Jones v. Singley

242 So. 2d 430, 1970 Miss. LEXIS 1378
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 21, 1970
DocketNo. 45974
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 242 So. 2d 430 (Jones v. Singley) 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
Jones v. Singley, 242 So. 2d 430, 1970 Miss. LEXIS 1378 (Mich. 1970).

Opinion

PATTERSON, Justice.

This is an appeal from a decree of the Chancery Court of Wayne County which dismissed the bill of complaint of Mrs. Harvey Jones by which she sought cancellation of a deed by her to the defendant, a judgment for recovery of funds expended from a joint bank account, a judgment for a loan, a judgment for agricultural rental payments, and an accounting. The complainant, being aggrieved by the dismissal of her bill of complaint, appeals to this Court designating numerous assignments of error. We affirm.

The appellant is the widow of Harvey J. Jones who died on May 21, 1967. There being no children of the marriage the appellant inherited the entire estate of her husband. The gist of her bill of complaint is that while she was ill and in a weakened mental condition the defendant placed himself in a position of trust with her and by violating this trust defrauded her of a portion of her property. More specifically, she charges that the defendant had been a close friend of her husband for many years and that she and her husband trusted the defendant implicitly. She then charges that after the demise of her husband, and due to her advanced age of seventy-six, she leaned upon the defendant for aid in her business and personal affairs. She states that she was incapacitated by breaking her leg October 20, 1968, which required her to be placed in a hospital. She further alleges that during her convalescence the defendant continued to act for her in a position of trust. While so doing, he caused a check to be drawn on her personal account payable to a joint account of the defendant and herself. She then states that it is possible she signed the check, but she does hot remember doing so.

Thereafter, she alleges that additional funds were placed in this joint account by her, approximating $31,686.40, and that since she has no recollection of the account or making a gift of any of the funds to the defendant, she should have a judgment for the funds expended by the defendant from this account. She also demands a judgment for rental due from an agricultural lease to the defendant, as well as judgment for the difference in value between the sale price of bank stock that she sold at the suggestion of the defendant, and the actual market price at the time of the sale.

The complainant then alleges that the defendant obtained by fraud a deed to 340 acres of her land in Wayne County. She states that on this occasion she was in a weakened mental condition and was told by the defendant that she should make a will to which she consented. Thereafter, an in[432]*432strument which she thought to be her will was presented to her at a time when she was too ill to read and that she signed the instrument, never being “told that a deed was mixed in the papers that she was signing nor that any notes were fixed in the said papers and it was not her intention nor of her knowledge that she signed a deed on the said date.” She therefore prays that it be cancelled.

The bill of complaint concludes with a prayer for an accounting and that if it appear therefrom that any further funds or property of the appellant are being held or have been wrongfully converted by the ap-pellee, then in that event she prays for a judgment for the amount disclosed.

The defendant by his answer avers that he has great love for the complainant, “loves her like a mother and loved her late husband like a father,” and that he saw to her needs and cared for her during the interval subsequent to her injury until shortly before this suit was filed. He stated that this affection was mutual and continued until the complainant became angry with him for refusing to remove her from a hospital in violation of her doctor’s orders. The defendant asserts that he is the owner of the land now in question by proper deed of conveyance executed by the complainant for adequate consideration. He denies that it was obtained by fraud. He further denies any indebtedness to the complainant, averring that the amounts alleged to be due by him were either drawn from a joint bank account of the parties or were given him in consideration of his caring for the complainant. He denies recommending the sale of the bank stock and denies that he acted in a fiduciary capacity whatsoever.

After a prolonged hearing, the chancellor entered his opinion denying the relief sought by the bill of complaint. He notes that both parties to the transactions are still living and he had the benefit of their testimony, together with that of numerous disinterested witnesses offered by both sides. He found the complainant to be a strong-willed person who could not easily be taken advantage of unless she was under narcotic medication and that the proof was insufficient to indicate that she was taking any kind of medication at the time of the transactions which would hinder her in any way. He further found that she was competent at the time she signed all of the instruments involved in the suit, noting particularly with regard to the joint bank account and the land deed that there were disinterested witnesses who testified as to the circumstances existing at the time of their execution. Additionally, he found that there was adequate consideration for the deed and that all of the transactions occurred as the defendant testified. It was his opinion that the suit was precipitated when the complainant became angered at the defendant for not following her request to remove her from the hospital.

A decree was entered in accord with this opinion dismissing the bill of complaint.

The primary assignments of error relied upon for reversal are (1) that the chancellor’s opinion was contrary to the law and against the overwhelming weight of the evidence, and (2) the chancellor erred in not finding that a fiduciary relationship existed between the parties from October 21, 1968, and at the time of the conveyance of appellant’s monies into a joint bank account and at the time of the conveyance of appellant’s real property to the appellee.

The record reveals the complainant to be an elderly woman who resided for many years in a rural area of Wayne County with her husband. The business affairs of the couple were largely handled by the husband during his lifetime. There is no evidence indicative of the appellant’s education or the lack of it. The record does disclose, however, that the appellee was an educated man who for many years prior to the death of Mr. Jones, had been a close friend to this elderly couple and had on occasion assisted them in their business affairs. Subsequent to the death of Mr. Jones the appellee continued to be held in [433]*433high esteem by the appellant to the extent that it can be truthfully stated their relationship approximated that of mother and son. This relationship continued until April 1969 when it was cast aside by the appellant while she was undergoing physiotherapy treatments in a hospital. The complainant’s version of this event was that she was in the Laurel Convalescent Center at the suggestion of her doctor. While there, she became convinced that the treatments, though not painful, would not help her regain the use of her leg and that she importuned the appellee to return her to his home. She referred to the hospital as, “That’s the crazy house,” and “I told him if I had to stay there much longer I would have the mange.” The defendant’s version of the incident was, “She told me if I didn’t get her out of there she was going to die. She said she just couldn’t stand it there any longer. She said, ‘If you don’t get me out of here, I’ll make you wish you did,’ and I said ‘You ought to stay here till Dr.

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Bluebook (online)
242 So. 2d 430, 1970 Miss. LEXIS 1378, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jones-v-singley-miss-1970.