Meyer v. Arends

106 N.W. 675, 126 Wis. 603, 1906 Wisc. LEXIS 139
Wisconsin Supreme Court·Decided January 9, 1906·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

KeewiN, J.

The controlling question on this appeal is whether the findings are supported by the evidence. The ■court found, in effect, the relationship of parties; the transfer of the farm and personal property by deceased to his son Frank; that decedent reserved a life estate for himself and wife in the dwelling house upon the farm conveyed to Frank; and that the conduct of Frank caused decedent and his wife to abandon the premises in 1897; that they lived with defendant John Meyer until the spring of 1898, when they went to live with defendant John Arends, where they continued to live until the death of decedent; that defendant John Arends ■erected an addition to his dwelling house for the use of decedent and his wife; that in October, 1897, decedent made a will by which he bequeathed and devised his property to his wife, subject to the payment of a legacy of $1,000 to each of the defendants J ohn Arends and Theresia Arends; that upon the death of decedent, on application to the county court for the probate of said will, the probate thereof was denied, and a • decree entered to the effect that said John Meyer, deceased, after the making of said will, disposed of all his property by subsequent will and that the propounded will was not the last will and testament of deceased, and that deceased during 'his lifetime revoked said propounded will and died intestate. The court further found that in or about the year 1899 the decedent gave to Michael Meyer $500, to defendant John Arends $1,000, to John Meyer $1,000, and to Charles Meyer *$500, and took their notes therefor providing for the payment [607] of five per cent, interest annually to the wife of decedent during ber lifetime, and that between December 31, 1901, and April 15,1902, said notes were canceled and given up by decedent; that in 1899 decedent gave $500 to Andrew Meyer, and a note and mortgage for $800 to John Meyer, and assigned to defendant J ohn Arends a note and mortgage for the sum of $1,037; that on the 31st day of December, 1901, decedent made and executed a last will and testament, whereby he bequeathed to defendant J ohn Arends the sum of $3,000 and to J ohn Meyer $1,000, bequeathing the residue of his estate in equal shares to all his children other than Frank Meyer; that .in December, 1901, he gave to the church $350; that on December 31, 1901, he assigned and delivered to J ohn Arends a note and mortgage upon which there was a balance of principal unpaid of $2,200; that on the 31st day of December, 1901, he gave to his daughter Elizabeth Eder $500, she giving a receipt acknowledging her full share of his estate; that on March 2, 1902, he gave to the church congregation $1,000; that on March 14, 1902, he made a codicil to his will, whereby he bequeathed to defendants John and Theresia Arends $3,000 in addition to the previous bequest in said will, and at the same time an agreement in writing was entered into whereby defendants John and Theresia Arends agreed to support decedent and his wife during their lives in consideration of the sum of $6,000 so bequeathed in said will and codicil; that in March, 1902, decedent gave Michael Meyer and Andrew Meyer, each, $500; that on April 3, 1902, he assigned other notes and mortgages to defendant John Arends and Michael Meyer aggregating $2,441; that on April 3, 1902, he indorsed certain notes of the face value of $3,000 by a commercial indorsement and an assignment with the purpose and intention of thereafter making gifts of said notes to such of his children, and others as he might desire, and also assigned two school bonds of the value of $400 each to the defendant John Arends and Michael Meyer; that on April 10, 1902, he [608] gave to defendant John Meyer one of said promissory notes so indorsed of tbe face value of $600, together with $550 in money, and on tbe 14th day of April, 1902, gave to Charles Meyer $300 in money; that on April 12, 1902, be canceled tbe names of defendant John Arends and Michael Meyer in tbe assignments of tbe school bonds, and gave tbe same and tbe remainder of tbe assigned notes, aggregating $3,200, to tbe defendant Theresia, Arends; that on tbe 14th day of April, 1902, he gave the remainder of his money to tbe defendant John Arends, and on tbe 15th day of April, 1902, after having disposed of bis estate, caused tbe will of December 31, 1901, together with tbe codicil, to be revoked; that he was at all the times mentioned in tbe findings of sound mind; that during tbe time be resided with defendants John and Theresia Arends all bis children bad full opportunity to visit, consult, and confer with him without any interference or restrictions whatever by tbe defendants, or any one else acting for them; that there never was any understanding, connivance, or conspiracy among the defendants, or any of them, to obtain the possession of any of decedent’s property; that while each and every of tbe children of decedent were anxious, ready, and willing to become recipients of the beneficence of decedent, and were advised that be was making large gifts for the purpose of disposing of all his property in his lifetime, none of the defendants ever exercised or attempted to exercise any duress, coercion, or undue influence over him for the purpose of obtaining any of his property; that all the gifts made by decedent were his own free, voluntary acts, and all such gifts were received by the donees and the possession passed at tbe time; that at tbe time of decedent’s death his surviving widow owned and possessed property consisting of notes payable to her as payee, and notes secured by mortgages payable to herself and deceased, as husband and wife, of the value of $3,949.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Meyer v. Arends, 106 N.W. 675, 126 Wis. 603, 1906 Wisc. LEXIS 139 (Wis. 1906).

106 N.W. 675 (Meyer v. Arends) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Starnes v. Barker
1959 OK 113 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1959)