In Re Estate of Harber

428 P.2d 662, 102 Ariz. 285, 1967 Ariz. LEXIS 253
CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedJune 7, 1967
Docket8414
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 428 P.2d 662 (In Re Estate of Harber) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Arizona 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 Harber, 428 P.2d 662, 102 Ariz. 285, 1967 Ariz. LEXIS 253 (Ark. 1967).

Opinion

LOCKWOOD, Justice:

This is an appeal from a judgment on a directed verdict in favor of the proponents of the will of Mary Helen Harber. The contestants, sisters and nieces and nephews of the testatrix, filed their amended petition to revoke the probate of Mrs. Harber’s-will on November 12, 1963. The contestants sought the revocation of probate on the grounds that: (1) the testatrix lacked testamentary capacity; (2) the will was not duly executed according to law; (3) the will was a product of undue influence exerted on the testatrix by - the proponents of the will; and (4) the will was a result of fraudulent representations by the proponents to the testatrix. The proponents of the will were Irene Harber Foley (testatrix’ niece by marriage who had been raised from childhood by Mrs. Harber and her husband), Mrs. Foley’s children, and the Order of Rainbow Girls (Marie Harber Assembly). Following the presentation of the contestants’ case the trial judge directed a verdict in favor of the proponents.

Mary Helen Harber (nee Hunter) was; born September 15, 1884 in West Virginia. She had four older brothers: William,. Clayton, John and Henry; and two younger sisters: Marguerite Hunter Bennett and Rubie Hunter Baker. When Mary Harber died she was survived by her two sisters and her brother, John. John died four months before the trial of the cause. The two sisters and the sons and daughters of' Mary Harber’s brothers are seeking to revoke the probate of her will.

After spending the first twenty years of her life in West Virginia, Mrs. Harber moved to Oklahoma to live with an aunt. While there she met and married Dr. J. N. Harber on July 4, 1906. Their marriage lasted for fifty-six years, terminating upon the death of Dr. Harber on August 8, 1962.1 In 1938 the Harbers moved from Oklahoma to Arizona. Upon moving to Phoenix, the Harbers purchased a forty acre parcel of land on the southeast corner of North Central Avenue and East Bethany Home Road. The purchase price of the property-was $43,000. In 1960 or 1961 Mrs. Harber was offered $1,500,000 for the property. In June, 1938 Dr. and Mrs. Harber entered into an agreement by which Mrs. Harber would receive title to the forty acres as her separate property and $100,000 cash in exchange for relinquishing all claims to any community property held, or to be acquired by the parties. The agreement states as its purpose to allow each of the parties to dispose of his property for the benefit of his brothers, sisters, and other blood relatives. Throughout the rest of their lives the Harbers resided at the home on this forty acre parcel.

The Harbers were childless. However, they did raise from an early age Dr. Har-ber’s twin nieces, Irene and Marie Harber. Marie Harber died at a very young age. Irene Harber is now married to Harry Foley and will be referred to as Irene Foley. Irene Foley and her three children of a previous marriage are the principal *288 beneficiaries under the will which is the subject of this contest. There was no attempt by the Harbers to adopt Irene until the summer of 1962. The petition for adoption of Irene Foley was dated July 18, 1962. However, the papers were not filed in the superior court until August 7, 1962. The following day Dr. Harber died and the proceedings were terminated. In the petition for adoption, Dr. and Mrs. Harber stated that they: were childless; had raised Irene Foley; had treated her as a daughter; now wished to confer upon her the right to inherit their property as if she were their natural born child.

In 1941 Mrs. Harber executed a will leaving $65,000 in specific bequests to members of her family. Irene was not mentioned at all in this will. There was no residuary clause so that under the law of intestate succession the balance of Mrs. Harber’s- property would have gone to her husband if he survived her.

In the early part of September, 1962 Mrs. Harber executed a will which- was physically prepared by Harry Foley (to be referred to as the first will). The whereabouts of, that document is unknown.

On September 13, 1962 Mrs. Harber executed a will (to be referred to as the second will) and an addendum to that Will at the Southwest Savings and Loan Association. The will was physically prepared by Iener W. Nielsen, an attorney, licensed in California but not in Arizona. Mr. Nielsen was Harry Foley’s attorney. It was prepared by Mr. Nielsen in California and sent to Harry Foley. Harry Foley and Irene Foley then accompanied Mrs. Harber to the Southwest Savings and Loan Association for the purpose of having the instrument executed.

This will provided for a bequest of $150,000 to Irene Foley to be held in trust for the following purposes: (1) the payment of $250 per month to each of the testatrix’ sisters and to her sole surviving brother for the duration of their lives; (2) in the event of sickness, the trustee (Irene Foley) in her sole discretion was to determine the amount necessary in addition to the $250 per month for the care of the beneficiaries; (3) upon the death of one of the beneficiaries the monthly income should be applied to the other life beneficiaries; (4) upon the death of the surviving life beneficiary the corpus of the trust should be divided equally between Irene Foley and her issue. It also provided for eleven specific bequests to various nieces and nephews totaling $23,500 which would be distributed if they survived the testatrix. The balance of the estate was -to be divided one-half to Irene Foley and one-half to Mrs. Foley’s issue.

On October 22, 1962 Mrs. Harber executed another will (to be referred to as the third will). This is the one which was probated and is being contested in the present action. This will was drafted by Mr. Nielsen in California and forwarded to Harry Foley. It was then executed by Mrs. Harber at the offices of the Southwest Savings and Loan Association. Mrs. Har-ber was accompanied to the association by Irene and Harry Foley. The will was witnessed by Rex E. Staley, the President of the association and Patricia Andrews.

This third will was very similar to the second. However, in addition to the trust established for the benefit of her sisters and brother, Mrs. Harber gave her sister, Mrs. Baker, a life interest in the.home at 346 West Vernon, Phoenix,. Arizona in which she was living. This will also provided for special bequests to four more nieces and nephews in addition to the eleven nieces and nephews mentioned in the second will totaling $8,000. All the specific bequests, however, were made conditional upon the recipients surviving the distribution of Mrs. Harber’s estate. Funeral expenses for the testatrix’ two sisters were to be paid for with moneys from the trust or from the balance of the estate. A $5,000 bequest to the Order of Rainbow Girls, the Marie Harber Assembly was also made.

The contestants, at the close of their case withdrew their contentions that the testatrix lacked testamentary capacity and that *289 the will was not properly executed. Therefore the questions presented to us are whether it was proper for the trial judge to direct the verdict for the proponents on the issues of undue influence and fraud. We shall consider the former first.

Appellants contend the issue of undue influence is raised by a presumption citing In re O’Connor’s Estate, 74 Ariz. 248, 246 P.2d 1063 (1952).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
428 P.2d 662, 102 Ariz. 285, 1967 Ariz. LEXIS 253, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-estate-of-harber-ariz-1967.