Garner v. Lamm

165 Okla. 248
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedSeptember 12, 1933
DocketNo. 21061
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 165 Okla. 248 (Garner v. Lamm) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Garner v. Lamm, 165 Okla. 248 (Okla. 1933).

Opinion

OSBORN, J.

w. E. B. Riddle died, leaving a will.

Petition for probate of the will was filed - by Moss Weaver in the county court of Washita county and a protest was filed by Mrs. M. A. Garner, sister of the deceased. After a hearing in the county eourt the will was admitted to probate, and one H. H. Lamm appointed administrator. An appeal was taken to the district court of said county, and, after a hearing, the district court found in favor of proponent and ordered the will admitted to probate, from which order this appeal was taken. H. H. Lamm will be hereinafter referred to as proponent and Mrs. M. A. Garner as contestant.

The record shows that the will in question was executed on May 11, 1925, and that the testator bequeathed all of his property to his wife, Judith C. Riddle, and after her death to the General Superannuate Endowment Eund of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The wife died a short time prior to the death of the testator. The contestant appears as next of kin of the testator, as there were no children surviving his death.

The contestant relies upon two grounds in her attack on said will: First, that one Moss Weaver, being an intimate friend of long standing of the deceased, exercised undue influence over the testator to the extent that the will was in fact the will of the said Weaver and not the will of the testator; and, second, that at the time of the execution of the will the said testator was mentally incompetent to make a will.

The record shows that the said Moss Weaver is a Methodist minister and had been an intimate friend of the deceased for 30 years; had been pastor of the church of which the testator was a member; had been presiding elder over the district in which testator lived. It is shown that the testator was a very devout member of the church and a man of strong religious tendencies.

During the latter part of 1919, or in 1920, the testator suffered a paralytic stroke, and from that time until his death, which occurred on July 25, 1928, he was in a weakened physicial condition. About the 1st of January, 1925, the testator and his wife moved to the home of Weaver, and lived in his home for about nine months, during which time the will in question was executed. There were two wills made, and at the time the first will was executed, the first will being dated a few months prior to the will admitted to probate in this proceeding, tlie said Moss Weaver accompanied Mr. and Mrs. Riddle to the office of the attorney who drew the will. His testimony is that he did not remain there, but went out to attend to some other business while the will was being prepared. On May 11, 1925, the testator returned to the attorney’s office and expressed dissatisfaction with the terms of the original will and wanted it changed. We quote hereinafter the testimony of Robert Steele, the scrivener of the will, with reference to this transaction, as follows:

“Q. All right, at whose suggestion, now, did you do away with that first will you are talking about and write this one? A. W. E. B. Riddle came to my office with his wife and there was no one with him but [250]*250his wife. Just those two, and he said, T am not satisfied with this will, the way it is written,’ and he said, T want it different, could I do that without Mr. Moss Weaver knowing about it?’ and I said, ‘Certainly, you are making the will and Mr. Moss Weaver has nothing to say about it,’ and I says, — And he says, ‘Well, I want to destroy that will and make one a little different.’ So he went to the bank and brought it over and we wrote this will and made the changes that he asked me to make and then we destroyed that first will and drew this one, and then, in order to have witnesses, — there was no one else in the office and we went over to the bank and when we got there we found Mr. Prank Kliewer there and Mr. Prank Kliewer and I signed as witnesses to this will. Q. Mr. W. E. B Riddle came, — signed the will in your presence. A. Tes, sir; he signed the will in my presence, there in the bank and in Mr. Kliewer’s presence. Q. Did he ask you ro sign as witnesses to the will? A. Tes. h» made the usual statement after I explained that it was necessary for him to do that. He said it was his will and he wanted us to sign as witnesses.”

Cross-examination by Mr. Linville:

“Q. Mr. Steele, what, if you know, is the difference between this will and the one that you prematurely drew? A. Well, Mr. Weaver and Mr. Riddle discussed that matter somewhat in my presence when he wrote the first will and it seems that the Methodist Church is divided into different departments and Mr. Riddle desired to leave, to will the property to the General Finance Board of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, which, I understand, covers the entire south or the jurisdiction of that church in the United States. The General Finance Board of the church, and that’s the way he wanted to make it and Mr. Weaver thought he ought to make it to the Oklahoma Finance Board, and so they discussed the matter and so the first will read to the Oklahoma Finance Board or some words to that effect, —I don’t remember the exact words now, but anyway it was to be, — the money was to go to the church in Oklahoma. That was the first one and this one goes to the Methodist Finance Board, the General Finance Board of the whole church. That is the way Mr. Riddle wanted it made. Q. Now, you say Mrs. Riddle was present? A. Yes, she was present. (J. Both times? A. Yes, sir. Q. Did she do any talking? A. Well, I don’t remember what she said, but she expressed herself that that was satisfactory and she was to be made executor of the will. Q. Both wills? A. Yes, without bond, and as I understand it she could hear perfectly well and understood what we were doing. Q. Now, did I understand you to say that the beneficiary in the first will was the Western Conference in Oklahoma? A. Yes, the department that belongs in this state. Q. He knew that the General Board of Finance was administering that department? A. No, he wanted to leave it to the General Board of Finance. The department covered by those words covers the entire south. The Oklahoma jurisdiction, whatever it is, just covers this state.”

We believe the above testimony is pertinent to the issue of undue influence, as it reveals that when the will now offered for probate was made, the said Weaver was not present and had no knowledge of the execution thereof, and the language of the testator at that time indicates that he .was disposing of his property according to his own desire and intention rather than according to the will and direction of Weaver.

The testimony of Weaver in this regard is that testator and his wife had discussed with him some 15 years before testator’s death the proposition of leaving their estate to the church, and sought his advice as to which department or board of the church organization they should direct the estate to go. He denied having approached testator on the subject, but admitted discussing the proposition on numerous occasions when testator approached him.

In the ease of Peace v. Peace, 149 Okla. 123, 299 P. 451, it is said:

“Suspicion, conjecture, possibility, or guess that undue influence or fraud has induced a will is not alone sufficient to defeat the probate of a will.
“Power, motive, and opportunity to exercise undue influence do not alone authorize the inference that such influence has in fact been exercised.

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165 Okla. 248, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/garner-v-lamm-okla-1933.