In Re Will and Testament of Boyles

990 So. 2d 230, 2008 WL 711729
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMarch 18, 2008
Docket2007-CA-00378-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 990 So. 2d 230 (In Re Will and Testament of Boyles) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Will and Testament of Boyles, 990 So. 2d 230, 2008 WL 711729 (Mich. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

990 So.2d 230 (2008)

In the Matter of the Last WILL and TESTAMENT OF Myrtle Estelle Moore BOYLES, Deceased.
Peggy Windham, Dorothy Gibbons, Bobby Barnes, Robert D. Boyles, James C. Boyles, Rachel G. Russum, Willie J. Gaskin, and Bobby J. Boyles, Appellants
v.
Jane P. Tadlock and Robert B. Tadlock, Appellees.

No. 2007-CA-00378-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

March 18, 2008.
Rehearing Denied June 3, 2008.
Certiorari Denied September 11, 2008.

*231 Gregory Moreau Johnston, Lem G. Adams, Brandon, attorneys for appellants.

Aleita M. Sullivan, Mendenhall, attorney for appellees.

Before KING, C.J., ROBERTS and CARLTON, JJ.

ROBERTS, J., for the Court.

SUMMARY OF THE CASE

¶ 1. After the sole beneficiary of Estelle Boyles's will met an untimely death, Mrs. Boyles decided to update her will. On May 3, 1999, she did just that and executed a will leaving the entirety of her estate to her long-time friend, Jane Tadlock. Following Mrs. Boyles's death, Mrs. Tadlock and her husband probated the will in the Chancery Court of Smith County, but they met with opposition from the heirs-at-law of Mr. Boyles, who predeceased his wife. They, along with other interested parties who would be added in an amended petition, filed a petition with the trial court, claiming that Mrs. Tadlock came by her position as sole beneficiary through undue influence and that a confidential relationship existed between the two women. Prior to trial, several documents were introduced into evidence by stipulation of all parties; however, the chancellor would not allow questioning or reference to the documents that concerned events that occurred after the will was executed. After the hearing, the trial court dismissed the petition, and the instant appeal followed.

¶ 2. The following issues are raised on appeal:

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN FAILING TO FIND MRS. BOYLES LACKED THE TESTAMENTARY CAPACITY TO EXECUTE THE WILL;
*232 II. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN FAILING TO ADMIT AND CONSIDER POST-WILL EVIDENCE;
III. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN FAILING TO FIND THE EXISTENCE OF A CONFIDENTIAL RELATIONSHIP;
IV. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN FAILING TO FIND MRS. TADLOCK BREACHED HER FIDUCIARY DUTY TO MRS. BOYLES; AND
V. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN FAILING TO FIND THAT ADDING MRS. TADLOCK AS A JOINT HOLDER OF CERTIFICATES OF DEPOSIT HELD BY MRS. BOYLES WAS AN INVALID INTER VIVOS GIFT.

¶ 3. Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 4. William and Estelle Boyles were married for several decades, but they never had children. Additionally, Mrs. Boyles did not have any siblings. In the 1970s, the Boyles and Tadlocks developed a friendship that they cultivated over the next several years. They dined together, attended the same church, and visited each other's homes regularly. In the late 1990s, Mr. Boyles began to experience health problems and was in and out of a hospital in Jackson, Mississippi and eventually Kosciusko, Mississippi during the last year of his life. Prior to the point that Mr. Boyles was hospitalized, he filled the dominant role in the relationship, making most of the decisions for the couple.

¶ 5. During part of the time when Mr. Boyles was ill, Billy Barnes, Mrs. Boyles's first cousin, assisted her with certain tasks. He would take her to see Mr. Boyles, to the grocery store, to pick up her medication, and would help her with other tasks. Others helped also, including Mr. Barnes's wife, Doris Barnes, and Mrs. Tadlock. During this point in time, although her husband was still alive, Mrs. Boyles's then-current will left the entirety of her estate to Mr. Barnes.

¶ 6. In April 1999, Mr. Barnes was involved in a tragic accident and died as a result. Soon after, Mrs. Boyles visited Rick Clark, the attorney who prepared her previous will, which left all her assets to Mr. Barnes. Mrs. Boyles asked Clark to prepare a new will leaving her estate to Mrs. Tadlock. Clark complied, and on May 3, 1999, Mrs. Boyles executed the currently contested will. Additional facts surrounding the transaction will be discussed below, as needed.

¶ 7. The Tadlocks filed a petition to probate the May 3, 1999, will on August 6, 2002, and obtained an order admitting it to probate that was filed the same day. Soon thereafter, Robert Boyles, James Boyles, Rachel Russum, Willie Gaskin, and Bobby Boyles filed a petition contesting the will in the Smith County Chancery Court. As a result of a motion to dismiss filed by the Tadlocks, an amended petition contesting the will was filed and included the original plaintiffs, as well as Peggy Windham, Dorothy Gibbons, and Bobby Barnes (all petitioners collectively referred to as "the Windhams"). Peggy Windham, Dorothy Gibbons, and Bobby Barnes were heirs-at-law of Mrs. Boyles. Following subsequent unsuccessful motions to dismiss, the case went to trial on May 25, 2005.

¶ 8. At the outset of trial, several exhibits were introduced into evidence by stipulation of all parties. These exhibits included evidence of events that occurred both pre-will and post-will. However, during the Windhams' case-in-chief, the trial court would not allow examination of witnesses on matters that occurred after the May 3, 1999, will was executed. After the *233 Windhams rested, the Tadlocks motioned the trial court to dismiss the case, and the court took the motion under advisement. After additional motions were filed, which are not pertinent to the issues raised in the instant appeal, the trial court dismissed the Windhams' cause of action finding that there was no confidential relationship between Mrs. Boyles and Mrs. Tadlock. This appeal soon followed.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 9. This Court considers decisions of chancellors under a limited standard of review. McNeil v. Hester, 753 So.2d 1057, 1063(¶ 21) (Miss.2000). Specifically, "[t]he chancellor, as the trier of fact, evaluates the sufficiency of the proof based on the credibility of witnesses and the weight of their testimony." Volmer v. Volmer, 832 So.2d 615, 621-22(¶ 21) (Miss.Ct.App.2002) (quoting Fisher v. Fisher, 771 So.2d 364, 367(¶ 8) (Miss.2000)). As well as being the fact-finder, the chancellor is the sole judge of the credibility of witnesses when resolving discrepancies in a witness's testimony. Murphy v. Murphy, 631 So.2d 812, 815 (Miss.1994). Its findings will not be disturbed unless this Court finds that they were made in manifest error. Richardson v. Cornes, 903 So.2d 51, 56(¶ 18) (Miss. 2005). In other words, "where the record contains substantial credible evidence to support the chancellor's findings, we will defer to them." Volmer, 832 So.2d at 622(¶ 21). Errors of law, however, are reviewed de novo. Cooper v. Crabb, 587 So.2d 236, 239 (Miss.1991).

ANALYSIS

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN FAILING TO FIND MRS. BOYLES LACKED THE TESTAMENTARY CAPACITY TO EXECUTE THE WILL.

¶ 10. At trial, the proponents carry the burden of proof, which they meet "by the offering and receipt into evidence of the will and the record of its probate. A prima facie case is made by the proponent solely by this proof." Harris v. Sellers, 446 So.2d 1012, 1014 (Miss.1984) (overruled in part on other grounds).

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Bluebook (online)
990 So. 2d 230, 2008 WL 711729, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-will-and-testament-of-boyles-missctapp-2008.