Keller v. Collison

395 S.W.2d 729, 1965 Mo. App. LEXIS 542
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 20, 1965
DocketNo. 8449
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 395 S.W.2d 729 (Keller v. Collison) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Keller v. Collison, 395 S.W.2d 729, 1965 Mo. App. LEXIS 542 (Mo. Ct. App. 1965).

Opinion

RUARK, Presiding Judge.

This is a suit by Keller, (public) administrator of the estate of Mary J. Smith, deceased, against Nell M. Collison, the principal defendant, and the Southern Missouri Trust Company, a technical defendant, in which the plaintiff sought to determine title to certain bank accounts, an injunction against withdrawal of certain accounts, an accounting, and such other and further relief as the court should deem meet and proper. Defendant Collison has appealed from an adverse judgment.

The petition charged that deceased, Mary J. Smith, was the sole owner of a savings account of the value and amount of $10,-123.85 and a checking account of $371.75; that on December 15, 1961, such accounts were transferred so as to make them held jointly and as surviving tenant with defendant Collison. That the accounts were transferred merely for convenience so that withdrawals could be made as necessity and circumstances might require “relative to the condition of Mary J. Smith”; that Mrs. Smith never intended to create an account with the right of survivorship; that Mrs. Smith was physically incapable of taking care of her affairs and that Collison “looked after Mrs. Smith,” took her places, paid her bills, ran her errands, and that a confidential relationship existed between Collison and Smith. A temporary injunction was prayed and issued to prevent withdrawals from the accounts.

Defendant Collison’s answer asserted that she was a practical nurse, that she had cared for Mrs. Smith on prior occasions; that on December 7, 1961, Mrs. Collison began stopping at Mrs. Smith’s apartment to assist her and do necessary tasks which Mrs. Smith was unable to do; that on December 26, 1961, defendant arranged for Mrs. Smith to enter a rest home where she was thereafter in the exclusive care and control of other persons; that on December 15, 1961, (the day the accounts were transferred) Mrs. Smith was mentally alert and capable of handling her own affairs but was physically weak; that the transfer of the two accounts was a free and voluntary act of Mrs. Smith without action or influence of defendant, but that Mrs. Smith did place confidence in defendant because of the aid and assistance which she had rendered. The answer denied all else in respect to the transfers. It did not specifically claim that the transfers were for a consideration or by way of gift.

The case was tried on June 8, 1964, and taken under advisement. On October 1, 1964, plaintiff was permitted to amend his petition to conform to proof so as to charge in substance that there was no consideration for the transfer of the funds from sole account to joint; that such transfer was made [731]*731by way of gift and by reason of the relationship of trust and confidence and as a result of undue influence and control exercised by Collison and was “void and presumptively void.” So far as the record shows there was no objection to this amendment and no request for continuance or opportunity to offer further evidence on the part of defendants; nor does the appellant contend she had no notice of such amendment.1 On October 19,1964, judgment was given for plaintiff and, after unsuccessful after-trial motion, defendant has appealed.

Mary J. Smith was seventy-three years old at the time of her death. She was a childless widow. The record does not show when the husband died, but we gather from scraps of testimony that it had been within less than five years before. Her nearest kin were two nieces, who did not live in the community and with whom she apparently had little contact. She was obviously frail, suffering from arthritis with pain in her knees, and had difficulty in getting around. Because of this difficulty she had (September 1960) transferred her bank accounts from a bank uptown to another bank which had a branch within a short distance of her apartment. There is no contention that Mrs. Smith was not mentally capable and alert, but the evidence does indicate that she was burdened with her age and frailities and was somewhat dependent upon others. In the last few months of her life she was, on some occasions, forgetful to the extent that she would repeat herself. Her sole assets consisted of a savings account in the approximate principal amount of $10,123.85, a checking account in the approximate sum of $371.75, and a small amount of personal effects.

Plaintiff's witness, Mrs. Gillespie, said she had been a neighbor acquaintance-friend of Mrs. Smith since 1956. She saw her sometimes once a week, sometimes every two or three weeks, but they talked on the phone more often than that. She had assisted Mrs. Smith on various matters, including the transfer of funds from one bank to another; and on at least one occasion she had gone to the drugstore in the night to get medicine for Mrs. Smith. Mrs. Smith had discussed funeral arrangements with her, and indicated that she was dissatisfied with the service which had been conducted for her late husband. Mrs. Gillespie suggested that she call a Mr. Loh-meyer (another funeral director) and have him come out and make arrangements in advance with him concerning her own funeral. Mrs. Smith also talked to her about making a will, and Mrs. Gillespie assisted her in this by calling “an attorney or two” and finally made an appointment to go with her to an attorney’s office. At the appointed time, however, Mrs. Gillespie was unable to go, and Mrs. Smith went by cab. From her testimony, and that of others, it is not difficult to surmise that Mrs. Smith was conscious of her infirmities and the inevitability of her death in the not too distant future.

Another friend of Mrs. Smith was the defendant-appellant, Mrs. Collison, who worked for a living as a practical nurse. She worked, at least part-time (probably in the mornings), for a local hospital. Their acquaintanceship had begun some five or six years prior to the events with which we are now concerned, when at a market Mrs. Smith appealed to Mrs. Collison and her two young sons to carry some groceries for her. After that, Mrs. Collison did various things for Mrs. Smith. Plaintiff’s witness Mrs. Gillespie, who cannot be considered as friendly to defendant, testified that she knew that Mrs. Collison “came by occasionally” and took her (Mrs. Smith) to pick up groceries and “different things.” She, Mrs. Gillespie, did not know Mrs. Col-lison personally, but Mrs. Smith would comment to her that Mrs. Collison had taken [732]*732care of Judge Gideon before he passed away, “and she was commenting that Mrs. Collison wanted to take care of her because she was working to the Baptist Hospital and she could give her shots and take care of her as good as a doctor, and there was no use in having a doctor.” The record does not establish when this conversation took place; and there is a dearth of direct evidence as to just what Mrs. Col-lison did for Mrs. Smith prior to December 7, 1961.2 There is evidence that for a considerable period of time prior to Mrs. Smith’s fall and injury (to be hereinafter mentioned), Mrs. Collison was at the Smith apartment “almost every week,” and her son testified that he himself sometimes ran errands for her, such as carrying groceries, taking soiled clothes to the laundromat, and cleaning up the apartment when the Smiths moved (this must have been while Mr. Smith was yet alive). For these errands and odd jobs he was paid in “small change.” This is as nearly as we can present the situation prior to the matters here involved. A chronological statement of events follows.

Sometime after Mrs. Gillespie had suggested that Mrs.

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Bluebook (online)
395 S.W.2d 729, 1965 Mo. App. LEXIS 542, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/keller-v-collison-moctapp-1965.