Hopkins v. Raihle

79 N.W.2d 131, 273 Wis. 632, 1956 Wisc. LEXIS 374
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 7, 1956
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 79 N.W.2d 131 (Hopkins v. Raihle) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hopkins v. Raihle, 79 N.W.2d 131, 273 Wis. 632, 1956 Wisc. LEXIS 374 (Wis. 1956).

Opinion

Fairchild, C. J.

The first contention of the appellant is that the testator, at the time he executed his will on July 19, 1954, lacked testamentary capacity. To support this contention appellant introduced a large number of witnesses who testified as to various incidents concerning testator’s habits and characteristics. Much of the testimony was repetitious, the witnesses repeatedly stressing the change in gait and physical vigor of the testator in his later years and saying that he was not as keen as he used to be. Some of the occurrences testified to took place after the execution of the will and are therefore not relevant. There was medical testimony, on a hypothetical basis, by doctors who had never seen the testator until just before his death. This and other testimony was admitted over objection, and the trial court in his decision said: “A large portion of such evidence is properly objectionable.”

The sum and substance of appellant’s lengthy presentation of circumstantial evidence is that the testator was not as vigorous as he once was, and that his actions were such as are commonly recognized to accompany advancing age resulting from a less acute reaction of the mental and physical faculties. There was no showing of hallucinations, and none of the witnesses on direct examination was willing to state that James Hopkins, in 1954, was “crazy.” His own brother, appellant here, who would receive a share in the testator’s estate should the will fail, testified on direct examination:

“I couldn’t tell much about Jim Hopkins- failing mentally over the last couple of years or longer. He’s a very closed [636]*636mouth fellow, never gossiped or talked hardly at all, only in the line of duty, he failed a lot physically, he seemed to get smaller. I’m that way myself now. His stride, his walking gait got slow. He got a lot slower than he was in his prime. He stiffened up, maybe had rheumatism, never complained of it. Plis steps or stride was shorter, knees could be weaker. I wouldn’t know whether during the last several years he did odd things that were unusual. In farming, a lot of odd things being done all the time among the farmers.”

The same witness also testified that “during the time, years of 1953 and 1954 and up into 1955 until the time he went to the hospital he was actively engaged in the farming of those two farms.” The overwhelming evidence is that James Hopkins, until the time he was taken to the hospital, managed and carried on the operation of two farms comprising 680 acres; that at his death he had a large herd of cattle, good corn, and machinery that was in good condition, “practically new.”

There is convincing evidence that the deceased was mentally competent in July, 1954, in the testimony of his banker. On July 26, 1954, shortly after the execution of the will involved here, testator went to the Northwestern State Bank at Chippewa Falls to make a loan. The loan was negotiated between him and R. P. Bartz, who informed him that the amount of the loan asked for would require a financial statement. Without being previously informed of such requirement, the testator was able to make a satisfactory statement from memory. Mr. Bartz testified:

“Pie did not use any notes or anything to refresh his recollection at that time about his financial condition. He sat right at my desk and gave me his financial statement. He gave me the information as I asked for it, for instance, I’d ask him how many head of stock he had, how many were milking cows, how many were beef cows, how many head of )mung stock he might have, what his machinery consisted of, and the value of each individual item. ... I was under the impression that he had a clear perception of the extent of his [637]*637property, that is in regard to his mental condition. We made the loan.”

The loan was paid off early in 1955. It appears that testator was competently handling his own affairs at that time.

We have made a careful reading of all of the testimony and are mindful of all the circumstantial evidence presented by appellant and received by the trial court, whether objected to or not, and we agree with the trial court that the “proof required . . . that the deceased lacked testamentary capacity falls far short of that required by law.” The overwhelming evidence is that the testator, at the time of making his will, knew the extent of his property and what it consisted of. He knew who his relatives were and what his relation to them was.

The second contention of appellant is that the will was not properly executed. The scrivener, Paul H. Raihle, his wife, two subscribing witnesses, employees of the testator at the time, and the testator were present at the execution of the will. The scrivener and the subscribing witnesses testified on direct examination that the witnesses signed the will in the presence of the testator and in the presence of each other. John Malar, one of the subscribing witnesses, testified on direct examination that he was called in by the testator, and that he (Malar) then went to call the other witness, Lester Schimmel. Both testified that they knew they were signing Mr. Hopkins’ will, and the scrivener testified that he specifically explained to them what they were doing. The execution of the will was, therefore, in compliance with the statutory requirement of sec. 238.06, Stats. Appellant complains that the court committed prejudicial error because it refused to receive as exhibits certain signed statements of the two subscribing witnesses to the will, to the effect that they did not know they were signing a will, and that the testator signed after they did. However, we point to the fact that, over [638]*638objection of respondent, the court did allow appellant’s counsel to read from those statements at length and cross-examine the two witnesses without limitation, and that that testimony became a part of the record. The trial court heard the evidence and had an opportunity to observe the witnesses. No prejudicial error was committed by the exclusion of the exhibits. The court, basing its finding upon the direct and material evidence, properly found that the will had been executed in compliance with sec. 238.06.

The third contention of appellant is that the testator was subjected to undue influence by Sylvia and Paul H. Raihle. The Raihles were friends of both the testator and his wife for a long period of years, and Mr. Raihle had been testator’s attorney for almost thirty years. The Raihles were not beneficiaries under the will and had no pecuniary interest in the will. The only circumstance presented in appellant’s argument of undue influence is that Mrs. Raihle, shortly before the execution of the will, suggested to both the testator and his mentally deficient stepson, Jack Dodson, that it might be a good thing for Jack to attend a summer camp for the mentally retarded. This suggestion was rejected by both testator and stepson. Jack Dodson did not attend the camp, and testator showed no susceptibility of being influenced by Mrs. Raihle’s suggestion. Mrs. Raihle was an assemblywoman, representing Chippewa county in the Wisconsin legislature; she was chairman of the public welfare committee. She showed a proper interest in the welfare of Jack Dodson, not undue influence on James Hopkins in the matter of his will.

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Estate of Beale
113 N.W.2d 380 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1962)

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Bluebook (online)
79 N.W.2d 131, 273 Wis. 632, 1956 Wisc. LEXIS 374, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hopkins-v-raihle-wis-1956.