Hutchings v. Bailey

1955 OK 344, 290 P.2d 405, 1955 Okla. LEXIS 585
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedNovember 22, 1955
DocketNo. 36610
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 1955 OK 344 (Hutchings v. Bailey) 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
Hutchings v. Bailey, 1955 OK 344, 290 P.2d 405, 1955 Okla. LEXIS 585 (Okla. 1955).

Opinion

HUNT, Justice.

Irene Hutchings offered for probate in the County Court of Pontotoc County a will dated March 25, 1948, signed by George B. Bailey and attested by two witnesses, as provided by statute, 84 O.S.1951 § 55, by the terms of which a bequest of $50 was made to one Mrs. Sadie Fulton, a bequest of $5 to his only son, George Bailey, and the rest and residue of his property to proponent, Mrs. Hutchings, naming her executrix without bond.

In her petition for probate of the will the proponent alleged that deceased’s son was in the armed forces and asked that an attorney be appointed to represent his interests ; this was done, and in due time a contest of the will was filed on behalf of the son alleging improper execution of the will, incompetency of the testator, and undue influence. Upon hearing the County Court denied the contest and admitted the will to probate.

[406]*406The son perfected an appeal to the District Court, where, upon trial de -novo, findings of fact were made to the effect that at the time of making said will the testator did not possess the mental capacity to know the nature and extent of his property, to know and keep in mind the natural objects of his bounty, or to understand the purport of the instrument, and that the free agency of the testator was destroyed; the court concluded as á matter of law that the deceased did not possess testamentary capacity and was subject to undue influence and entered judgment incorporating said findings of fact, together with the further finding that the will offered for probate was not the last will and testament of deceased, and conclusions of law, and reversing the order of the County Court admitting the will to probate. ■ From order overruling motion for new trial proponent has perfected'this appeal.

On the points here at issue (lack of testamentary capacity and undue influence) the evidence of contestant reasonably tends to show that deceased at the time of his death on May 24, 1950, was approximately 84 years of age; that deceased and his wife had obtained a divorce in about 1931, the wife retaining custody of the only child of the marriage (the son, George Bailey, contestant here); that in the property settlement the wife received the photographic studio which she thereafter operated, and deceased received the house and lot which had been the home of the parties; that after the divorce deceased converted the garage on the premises into living quarters for himself and rented the house; these house rentals seem to have been his sole source of income; that deceased visited with his son frequently after the divorce; that in about 1941 deceased’s ex-wife and his son, who by that time was 16 years of age, went to Washington, D. C., where both obtained employment; that in about 1943 the ex-wife received a telegram advising that deceased had had a stroke and needed her, and she and her son quit their jobs and came to Ada to cafe for him; that she and her son cared for deceased for several weeks, after which she left for Fort Worth, but the son stayed on and hired a nurse to look after his father until he had recovered to the point that he could care for himself; that after this stroke deceased was partially paralyzed, was very infirm and feeble, and walked with two canes; in the latter part of 1943, the son, who was then 18, enlisted in the armed services and the ex-wife returned to Washington and obtained employment there; that the son continued to visit his father from time to time .on furloughs until he was sent overseas, and thereafter wrote his father regu-. Iarly; that in about 1944 the proponent became a tenant of deceased, remaining as such for about a year and a half, then moved; that after she moved she visited deceased from time to time, bringing him gifts of food; that in about 1946 or 1947 proponent moved back into deceased’s house under an arrangement whereby, so deceased told several of his neighbors at the time, she paid $12 per month rental, instead of the regular rental of $35 per month, and in exchange for the decreased rental was to take care of deceased, cook his meals and do his laundry; that in about 1947 the ex-wife returned to Ada and established a photographic studio there and was in and out of Ada for several years thereafter; that deceased dropped in at the studio from time to time to visit; that after his stroke in 1943 deceased’s mental faculties deteriorated to a marked degree; that he would fail to recognize friends and neighbors of long standing and even his ex-wife; that he was very forgetful, childish, eccentric, rambling in his speech, dwelling entirely on incidents in his early life and repeating the same stories over and over; that this was especially true during the year the proffered will was executed, in 1948, and increasingly so up to his death; that from about 1948 on he became so feeble he was no longer able to walk to town and thereafter called the same cab driver to transport him, assist him in his errands, such as getting groceries, paying taxes, getting haircuts, etc.; that he proposed to at least two people that if they would take care of him he would leave them his property, but both refused because they did not think he knew what he was doing; that on one occasion proponent was over[407]*407heard questioning deceased about his property and he told her to ask his lawyer, that whatever his lawyer said was all right; that deceased was very proud of his son and stated on several occasions that he intended to leave all his property to him; that a little over a month before his death deceased became so violent that proponent asked that she be appointed his guardian, so that she ■could expend some of his funds for medical attention for him, and proponent was appointed his guardian and authorized to expend the sum of $35 per month for his •care; nine people, all of them either close neighbors or friends who had occasion to see him almost every day, expressed their opinion that in 1948, the date the will was ■executed, deceased did not have the mental capacity to know the nature and extent of his property, who should be the «objects of his bounty, or what effect a will would have on the disposition of his property, and that he had not had such mental capacity from the time of his first stroke in 1943 up to the time of his death. Contestant introduced in evidence a will dated June 25, 1949 (the proffered will was dated March 25, 1948), signed by deceased and attested by two witnesses, as required by statute, which will had been on file in the Court Clerk’s office since July 6, 1949, by the terms of which deceased’s son was bequeathed $5; one Lila Middleton was bequeathed $1,000; the rest and residue of the property was given and devised to Irene Hutchings (proponent here of the prior will) on condition that she pay all his funeral and other debts and see that his body was buried in his family plot in Humboldt, Kansas; all prior wills were revoked; and his attorney, E. N. Jones (who pre-deceased the testator by a short time), was made executor. Contestant called proponent to the stand as his witness; she claimed the reason she offered the will dated March 25, 1948, which she had had in her possession at all times, for probate instead of the later will which had been on file with the Court Clerk was not because the first will was more favorable in its terms to her than the second but because she took the position that deceased was competent at the time the first will was executed and was incompetent on the date of the second will. She also admitted that she had had some conversation with deceased’s attorney about deceased and his property prior to the time she moved back into deceased’s house as a tenant.

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Related

In re the Estate of Bailess
1977 OK CIV APP 26 (Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma, 1977)
In Re Estate of Lacy
1967 OK 123 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1967)

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Bluebook (online)
1955 OK 344, 290 P.2d 405, 1955 Okla. LEXIS 585, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hutchings-v-bailey-okla-1955.