Gornto v. Gornto

121 S.E.2d 139, 217 Ga. 136, 1961 Ga. LEXIS 393
CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
DecidedJuly 6, 1961
Docket21249
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 121 S.E.2d 139 (Gornto v. Gornto) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gornto v. Gornto, 121 S.E.2d 139, 217 Ga. 136, 1961 Ga. LEXIS 393 (Ga. 1961).

Opinions

Heai>, Presiding Justice.

Willie D. Gornto sought to probate in solemn form the alleged will of George S. Gornto. The will bequeathed $5,000 and certain shares of stock to Willie D. Gornto, a nephew of the testator, who was named as executor, and his wife, Mildred Gornto. The residue of the testator’s property was devised and bequeathed to Miss Clyde Johnson, who was not related to the testator. The caveators were the half-brothers and half-sisters of the testator, and the children of his two deceased brothers. The grounds of the' caveat were that the testator did not have testamentary capacity at the time of the execution of the will because of his physical condition and the administration to him of stated amounts of drugs and narcotics, and undue influence exercised ,by the beneficiaries under the will. The issue' was appealed to the superior court by consent, waiving judgment in the court of ordinary. At the conclusion of the trial, the judge directed a verdict for the propounder. The caveators in their motion for new trial as amended contend that the direction of the verdict was erroneous because the evidence made an issue of fact on both grounds of the caveat which should have been submitted to a jury. It is also asserted in a ground of the amended motion that it was error to refuse to admit certain evidence offered by the caveators.

The will was executed on December 5, 1959, while the testator was a patient in the Middle Georgia Hospital. He was suffering from cancer of the bone and lung, and his death occurred on December 28, 1959. He was 65 years of age at the time of his death. Durwood B. Mercer, the attorney who drew the will, was not acquainted with the testator, and went to the hospital to talk with the testator on the afternoon of December 4 at the request of Willie D. Gornto. The attorney was alone with the testator when the instructions were given him by the testator as to the disposition he wanted to make of his property. The attorney dictated the will to his secretary the next morning, and he and his secretary thereafter went to the hospital. The secre[138]*138tary read the will to the testator, wlm suggested a correction in it (which he initialed), and executed the will in the presence of the attorney and the secretary as witnesses. The attorney testified that the testator was capable of expressing his desires, and was in his right mind. The secretary testified that the testator’s mental condition was good, that he understood the provisions of the will, and that he stated that the will was in accordance with his wishes. During the time that the attorney and his secretary were in the testator’s room, the testator was visited by a minister who had known him for thirty years, and this minister testified that the testator appeared to be normal that morning.

Dr. B. W. Forester, who had been the personal physician of the testator for five years, testified that Mr. Mercer had called him to ask him if the testator was able to make a will. The physician talked with the testator and the testator told him that he wanted to see an attorney. The physician wrote to the attorney and stated that the testator was very ill, but was able to' think clearly and make his own decisions. The physician stated that, from his observation of his patient, seeing him one or more times a day, he was capable of making decisions as to his personal affairs on the dates of December 4 and 5.

The caveators introduced the hospital record of the drugs that were administered to the testator on December 4 and 5, and the testimony of three physicians (who' had never seen the testator) that the drugs administered to the testator on the dates of December 4 and 5 would make a person unable to bring into mental review his property or family relationship, and that a person under the influence of the medication would be readily susceptible to' suggestions. Three of the caveators, Rachel Gornto Branch, Connie Gornto Daniels, and Robert Gornto, testified that each visited the testator on December 6, and that he was not able to carry on an intelligent conversation.

Some of the circumstances on which the caveators relied to show undue influence were: The testator was in the Veterans’ Administration Hospital at Dublin from August 30, 1959, until December 2, 1959. ' At the request of Willie D. Gornto, permission was given on December 2, 1959, by Dr. J. W. Stapleton, acting chief of the orthopedic service, for Willie D. Gornto [139]*139to take the testator from the hospital. Willie D. Gornto carried the testator in a station wagon to the home in Macon occupied by Miss Clyde Johnson and her parents-. The Johnsons had formerly lived with the testator, and the home of the Johnsons had been purchased for them by him. Preparations had been made by the Johnsons for the visit of the testator by obtaining a hospital bed for his use. The testator remained in the Johnson home that night, and was admitted to- the Middle Georgia Hospital at Macon in the afternoon of December 3. The other members of the testator’s family were not notified of his removal to the Macon hospital until after the will had been executed. There was testimony by a number of witnesses as to amounts of money that the testator had loaned, or given, to Willie D. Go-mto-, and statements by the testator at different times that the testator had given Willie D. Gornto all the money that he intended to give him.

1. “Evidence is properly admitted which tends to establish mental incapacity of the testator prior or subsequently to the execution of a will, as illustrating the condition of the testator’s mind. But where it is sought to establish testamentary incapacity by such evidence, it is not sufficient to controvert the positive testimony of the subscribing witnesses, unless it would be proof of testamentaiy incapacity at the time- the will was executed.” Norman v. Hubbard, 203 Ga. 530 (47 SE2d 574); Hill v. Deal, 185 Ga. 42, 46 (193 SE 858); Peavey v. Crawford, 192 Ga. 371, 372 (15 SE2d 418).

The testimony of the subscribing witnesses to- the will made a strong case in favor of the testamentary capacity of the testator at the time the will was executed. This testimony was in harmony with the testimony of the minister, who- had known the testator for thirty years, and who visited the testator at the very time the witnesses were present for the purpose of witnessing the will. The testimony of the caveators who- saw the testator on the following day was insufficient to- overcome the case made in favor of testamentary capacity.

The caveators urge that the testimony of three physicians testifying as expert witnesses was sufficient to make an issue as to the mental capacity o-f the testator to make a will. These [140]*140three physicians had never seen the testator, and based their opinions on his hospital chart which showed the narcotics which had been administered to him for the relief of pain.

Dr. Frank T. Robbins testified that the narcotics given the testator have a hypnotic effect and make the person using them more readily susceptible to suggestions, and that he would not consider a man suffering from the illness which the testator had and under the influence of narcotics to be mentally capable of understanding fully a will that he might be making. On cross-examination this witness testified in part: “I have never sworn that he was out of his mind on the day that he made that will, I swore he was under the influence of narcotics at the time he made that will, I will not swear he was out of his mind. . . . I did not say that it.

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Gornto v. Gornto
121 S.E.2d 139 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1961)

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121 S.E.2d 139, 217 Ga. 136, 1961 Ga. LEXIS 393, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gornto-v-gornto-ga-1961.