of her deceased husband’s estate because of an antenuptial agreement. It also presents the related question whether appellant was estopped to claim her widow’s share because of her alleged acceptance of certain provisions of a will which the testator had made.

The pertinent facts were these: The late Harry B. Garden was a wealthy citizen of Hutchinson engaged in oil production and related activities. In 1938 he was single, fifty-five years old, and had reared an adopted daughter, Mrs. June G. Pollard. He had been married previously. That marriage had culminated in a divorce in 1937. Early in 1938 Garden met and had become interested in Mrs. Wilá H. Waite, a widow, forty-four years of age. She had been reared near Plutchinson, had married a Mr. Percy Waite and resided with him for some years in Denver. He died there in 1930. She took up the sale of life insurance for a livelihood. Later she returned to Hutchinson and became public hostess for that city. In 1938 she owned a third interest in a farm, a house in Denver, and some building and loan stock. She, too, had reared an adopted daughter. In March, 1938, Garden and Mrs. Waite became engaged to be married. Garden so informed his confidential secretary, W. J. O’Connor. The latter reminded him of certain embarrassments Garden had suffered when his first wife was indisposed to cooperate with him in his business dealings. Said O’Connor to Garden, “Now, Harry, you remember your experience with Grace [Garden’s former wife]. For your protection, I think you should have some sort of an agreement with Mrs. Waite that would give you a free hand in your operations so that your funds wouldn’t be tied up as they were before.”

Garden agreed with O’Connor’s suggestion and requested him to consider what ought to be included in such an agreement. O’Connor complied. Then Garden directed O’Connor to ask Senator Walter Jones, a lawyer of Hutchinson, to come to Garden’s office. Senator Jones came and they explained to him the business difficulties which had troubled Garden during his former, marriage, and told him that what was wanted was a simple agreement whereby Garden would have a free hand to conduct his business as he saw fit. Thus instructed, Senator Jones drafted an antenuptial agreement and sent [557]*557it to Garden and O’Connor. They familiarized themselves with its terms, and then Garden raised the question, “Do you think Mrs. Waite will sign this agreement?”

O’Connor answered, “Well, I don’t know; we can present it to her.” Garden said, “Don’t you think you are salesman enough to sell her on this agreement?”

O’Connor answered, “Well, I don’t know, Harry. All I can do is to present the facts to her, and if she signs the agreement, all right.” On Garden’s invitation Mrs. Waite came to his office the next afternoon, April 30, 1938, and O’Connor and Garden explained the agreement to her and its desirability to facilitate Garden’s business operations. This interview lasted about two hours. In Garden’s presence O’Connor narrated to Mrs. Waite at considerable length some of the troubles between Garden and his former wife; how she had been privileged to draw checks on Garden’s bank account and frequently caused it to be overdrawn. O’Connor showed her over $4,000 in checks she had so drawn in the last few months of 1936, and he showed her enough of such checks drawn by her as “would practically paper the walls in this office.” After this lengthy explanation, O’Connor said, “Mrs. Waite, you have all the facts and we have an agreement here which is supposed to give Mr. Garden a free hand to conduct his business as he sees fit.”

Mrs. Waite then addressed this question to Garden:

“If I sign this and many you, does that bar me from your estate?”
Garden said, “It does not. What I want is a free hand to conduct my business as long as I live and what happens after I die makes no difference.” Garden then added, “To satisfy you that I don’t intend to leave you out of my will, I am going to have a will drawn and even though we aren’t married, I am going to include you in my will for one-fourth and this agreement that you are to sign will be' made a part of the will and Mr. O’Connor here will hold the agreement until the will is written and the two of them together'.will be part of each other, and I can’t change my will — I can’t change this will without your consent.”

Garden and Mrs. Waite thereupon signed the agreement, which was dated and acknowledged before O’Connor as notary public, on April 30, 1938. They also had an oral understanding that when Garden’s financial statement could be prepared, a copy of it should be appended to the agreement’. Within a few days that was done. The statement showed Garden had assets to the amount of $508,-134.69, and liabilities of $46,393.55, thus showing a net worth of $461,741.14 as of March 1, 1938. Also appended to the antenuptial [558]*558agreement was Mrs.'Waiteis statement of her property and financial worth, about $10,000. Garden5made his will about the time his financial statement was completed.'.: Mrs. Waite came again to Garden’s office and met him and O’Connor there. The three of them went through the will with the same care they had devoted to the explanation of the antenuptial agreement. O’Connor testified that they wanted to show Mrs. Waite that she was included in the will as Garden had agreed. On the same day Garden executed the will.

• That will which Garden executed in May, 1938, extends to eight printed pages of the abstract. A short abridgment of its terms will be sufficient here. It devised all his estate to three trustees',"Haines, Jones and Mrs. Waite, with the usual powers. Provision was made for many relatives according to their respective needs, and one-fourth of the remainder of the estate was devised and bequeathed to Mrs. Waite, designated as his “intended wife,” :and three-fourths to Garden’s daughter June Garden Preston. Haines, Jones and Mrs. Waite were named as executors, and were to turn the.'estate over to themselves as trustees when its administration was cLosed.

Garden and Mrs. Waite were married on June 11, 1938, and took up their abode in one of Garden’s properties in Hutchinson. Garden had a life insurance policy for $25,000 dated'January 18, 1934. .-In August, 1940, he procured certain alterations in its terms, whereby the net'amount payable thereunder should be paid — “to my wife, Wila Garden, ... in equal monthly installments of . . . $150.00 ... in accordance with the provisions of settlement option No. 4,” — the terms of which are' of no present concern. The policy also provided for the payment of the policy to other beneficiaries if his wife predeceased him. One provision of the policy read:

“The provisions of this certificate are subject, however, to the condition that in the event written notice of the remarriage of my said wife is furnished to the company at its home office, and any of the beneficiaries above named, other than -my said wife are then living, payments to her as provided in this certificate shall cease and payments thereafter shall be - made in the same manner as above provided in the event of the death of my said wife before the survivor of the other beneficiaries herein named.”

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
148 P.2d 745, 158 Kan. 554, 1944 Kan. LEXIS 19, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/garden-v-haines-kan-1944.