In Re Estate of Dabney

740 So. 2d 915, 1999 WL 605718
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 12, 1999
Docket98-CA-00508-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by52 cases

This text of 740 So. 2d 915 (In Re Estate of Dabney) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Estate of Dabney, 740 So. 2d 915, 1999 WL 605718 (Mich. 1999).

Opinion

740 So.2d 915 (1999)

In re the ESTATE OF Eloise W. DABNEY, deceased.
David H. Dabney, Eloise Dabney Lautier and Mary Dabney Nicholls
v.
Freddie D. Hataway, Cheryl Lineberger, Janie Hataway, Rachael Hataway and Fred Dabney.

No. 98-CA-00508-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

August 12, 1999.

*917 Kenneth B. Rector, Vicksburg, Attorney for Appellants.

Jamaes D. Bell, Eduardo Alberto Flechas, Jackson, Attorneys for Appellees.

BEFORE PITTMAN, P.J., McRAE AND SMITH, JJ.

SMITH, Justice, for the Court:

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

¶ 1. This case involves the contest of the will of Eloise Dabney. The Contestants include Freddie D. Hataway, daughter of Eloise Dabney, along with her children, Cheryl Lineberger, Janie Hataway, Rachel Hataway, and Fred Dabney. The Proponents of the will are David H. Dabney, Eloise Dabney Lautier and Mary Dabney Nicholls, which are the other children of Eloise Dabney. The Proponents of the will appeal the 12-0 jury verdict in favor of the Contestants from the Warren County Chancery Court.

Statement of the Facts

¶ 2. On April, 17, 1954, F.Y. Dabney purchased a large block of mineral interests in Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida from a George Gilbert and formed a partnership known as the Dabney Company. The original partners were F.Y. Dabney, his wife Eloise Dabney, and his four children Mary Dabney Nicholls, David Dabney, Eloise Dabney Lautier (the "Proponents")and Freddie Dabney Hataway (the "Contestant"). F.Y. Dabney transferred to B.C. Owens 5% of the net cash profits of the Dabney Company. F.Y. Dabney died in 1956 leaving his wife and four children as the surviving partners in the company.

¶ 3. In 1956, Leo Boolos, a Certified Public Accountant in Vicksburg, began assisting Mrs. Dabney with financial and tax matters. Over the years, Boolos became an advisor and confidant to Mrs. Dabney. Oil company checks were mailed to Boolos, who deposited and accounted for the funds. Oil companies even contacted him *918 to arrange leases. When Mrs. Dabney would receive inquiries about the company, she would generally refer those inquiries to Boolos.

¶ 4. In 1960, Boolos obtained two assignments of portions of B.C. Owens's net cash profit participating interest. The effect of these assignments was that Owens would receive 4.5% of the net cash profits derived from royalties, bonuses and similar income, and Boolos would receive .5% of the net cash profits. However, in the event of a sale, Boolos would receive 2.75% of the net cash profits to only 2.25% for Owens.

¶ 5. In May of 1974 a new partnership agreement was prepared. Mrs. Dabney and the four children remained partners, but she also had a special power of attorney to sell or lease Dabney Company properties with David Dabney and Leo Boolos as successors. Through the years, the Contestant had numerous run-ins and disputes with Boolos over financial decisions, powers of attorney. The first such dispute arose in 1981 when a sale of assets took place. When Contestant asked Boolos to produce information regarding his sources of information, Boolos responded that he was not at liberty to produce this information.

¶ 6. In another request for information, the Contestant asked Boolos for a list of the original Dabney Company properties. Boolos responded that the Contestant had requested more than any partner should ask for and that these documents were not readily available. Many other requests were made to Boolos for certain information; however, the information was never obtained by the Contestant.

¶ 7. In 1995, David signed numerous medical records for Mrs. Dabney as "Eloise W. Dabney by David Dabney as her guardian or conservator." Less than a year before Mrs. Dabney's death, David signed a medical record for his mother because she was "unable to sign due to dementia." On September 20, 1995, Dr. Daniel Edney gave Mrs. Dabney a diagnosis of "progressive senile dementia." All of Mrs. Dabney's nurses testified that Mrs. Dabney was confused and agitated.

