Higgins v. Oklahoma National Bank & Trust Co. of Chickasha

1993 OK 75, 863 P.2d 1116, 64 O.B.A.J. 1737, 1993 Okla. LEXIS 88
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedMay 25, 1993
Docket76057, 77267
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 1993 OK 75 (Higgins v. Oklahoma National Bank & Trust Co. of Chickasha) 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
Higgins v. Oklahoma National Bank & Trust Co. of Chickasha, 1993 OK 75, 863 P.2d 1116, 64 O.B.A.J. 1737, 1993 Okla. LEXIS 88 (Okla. 1993).

Opinion

WATT, Justice.

FACTS

The seeds of the dispute that caused these appeals were planted when Clara Webb’s brother, Earnest “Pete” Webb, died at the age of 74 on May 27, 1988. Pete Webb, had worked as an accountant for Mobil Oil. He had never married, lived frugally, and left an estate of more than $700,000.00, most of it in cash and securities. Pete Webb was one of four brothers and- a sister. None of Pete Webb’s brothers were living at his death. Pete Webb’s sister, Clara Webb, who was 90 when Pete Webb died, survived him. In his will, Pete Webb left his entire estate to Miss Webb. Miss Webb died on February 18, 1989. Most events relevant to this appeal took place between the time of Pete Webb’s death and Miss Webb’s.

Miss Webb never married; consequently her heirs at law were all collateral heirs. Miss Webb’s heirs, the contestants here, were the child, grand-children, and great-grand-children of Miss Webb’s brother, Wallace Webb, who died in 1939.

Miss Webb had taught school in Cement until her retirement in about 1964. After her retirement, Miss Webb moved back to Amber and kept house for her father and two of her brothers, all of whom predeceased Pete Webb. Miss Webb had lived *1118 alone for several years before Pete Webb’s death. Her house was on land, near Amber, Oklahoma, which her mother and father had bought in 1909. Miss Webb kept her own house, did her own banking, and shopped for her clothes. She had never owned an automobile nor had she learned to drive, so she had always relied on others to furnish transportation. Miss Webb was hard of hearing but bought hearing aids in October 1988.

The Amber property contained 299 acres, 200 acres of which were the original homestead that Miss Webb’s parents had bought in 1909. Miss Webb had a life estate in the property. Pete Webb and Miss Webb had each owned an undivided one-half of the remainder. Before Pete Webb’s death, Miss Webb had no income other than her teacher’s retirement pay and the income from farm crops.

Donnavin Higgins, who was 51 when Pete Webb died, had known Miss Webb since about 1983. Higgins and Miss Webb shared a love of music. During gatherings at Miss Webb’s house, Miss Webb would play the piano, and Higgins the violin. Higgins had occasionally done work around Miss Webb’s house for her. Miss Webb and Higgins had always been good friends, and following Pete Webb’s death, developed an even closer relationship. Higgins ran errands, drove Miss Webb, did some work, and supervised other work, around Miss Webb’s property. Higgins had been married for over thirty years and had three children. By 1988, however, he and his wife had divorced. Higgins had been a bulldozer operator, had done odd jobs, and other construction work. He had filed for bankruptcy in 1987.

After her brother Pete’s death, Miss Webb started to give Higgins some money. Higgins would accept no salary, but Miss Webb gave him cash and spent other money for his benefit. In June 1988, Miss Webb bought a five year old Cadillac, which she put in both Higgins’s and her names. Later Miss Webb gave her one-half interest in the car to Higgins, but continued to pay all expenses associated with the car. Higgins drove Miss Webb everywhere she needed to go. They took frequent trips together. They went to World of Animals, to Cement to visit some of Miss Webb’s former students, who were by then in their fifties, to Oklahoma City, and to other places. Miss Webb gave Higgins a camera, which he and Miss Webb used on the trips they took together. The record shows the total purchase price and expenses of the car totaled a little over $12,000.00, and that Miss Webb gave to Higgins and spent for his benefit another $12,000.00. In late September 1988, Miss Webb conveyed 50 acres of land to Higgins.

Miss Webb’s niece, Nadine Raffoul, lived in Houston, Texas. Ms. Raffoul was the daughter of the Webb brother, Wallace, who had died in 1939. She stood to inherit one-fourth of Miss Webb’s property not disposed of by will. In mid October 1988, while she was in Oklahoma, Ms. Raffoul called on Miss Webb and asked her about the car and land Miss Webb had given Higgins. 1 Ms. Raffoul severely criticized Higgins, and advised Miss Webb to end her relationship with him but Miss Webb refused to respond to anything Ms. Raffoul said about Higgins. Ms. Raffoul soon understood that her Aunt Clara was not prepared to accept her advice about Higgins.

Ms. Raffoul admitted that it had been her intention when she met with Miss Webb to ask Miss Webb to agree to a conservatorship of her property. Ms. Raf-foul also admitted that she did not like Higgins, because, she claimed, Higgins had made a statement to her, years earlier, which she had construed to be a sexual advance. Ms. Raffoul decided not to ask Miss Webb about the conservatorship because she knew “it wasn’t going to work.” Nevertheless, Ms. Raffoul hired a lawyer and, on November 14, 1988, filed an action seeking the involuntary appointment of a conservator. Ms. Raffoul also admitted *1119 that she knew Miss Webb was angry with her because Ms. Raffoul had tried to have a conservator appointed. Despite her anger over Ms. Raffoul’s conduct, Miss Webb left Ms. Raffoul securities valued at more than $10,000.00.

Another of Miss Webb’s relatives, her cousin Doris Early, testified that Miss Webb was bossy. Doris Early was asked about an occasion when she “and Pete jumped on to [Miss Webb] about Don[na-vin,]” and Miss Webb “turned around and walked out of the room.” Doris Early explained that Miss Webb usually “just walked away” when “somebody tried to get her to do something she didn’t want to do.”

In November, after Ms. Raffoul filed her conservatorship action, Higgins drove Miss Webb to the Offices of George Miskovsky, Sr.’s law firm in Oklahoma City. Miss Webb retained the Miskovsky firm to defend her in the conservatorship proceeding. Miss Webb met with Mr. Miskovsky, while Higgins waited in the reception area. Mr. Miskovsky then prepared a will for Miss Webb, which she signed.

Several weeks later, on December 12, 1988, Higgins again took Miss Webb to Mr. Miskovsky’s office, where she made some changes to her will. 2 Again, Miss Webb met with Mr. Miskovsky out of Higgins’s presence to discuss her will. Miss Webb signed the will while she was in Mr. Mis-kovsky’s office. It is the December 12 will that was submitted for probate. This will contains detailed specific bequests. Miss Webb made twenty-one carefully described specific bequests of securities and devises of real property to twenty-six different individuals and charities, including Oklahoma Memorial Hospital, and the M.D. Anderson Medical Center in Houston. 3 Two of these twenty-six gifts were to Higgins. Miss Webb left Higgins her house, forty acres of land surrounding it, and 4200 shares of Mobil Oil stock. The property left to Higgins comprised slightly over one-third of Miss Webb’s $780,000.00 estate. Miss Webb named as executor Donald P. Ferguson, a Chickasha lawyer.

Miss Webb died of cancer. The record does not reflect that she, or anyone else, knew she was seriously ill until February 5, 1989 when she entered the hospital.

Contestants do not claim that Miss Webb was mentally incompetent.

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Bluebook (online)
1993 OK 75, 863 P.2d 1116, 64 O.B.A.J. 1737, 1993 Okla. LEXIS 88, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/higgins-v-oklahoma-national-bank-trust-co-of-chickasha-okla-1993.