Turner v. Gumbert

114 P. 33, 19 Idaho 339, 1911 Ida. LEXIS 34
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 18, 1911
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 114 P. 33 (Turner v. Gumbert) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Turner v. Gumbert, 114 P. 33, 19 Idaho 339, 1911 Ida. LEXIS 34 (Idaho 1911).

Opinion

BUDGE, District Judge.

This ease is here on appeal from a judgment and order of the district court of the third judicial district in and for the county of Ada, overruling a motion for a new trial, and from the judgment.

The action is brought for the purpose of canceling and setting aside a deed made by Lucinda Turner, delivered to the respondent on the 17th day of September, 1907. The said deed is sought to be set aside and declared void for the reason that the same was obtained by the respondent by undue influence.

It is admitted in the pleadings that the appellant and respondent are brother and sister and the only surviving heirs of Lucinda Turner, deceased. It is also admitted that the said Lucinda Turner was, in her lifetime, the owner of lots 5 and 6 in block 89 of the original townsite of Boise City. It also appears that on or about the 10th day of June, 1885, the respondent with her family resided in the state of California, and that on the 28th day of June, 1885, she moved from the state of California to Boise City, and into the home of the said Lucinda Turner, and there resided continuously until the 11th day of May, 1909, upon which date the said Lucinda Turner died. It is also admitted that the said Lucinda Turner was eighty-three years of age at the date of her death.

It will not be necessary for us to set out in detail all the allegations of the complaint or the denials and affirmative matter contained in the answer. We will content ourselves with stating the material issues.

The appellant seeks to have said deed canceled and declared void for the reason, as alleged by him, that the respondent secured the execution and delivery of the said deed by undue influence, and that the said undue influence consisted of threats, coercion, persuasion, entreaties and importunities which influenced and controlled the said Lucinda [344]*344Turner from the 28th day of June, 1885, until the date of the execution of the deed in question, during which time the respondent and her family lived with and in the home of said Lucinda Turner, and that while under the influence and control of the respondent, the said Lucinda Tirrner made and delivered the said deed.

The appellant alleges in his complaint that by reason of the age of the said Lucinda Turner, she was weak-minded, feeble in health, unable to see and hear except with great difficulty, could neither read nor write, nor understand writing when read to her, and by reason of her infirmities feared the respondent, and was therefore easily induced to execute the deed in question; that she was powerless to resist the influence and control of the respondent, and that she made and delivered the deed in question without exercising her free agency and against her will. Appellant also alleges in his complaint that the respondent exclusively managed and conducted the business affairs of the said Lucinda Turner, and further alleges that the said deed so made and delivered was not filed for record until more than eighteen months thereafter, but was by the respondent herein intentionally, knowingly and fraudulently concealed and secreted for the purpose of cheating and defrauding the appellant of his share of said property.

The respondent in her answer specifically denies that she and her family moved into the home of the said Lucinda Turner against the will or protest of the said Lucinda Turner or against her wishes; but, on the contrary, alleges that she moved into her mother’s home at her special instance and request, and remained there at her urgent solicitation, and specifically denies that she exercised or attempted to exercise undue influence or control over her mother by means of threats, coercion, persuasion, entreaties, importunities, or in any other manner, or at all, and respondent specifically denies that said Lucinda Turner was completely or at all under her influence and control, and that she was powerless to resist the respondent, or that respondent managed and controlled the business affairs of her mother. The respondent also denies [345]*345that the said Lucinda Turner was weak-minded, feeble in health or unable to see or hear except with great difficulty, or that by reason of her infirmities or mental condition she could have been or was easily influenced or influenced at all by the respondent with reference to her property. The respondent denies specifically that she exercised any influence or control over her mother in the making and delivering of said deed, or that she abused her or coerced her or induced her to make and deliver the same, and alleges that when said deed was delivered, her mother was capable and competent to transact her business and to comprehend and understand the consequences of all her acts, and that she well understood what she was doing when she executed and delivered said deed to the respondent and excluded the appellant from any share or interest in said property. The respondent alleges that her mother deeded said property to her because of respondent’s having had the exclusive care and treatment of her mother for a period of nearly twenty-four years, and because of the love and affection that she entertained for the respondent.

Eespondent denies that she fraudulently concealed or secreted the said deed, or fraudulently failed to file the same for record for more than eighteen months, or for any time whatever, and alleges the facts to be that on the 17th day of September, 1907, shortly after the delivery of said deed, her mother requested her not to place the same on record until after her death, and assigned as a reason therefor that appellant would'cause her serious unpleasantness.

The court, after hearing all of the evidence, entered its judgment in favor of the respondent and against the appellant, who prosecutes his appeal in this court.

The appellant in his brief assigns and specifies under numerous heads, first, the insufficiency of the evidence to justify the findings and judgment of the court below; and, second, that the court erred in deciding questions of evidence during the trial.

[346]*346We will not discuss separately the various subdivisions under the first or second assignments of error, but will discuss all of the assignments together.

The evidence, briefly stated, is that Lucinda Turner was the mother of the appellant and respondent; that they were her only living children and heirs at law; that the appellant is a man 63 years of age; that since he was 26 years of age, he has not lived with his mother, but has seen her during her lifetime sometimes once a month, sometimes two or three times a month, and at times five or six, and as much as nine months would elapse that he would not see her. The testimony of the appellant with reference to the physical condition of his mother is based solely upon the observations that he made during his occasional visits. Th© other witnesses testifying on behalf of the appellant based their testimony upon observations made by them either upon occasional visits to the home of Lucinda Turner, or upon meeting her at the home of her friends. The testimony of J. K. Turner, a son of the appellant, as to the condition of Lucinda Turner up to May, 1898 (about twelve years prior to the trial of this cause), would not be entitled to much weight. However, his testimony shows that the feeling existing between Lucinda Turner and the respondent herein was much different from that testified to by other witnesses on behalf of the appellant.

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Bluebook (online)
114 P. 33, 19 Idaho 339, 1911 Ida. LEXIS 34, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/turner-v-gumbert-idaho-1911.