Newman v. Smith

77 Fla. 667
Supreme Court of Florida·Decided May 14, 1919·Published·Cited by 8 cases

Opinions

Browne, C. J.

— On December 7,, 1914, the last will and testament of L. W. Smith was admitted to probate by the County Judge of Hillsborough County, and on the same day letters testamentary were issued to Margaret F. Smith, the testator’s widow, who was the sole beneficiary under the will.

The will was executed in Tampa, Florida, on the 27th of February, 1913. On the 26th day of January,, 1915, a petition was filed with the County Judge by Mrs. Willo V. Newman, the only child and sole heir-at-law of Mr. Smith, praying for the revocation of the probate of the will because it “was not in truth and in fact the genuine will of the said L. W. Smith, nor did the same truly express the purpose or intention of the said L. W. Smith in respect to the disposition of his property, for the reason that while the said instrument was signed by the said L. W. Smith, he was at the time of execution thereof in a hospital in the City of Tampa, and so under the influence of opiates and anodynes as to be incapacitated from making a testamentary disposition of his property, and it was at all times prior to the execution of the said instrument and at the time of execution thereof the purpose and intention of the said L. W. Smith to make a testamentary disposition of his property whereby your petitioner, his daughter, should receive one-half thereof, and the said Margaret F. Smith, your petitioner’s stepmother, the remaining one-half thereof, and the execution [670] of the said instrument so admitted to probate was secured ‘by undue and improper influence exercised upon the mind of the said L. W. Smith while he was so in the hospital and under the influence of opiates and anodynes, and not possessed of sufficient mental vigor to withstand such improper and undue influence.”

These allegations were denied by the executrix.

Testimony was taken and on the 24th of March,, 1916, the County Judge entered his decree that the instrument theretofore admitted to probate was not the last will and testament of L. W. Smith and revoked the probate of said instrument.

On appeal to the Circuit Court for Hillsborough County the judgment of the County Judge was reversed and the cause remanded with directions that the petition by ■ Mrs. Willo Y. Newman be denied and her contest be dismissed. Prom this judgment the contestant appealed.

Several errors are assigned, but as they all deal with the question of undue influence and lack of testamentary capacity, they will be considered together.

The testator was a man well advanced in years. He ■had been suffering from diabetes resulting in gangrene of the foot and hardening of the arteries. He was taken tó a hospital early in February, 1913, and on the 24th his toe was amputated. During the operation a condition was discovered that made it necessary to amputate his leg at the thigh in the hope of saving his life.

The will is dated February 27th, 1913, three days after the first operation and shortly after he had been informed that it was not a success and that he would have to undergo a more serious operation. He suffered great physical [671] pain; was a very nervous man and exhibited an inordinate fear and apprehension about his physical condition; he particularly had a great fear of death and at the time he was in the hospital had this fear in rather an exaggerated form. His mind seemed to be centered on the one thought of his physical condition, and the possible nearness of death. Owing to these conditions' narcotics had to be administered in rather large quantities.

Dr. Helms, his attending physician, testified: “During that period of time (including February 27, 1913, date of will) he was suffering pain and was seized with this inordinate fear, and his whole concern, so far as my observation,. was upon his physical condition, whether or not he would get well, and necessarily he was incapable of any particular mental effort.” Dr. Helms, after fully stating the facts upon which he based his opinion, testified that “Mr. Smith was not capable of making a will at that time; he wasn’t sufficiently at himself; he wasn’t sufficiently mentally capacitated to consider a matter of that kind, the fact is, he wasn’t capacitated to consider any act that required mental capacity, in my judgment.” On the day he made his will “he was suffering a great deal of pain, and was almost uncontrollable and had to have narcotics. On the 25th he had a quarter of a grain of morphine at three o’clock in the afternoon. On the 26th he had morphine at nine o’clock in the morning, two o’clock in the afternoon and seven o’clock in the evening. On the twenty-seventh, the day the will was made, morphine was given hypodermically at two o’clock in the morning and at nine-thirty.

Two physicians, Dr. Truelson and Dr. Anderson, were examined on behalf of the contestee in an effort to weaken the effect of Dr. Helms’ testimony. Dr. Truelson tes[672] ti'fied that he visited Mr. Smith as a friend while he was in the hospital and that he did not observe anything that indicated loss of mental powers, or that he had lost his mind, and that he considered him rational, but at the close of his testimony he says that from the conversations with him while in the hospital he was unable to pass judgment on whether or not he was in full possession of his mental faculties at the time Smith was in the hospital between the two operations.

Dr. Lancaster was Dr. Helms’ assistant. He admits that Smith was nervous and excited, but that it was not “unsusual or extraordinary excitement” or any “undue excitement.”

It appears from the testimony that a quarter of a grain of morphine was administered to Smith at 2 A. M. and at 9 A. M. and at 6 P. M. on the day the will was made, and the same quantity on the day before.

Neither Dr. Truelson nor Dr. Anderson contradict any of the facts upon which Dr. Helms based his opinion. These facts show a mental and physical condition of the patient which precludes the probability that he was able to comprehend the situation and character of his property, the nature of his obligations to others, the persons who had legal and natural claims upon him who should be the objects of his bounty, and so keep these things in his mind, so as to be capable of making such a testamentary disposition of his property, as his own judgment approved. On the contrary, his predominant thought was dread of death, his sole concern was for his recovery. A person in this situation would not be apt voluntarily to contemplate the subject of his dissolution, still less to regard it as so near and impending as to require him to [673] plan what would become of his property after the dreaded event occurred.

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Newman v. Smith, 77 Fla. 667 (Fla. 1919).

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