Watson v. Dingler

831 S.W.2d 834, 1992 WL 68642
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 9, 1992
DocketC14-91-00048-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 831 S.W.2d 834 (Watson v. Dingler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Watson v. Dingler, 831 S.W.2d 834, 1992 WL 68642 (Tex. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

OPINION

ROBERTSON, Justice.

This is an appeal from a judgment refusing to admit an October 1989 Will into probate on the grounds that it was an unjust disposition of property and the product of undue influence. Appellant brings five points of error challenging the evidence supporting the judgment and the trial court’s decision in refusing to admit into evidence a Will executed on September 12, 1979. In a cross-appeal, Donna Dingier (appellee) alleges that the trial court erred in failing to render a judgment denying the application of Susan Lewis Dingier to probate the August 1989 Will of the decedent. We affirm.

Charles Junior Dingier (decedent) had four children. Richard, Russell and Donna Dingier are from his common law marriage with Ruth Pauline Dingier who is deceased. Charlene Dingier Watson (appellant) is decedent’s child by Jane Elizabeth Butler Dingier, a previous wife. During his lifetime, decedent was a very active individual and an astute businessman who owned and managed a car lot. On January 13, 1989, *836 decedent collapsed and was admitted to St. Joseph’s Hospital, where he was later diagnosed as having cancer of the brain, leaving him approximately a year to live. Due to his condition, decedent required constant care which was mainly provided by Susan Lewis Dingier (hereinafter Susan) until October 18, 1989, except for a brief period when Lila Fowler (decedent’s sister) provided care for about a month. Susan and decedent had been married for about 1½ years before they divorced in 1985; however, she testified that she lived with decedent about 85 to 90 percent of the time in the last ten years. Susan also worked for the decedent at his used car lot. In a attempt to cure the brain tumor, decedent received chemotherapy and radiation treatment at M.D. Anderson Hospital. Either Susan or Lila provided transportation for such treatment except for one time when appellant took him.

On August 28, 1989, Decedent, Susan, and Lila went to the law offices of J.W. Robinson to have a Will prepared. In this particular Will, he left Susan his house, a Porsche, a Jaguar, and a bank account. Appellant was given the car lot and a bank account. Donna, Richard and Russell Dingier were each left $10. As time passed, the decedent’s condition became worse, causing him to be very forgetful and easily confused. When the doctors stopped his treatment and informed him that there was nothing else they could do for his brain tumor, the decedent became very depressed. In the last 2 months of his life, the right side of decedent’s body became more paralyzed, and his means of communication was restricted to nodding of the head and eye movements. In addition, the decedent became moody and was upset easily. In fact, during the month of October the decedent showed evidence of paranoid behavior when he was convinced that a policeman who was returning a confiscated weapon taken from Susan’s son, was there to take him away. In another incident, he accused Tony Watson (Charlene’s husband) of trying to give him an unnecessary shot. Part of decedent’s condition was caused by the numerous medications he was taking at the time.

On October 18, 1989, Susan and the decedent got into an argument which led to Susan moving out. On the same day, Charlene moved in to allegedly take care of the decedent. The very next day, Charlene took her father to J.W. Robinson’s office to change his Will, which was later executed on October 20, 1989. In the new Will, the decedent left everything to appellant except for a $10 bequest to Richard, Russell, and Donna Dingier. On October 27, 1989, decedent had medical difficulties again and was taken by ambulance to a hospital. The doctor informed appellant and Lila that the decedent had maybe three or four days to live. After spending the night at the hospital, appellant went back to decedent’s house and started searching for his bank records and papers to the house. She also searched the attic because decedent usually hid money there. After collecting the papers, the appellant returned to the hospital with Lila around noon. After staying with the decedent most of the day, Lila left to go home, leaving decedent solely with appellant and her husband. Thereafter, appellant secured the decedent’s signature on a document giving her check-writing powers on his checking accounts, which contained about $261,000. The notary that came to the hospital to witness the signing of the document stated that the decedent could not really speak, but communicated by nodding his head and blinking his eyes. After obtaining the signature, appellant and her husband, around 9 p.m., left the decedent alone at the hospital. Lila returned around 10 p.m. to spend the night with the decedent. He was then asleep or in a coma and never regained consciousness before passing away the next morning.

Five days later, the appellant filed an application to probate decedent’s Will. Subsequently, Susan, Richard, Russell and Donna Dingier sought to set aside the purported Will, alleging lack of testamentary capacity and undue influence. In addition, on May 10, 1990, First Interstate Bank of Texas, filed a “Contest to Appointment of Charlene Elizabeth Dingier Watson as Independent Executrix.” In its contest, the *837 bank asserted that Ms. Watson engaged in a scheme to defraud and mislead First Interstate and another local bank and had wrongfully misappropriated or converted funds belonging to the estate. The bank further stated that Ms. Watson (appellant) “is not a person of great financial responsibility and therefore should not be put in charge of substantial assets of the estate.” In support of these allegations, First Interstate attached excerpts from a deposition taken of appellant wherein she admitted removing in excess of $100,000 in cash from the bank accounts shortly after the decedent’s death and claimed to have lost approximately $110,000 gambling in Las Vegas in December of 1989. The trial court concluded that the Will dated October 20, 1989, was executed as a result of the undue influence of appellant, and therefore void and not entitled to probate as the Last Will and Testament of Charles Junior Dingier.

In four points of error, appellant alleges that there is no evidence or in the alternative insufficient evidence to support the trial court’s finding that the Last Will and Testament dated October 20, 1989, executed by Charles Junior Dingier, made an unjust disposition of property or was the result of undue influence at the time of the execution of the instrument.

The trial court’s findings of fact are reviewable for legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence by the same standards which are applied in reviewing the legal or factual sufficiency of the evidence supporting a jury’s answer to a jury question. Gill Savs. Ass’n v. Chair King, Inc., 783 S.W.2d 674 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1989), modified, 797 S.W.2d 31 (Tex.1990). In a no evidence point of error, only the evidence and inferences that support the challenged finding will be considered, and all contrary evidence and inferences will be disregarded. Id.

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Bluebook (online)
831 S.W.2d 834, 1992 WL 68642, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/watson-v-dingler-texapp-1992.