Mills v. Bergbauer

452 S.W.2d 237, 1970 Mo. LEXIS 1144
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedJanuary 12, 1970
DocketNo. 54180
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 452 S.W.2d 237 (Mills v. Bergbauer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mills v. Bergbauer, 452 S.W.2d 237, 1970 Mo. LEXIS 1144 (Mo. 1970).

Opinions

DONNELLY, Presiding Judge.

This suit involves 843 acres of land in Iron County, Missouri, owned by George Thomas Mills when he died intestate on April 5, 1964. George Thomas Mills is survived by plaintiff, Rodney Mills, and defendants Oral Mills, Dorothy Francis, Mildred Pruett, Goldie Young and Margaret Kemp, his sons and daughters.

Rodney Mills seeks specific performance of an alleged contract referred to in his petition as follows:

“Plaintiff states that on or about the 20th day of January, 1947, the deceased, George Thomas Mills, made and entered into an agreement with him by the terms of which he agreed to will and devise the. above-described real estate to him if he would move back to the farm with him and look after his health and affairs and take care of him for the remainder of his life; and that thereafter the plaintiff entered upon the performance of the contract and discharged all of the duties incumbent upon him by reason and on account of said agreement, and continued to do so itntil he was appointed administrator of the estate of the deceased, George Thomas Mills.”

A trial was had before the trial court, without a jury, and a decree was entered, which reads, in part, as follows:

“NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED by the court that the alleged oral contract to make a will was entered into by and between the deceased, George Thomas Mills, and Rodney Mills, his son, on the 12th day of January, 1947, and that the plaintiff, Rodney Mills, performed his part of said contract, but that the said George Thomas Mills did not perform his part of the contract and died on the 5th day of April, 1964, without devising his property, both real and personal, to the said Rodney Mills, as he was required to do by the oral agreement;
“and it is further
[238]*238“ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED by the court that title to the following described land, consisting of 843 acres,
“be and it is by this decree vested in said Rodney Mills, free and clear of any claim of the defendants, or any persons claiming by, through or under them.”

The applicable law is well-settled. In Walker v. Bohannan, 243 Mo. 119, 136, 147 S.W. 1024, 1028, 1029, this Court said: “(1) the alleged oral contract must be clear, explicit, and definite; (2) it must be proven as pleaded; (3) such contract cannot be established by conversations either too ancient on the one hand, or too loose or casual upon the other; (4) the alleged oral contract must itself be fair, and not unconscionable; (S) the proof of the contract as pleaded must be such as to leave no reasonable doubt in the mind of the chancellor that the contract as alleged was in fact made, and that the full performance, so far as lies in the hands of the parties to perform, has been had; (6) and the work constituting performance must be such as is referable solely to the contract sought to be enforced and not such as might be reasonably referable to some other and different contract; (7) the contract must be one based upon an adequate and legal consideration, so that its performance upon the one hand, but not upon the other, would bespeak an unconscionable advantage and wrong, demanding in good conscience relief in equity; (8) proof of mere disposition to devise by will or convey by deed by way of gift, or as a reward for services, is not sufficient, but there must be shown a real contract to devise by will or convey by deed made before the acts of performance relied upon were had.”

The question is whether, under the evidence, the Walker v. Bohannan requirements are satisfied. We hold they are satisfied, and we affirm.

The evidence shows that the contract, as pleaded, was explicit and definite. Nadine Mills, Rodney’s wife, testified that she and Rodney were married November 26, 1946, and went to see Tom Mills in January, 1947. She further testified, in part, as follows:

“Q. Do you remember when in January you went down there?
A. The 12th day of January.
Q. What day of the week was that?
A. It was on — I think it was on Friday. It’s been so long ago but I believe it was on Friday.
Q. And how long did you stay there that time?
A. We stayed until the weekend. On Monday. I think we went back on Monday.
Q. Now, did you overhear any conversation between Mr. Tom Mills and Rodney with respect to an alleged agreement for him to come down there and stay? A. Yes.
Q. Were you present at the time of this— at the time this discussion occurred? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Will you tell us just what type of house — or where was it? Inside the house or outside?
A. In the kitchen at the table. We had just eat breakfast.
Q. And was that on a Sunday? A. Yes.
Q. And you say that was the 12th of January? A. Yes.
Q. All right. Now, what were you fixing to do, Mrs. Mills?
A. We was fixing to go back up to Ste. Genevieve County.
Q. And after breakfast, what occurred with respect to the conversation ?
A. Well, Rodney told his Dad that we were going to have to go home. Back up to Ste. Genevieve and his Dad said why didn’t we just go and move our stuff and [239]*239come back and live with him. And take care of him and when he died, that everything he had would go to Rodney.
Q. And what did Rodney say in response to that?
A. Well, he told him he would.
Q. Right then and there?
A. Well, we’d talked it over. He said we’d have to talk it over and then we talked about it and we Rodney decided he would.
Q. Did you and Rodney go and talk about it outside of his presence?

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

Related

Straatmann v. Straatmann
809 S.W.2d 95 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1991)
Guenzler v. Guenzler
717 S.W.2d 870 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1986)
Bailey v. Cronin
694 S.W.2d 518 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1985)
Malone v. Spangler
606 S.W.2d 218 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1980)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
452 S.W.2d 237, 1970 Mo. LEXIS 1144, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mills-v-bergbauer-mo-1970.