¶ 8. Mrs. Dabney was completely bedridden the last years of her life and died on August 22, 1996, at the age of 90 years. Ten days before her death, Mrs. Dabney executed a new will prepared for her by Boolos. This new 1996 will omitted the Contestant as a beneficiary.

¶ 9. The Proponents filed the 1996 will for probate in the Warren County Chancery Court, and the Contestant challenged the will. The trial court granted partial summary judgment to the Proponents on the issue of mental capacity. The remaining issues were tried to a jury in January 1998, and the jury returned a 12-0 verdict for the Contestant. A motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and for new trial was made by the Proponents and was denied.

¶ 10. Aggrieved by the trial court's judgment, the Proponents appeal an assign three errors, as follows:

I. DID THE TRIAL JUDGE ERR BY FAILING TO GRANT A DIRECTED VERDICT OR A PEREMPTORY INSTRUCTION TO THE APPELLANTS (a) ON THE ISSUE OF THE EXISTENCE OF A CONFIDENTIAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TESTATRIX AND DAVID DABNEY AND/OR LEO BOOLOS OR (b) ON THE ISSUE OF WHETHER OR NOT THE WILL WAS PROCURED BY UNDUE INFLUENCE?
II. WAS THE 1996 LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF ELOISE DABNEY A PRODUCT OF FRAUD OR MISREPRESENTATION?
III. DID THE TRIAL JUDGE ERR BY FAILING TO GRANT PROPONENTS' MOTION FOR JUDGMENT NOTWITHSTANDING THE VERDICT OR FOR NEW TRIAL?

*919 STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 11. "In reviewing a jury verdict, this Court resolves all conflicts of evidence in the appellee's favor and determines all reasonable inferences from testimony given towards the appellee's position. Reversal occurs only where the facts presented are so overwhelming in the appellant's position that reasonable jurors could not have found for the appellee." Thompson Mach. Commerce Corp. v. Wallace, 687 So.2d 149, 151-52 (Miss. 1997) (citations omitted). When an appellant challenges the sufficiency of evidence to support a jury's verdict, the appellate court's scope of review is limited. Parker v. Thornton, 596 So.2d 854, 857 (Miss. 1992). All evidence must be reviewed in the light most favorable to the appellee. Id. An appellate court may only reverse a jury verdict when the facts considered in that light point so overwhelmingly to the appellant's position that reasonable men could not have arrived at a contrary verdict. Wilmoth v. Peaster Tractor Co. of Lexington, Inc., 544 So.2d 1384, 1386 (Miss.1989). In the event that evidence is conflicting, a jury is the sole judge of the credibility of witnesses and the weight of their testimony. Wilmoth, 544 So.2d at 1386 (citing Dixon v. State, 519 So.2d 1226 (Miss.1988)).

LEGAL ANALYSIS

I. DID THE TRIAL JUDGE ERR BY FAILING TO GRANT A DIRECTED VERDICT OR A PEREMPTORY INSTRUCTION TO THE APPELLANTS (a) ON THE ISSUE OF THE EXISTENCE OF A CONFIDENTIAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TESTATRIX AND DAVID DABNEY AND/OR LEO BOOLOS OR (b) ON THE ISSUE OF WHETHER OR NOT THE WILL WAS PROCURED BY UNDUE INFLUENCE OR MISREPRESENTATION?

¶ 12. A confidential relationship exists when a dominant over-mastering influence controls over a dependent person or trust, justifiably reposed. Murray v. Laird, 446 So.2d 575, 578 (Miss.1984). It is well established that the contestant has the burden of establishing the existence of a confidential relationship. Norris v. Norris, 498 So.2d 809, 813 (Miss.1986).

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Bluebook (online)
740 So. 2d 915, 1999 WL 605718, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-estate-of-dabney-miss-1999.