Taylor v. Taylor

93 N.E. 9, 174 Ind. 670, 1910 Ind. LEXIS 159
Indiana Supreme Court·Decided November 29, 1910·No. No. 21,399·Published·Cited by 26 cases

Opinion

Myers, C. J.

Appellant filed his complaint July 3, 1907, making appellees Samuel K. Taylor, who is his brother, and the executor, defendants, to set aside and revoke the probate of the will of his mother, on the grounds of her uh-soundness of mind, and undue influence exerted over her in the execution of her will.

The sole error presented is upon overruling the motion for a new trial.

[673] 1. [674]*6742. [672] The testatrix was stricken with apoplexy July 12, 1899, at the age of sixty-three years, and died in January, 1907. The will was dated July 3, 1900. The stroke of apoplexy affected her speech, but she improved so that she could talk. It affected her locomotion and the use of her entire left side, so that she could not walk thereafter, but was moved about in a wheel-chair. When first paralyzed her mouth and one eye were drawn, but these conditions became almost normal before the will was made. The use of her left arm and left leg was never restored. She had a second stroke of apoplexy in July, 1906. She was the wife of a fanner, and owned 121 acres of land, upon which she and her husband resided. She became a widow in 1905. She managed her domestic and household affairs, through directions to others, from a period shortly after the first stroke until her death. By her will she bequeathed all her personal property to her husband, devised forty-one acres of land to him for life, with remainder to her son Samuel K. Taylor, and also devised to said Samuel forty acres additional, and to appellant forty acres. Her husband had been for many years an invalid. She informed the justice of the peace, who drew her will, as to the disposition of her real property. [673] which was irregular in outline. After reviving from the stroke, she directed her servants in reference to the household affairs, the purchase of clothing, the garden, the fowls and the marketing, and inquired about, and took part in the arrangements for, the farming operations. At times she cried without any expressed reason for it, though at one time she seemed to be affected by the possible results her affliction might have upon her husband and their property affairs. She read newspapers, inquired about the neighbors and their families, and laughed and talked some with her closest friends, but was not able to talk freely. Samuel E. Taylor and his wife waited on her continuously for about nine months. The physicians testified as to the tendency of apoplexy to impair the mental faculties, and as to its tendency to be progressive. The evidence is conflicting as to soundness and unsoundness of mind at the time the will was executed. With no claims of undue influence, the jury found for appellees. Upon a complaint filed January 6, 1906, the testatrix was declared of unsound mind and incapable of managing her estate. Upon the trial, the contestant offered in evidence the petition, answer of the clerk, and the judgment of the court. This evidence was excluded, and error is here predicated on that action. There was no evidence given or offered that the testatrix was of unsound mind or enfeebled prior to the stroke of apoplexy. The evidence offered was of a status found to exist five and one-half years afterward. It cannot be doubted that much latitude in point of time, both before and after the transaction under inquiry, is allowable in determining the question of soundness or unsoundness of mind. The reason for the rule is apparent. The consistency or inconsistency of acts or declarations, differences in conduct towards family, relatives and friends, and differences in habits- of life at different times, if' they exist, are relevant to, and sometimes highly indicative of conditions of mind, [674] and therefore competent for the purpose of determining that question. In some states the statute authorizes the inquiry de lunático to be extended to a time anterior to the inquiry itself, but our statute does not authorize an inquiry to be made of prior conditions, or of a status formerly fixed; though we recognize the prima facie status fixed by an adjudication of insanity, we hold that even though a will is executed after an adjudication of unsoundness, mental capacity may be shown. Harrison v. Bishop (1892), 131 Ind. 161, 31 Am. St. 422.

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Taylor v. Taylor, 93 N.E. 9, 174 Ind. 670, 1910 Ind. LEXIS 159 (Ind. 1910).

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