Jefferson v. Watson

13 Ky. Op. 282, 1885 Ky. LEXIS 144
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky
DecidedFebruary 19, 1885
StatusPublished

This text of 13 Ky. Op. 282 (Jefferson v. Watson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jefferson v. Watson, 13 Ky. Op. 282, 1885 Ky. LEXIS 144 (Ky. Ct. App. 1885).

Opinion

Opinion by

Judge Lewis :

Appellee brought this action against appellant, administrator of C. Holliday, and to recover for services of himself and wife as is alleged to have been rendered the decedent at his request and for [283]*283expenses incurred in his behalf while he was sick and bed-ridden from November, 1876, to March, 1881.

In his answer the appellant denies his indebtedness as stated, and denies that the plaintiff or his wife rendered the services, or made the expenditures claimed in the petition. It is farther stated as defense that plaintiff and Holliday entered into a written contract dated March 11, 1871, under which plaintiff was to board and wash for Holliday and do his mending for $3.50 per week; that the plaintiff lived upon Holliday’s land and in the same house with him and that they had sworn settlements, the last of which was made in January, 1881, when Holliday paid him the full amount claimed and all that Holliday then admitted to be due.

He denies that Holliday ever contracted or agreed to pay plaintiff more than $3.50 per week which was fully paid to January, 1881, in full of all demands. It is further stated that if the services sued for had been rendered, the amount claimed is extravagant.

The first error complained of in this appeal is that the court improperly discharged the rule against the plaintiff and overruled the motion to dismiss the petition for want of proof of the account and demand required by law in actions against personal representations.

As it is not made one of the grounds for a new trial, the question arises whether the alleged error cán be considered at all on this appeal.

In the case of Helm v. Coffey, 80 Ky. 176, it was held that in the absence of a motion and grounds for a new trial nothing is brought to this court for review on appeal except the inquiry as to whether the pleadings state any cause of action or defense and whether the evidence heard and properly presented by bill authorize the judgment and that every other cause is-waived by the failure to call the attention of the court below to it by motion and specific grounds assigned. And in the case of Lynch v. Stapleton, 4 Ky. Law Reporter 985, 12 Ky. Opin. 119, it was held that the grounds for a new trial should be specific as an assignment of errors and any error not specifically presented by the motion for a new trial can not be considered on appeal.

As therefore the rule excludes every error from the consideration of this court not first presented in a motion for new trial to and passed upon by the lower court, except those mentioned in the first [284]*284case cited, it is apparent that the error in question is not now subject to revision. And it is proper to remark that in the further consideration of this case, all errors which were not presented upon the motion for a new trial, will, without being specially referred to, be omitted.

In the trial of the case by the jury, the court permitted it to be proved that during his sickness, the decedent had several wills written in which the executor was directed to compensate appellee liberally for his services in waiting on and taking care of him, and that in the last one written for him, he gave to appellee and his wife as remuneration for their services a tract of 55 acres which one witness testifies was worth $100 per acre. The court also permitted evidence as to the value of personal property owned by decedent.

It is assigned as error, the admission of evidence not only in respect to' the value of the property, but also to the execution of the wills and the contents of them.

In his answer appellant puts in issue the alleged indebtedness on account of services rendered by appellee and his wife to Holliday during his sickness, contending that the written contract entered into between them in which an amount was fixed, comprised all the indebtedness; that he agreed to pay for nothing else; and that the settlement between them in January, 1881, which only related to board, included and was in full of the indebtedness of Holliday to appellee.

,It was further stated in defense that the amount sued for was excessive and extravagant.

There was then an issue between the parties not only as to the legal liability of Holliday to appellee for any amount by reason of the alleged services as distinct from the board, but also as to the value of such services.

It was therefore competent to show by the declarations and admissions of Holliday himself that he considered himself bound and agreed to pay for the services sued for in addition to and distinct from the contract for board, and also at what price he valued the services rendered.

The wills written by his directions tend directly to elucidate these errors, for as proved by witnesses, they contained admission that he [285]*285was indebted for services rendered in addition to the board, and also an estimate by him of the value of such services, and the amount he was willing to pay therefor.

In the last will he gave appellee and his wife a certain tract of land stated by him to be compensation for their services. It was therefore competent to prove the value of the land for the purpose of showing at what amount he valued their services. It is true the wills were all destroyed, nevertheless, when written they contained declarations and admissions by appellants intestate pertinent to the issues involved in this action, the force and effect of which were not denied by the subsequent destruction of the wills.

As to the competency of the proof in regard to the value of the personal property there is some doubt. But it appears from the evidence that Holliday was confined to his bed most of the time for four years, and a greater part of the time in a helpless condition. That he suffered a great deal and had such diseases as were both painful and offensive; was a very old man, and he had no wife or child or other person dependent upon him. He therefore could, with propriety and without just cause of complaint on the part of any one, expend whatever of his estate he thought proper to make himself comfortable and secure proper attention to his wants. And the evidence shows that he repeatedly declared his wish and intention to pay appellee and his wife liberally. But whether evidence as to the value of his personal property is strictly proper or not, the jury was instructed to find for appellees, if anything, only such amount as they believed from the evidence his services were reasonably worth. So that appellant was not prejudiced even if the evidence was improper.

One of the witnesses was asked the question what Holliday could have paid him to take appellees’ place for in 1876 and after-wards in 1878, if he could have gotten rid of appellee, which the court refused to permit answered. What witness might have agreed to take appellees’ place for is not the proper criterion of the value of the services actually rendered by appellees which the evidence shows were rendered in the manner required by the sick man, and entirely satisfactory to him. The witness might have agreed to render the services for less than their reasonable value, or he might have failed to render valuable and necessary services at all.

[286]*286For the same reason evidence showing a certain person had made a contract with Holliday to take appellees’ place at certain agreed prices, was properly excluded.

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Related

Helm v. Coffey
80 Ky. 176 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1882)

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Bluebook (online)
13 Ky. Op. 282, 1885 Ky. LEXIS 144, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jefferson-v-watson-kyctapp-1885.