White v. Estate of White

718 S.W.2d 185, 1986 Mo. App. LEXIS 4834
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 15, 1986
DocketNo. 14627
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 718 S.W.2d 185 (White v. Estate of White) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
White v. Estate of White, 718 S.W.2d 185, 1986 Mo. App. LEXIS 4834 (Mo. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

PREWITT, Presiding Judge.

The decedent’s widow, Pauline White, filed applications for support, for exempt property and for a homestead allowance, and notice of an election to take against decedent’s will. Based on an antenuptial agreement, the estate opposed the applications and the election.1 The trial court found that the agreement was invalid and entered an order in favor of Mrs. White. The estate appeals.

When the evidentiary hearing on the widow’s application and notice of election commenced the trial judge sought the advice of the attorneys “as to order of procedure.” Mrs. White’s attorney stated that he felt [186]*186the burden of proof was upon “the party propounding the antenuptial agreement.” The trial judge asked if the estate’s attorney agreed with that and the attorney replied that he did.2

Following the estate’s evidence, the widow’s attorney moved for a directed verdict. As this was a nonjury matter, the trial judge apparently treated it as a motion to dismiss under Rule 67.02, and sustained it. Thereafter on December 5, 1985, “Judgment, Findings of Fact and Conclusion of Law” was filed.

The statute relevant here is § 474.220, RSMo 1978. It states:

Waiver of right to elect. — The right of election of a surviving spouse herein-before given may be waived before or after marriage by a written contract, agreement or waiver signed by the party waiving the right of election, after full disclosure of the nature and extent of the right, if the thing or the promise given to the waiving party is a fair consideration under all the circumstances. This written contract, agreement or waiver may be filed in the same manner as herein-before provided for the filing of an election.

This section governs not only waiver of the right to elect under § 474.160, RSMo 1978, but also waiver of the other rights of a surviving spouse claimed here. Roberts v. Estate of Roberts, 664 S.W.2d 634, 637 (Mo.App.1984). Sections 474.120 and 474.-220, RSMo 1978, embody similar principles developed by case law and decisions under either are helpful in construing the other. Estate of Hosmer v. Hosmer, 611 S.W.2d 32, 35 (Mo.App.1980). Section 474.120 is set out below.3 Generally, on the validity of agreements respecting these sections, see J. Blase, Validity of Antenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements in Missouri, 41 J. Mo. Bar 367 (1985); Comment, Antenuptial Contracts Determining Property Rights Upon Death or Divorce, 47 UMKC L. Rev. 31 (1978) (authored by Gayle S. Evans).

Estate of Youngblood v. Youngblood, 457 S.W.2d 750 (Mo. banc 1970), appears to be the leading case construing § 474.220. It states that this section first conditions the validity of a waiver of the right to elect to take against a will upon “full disclosure of the nature and extent of the right”. This requires (1) “disclosure” or knowledge of the legal right of such nonelection, and 2) “disclosure” or knowledge of the property interests of the prospective spouses. 457 S.W.2d at 754. The latter is apparently required to make the knowledge of the right of election meaningful when considering whether to waive that right. See 457 S.W.2d at 756.

The trial court determined that there was no evidence that full disclosure had been made to the widow concerning the nature and extent of the rights waived under the antenuptial agreement; that there was no evidence of disclosure between the parties of the value, nature and extent of their property interests nor evidence of knowledge equivalent to such disclosure; and there was no evidence that the widow entered into the agreement “understanding^ and with knowledge of what she stood to lose or gain.”

Following the widow’s motion for directed verdict, the trial court could have treated the case as if it was to be ruled on the merits as it then stood, and weighed the evidence, resolved conflicts, and on that basis ruled the motion. See Cowan v. Cowan, 637 S.W.2d 200, 201 (Mo.App.1982). However, the trial court did not do that. It determined that there was no evidence of [187]*187the knowledge or disclosure required to establish the validity of the antenuptial agreement. Therefore, our determination is to decide if the estate made a prima facie showing on these requirements. Compare Green v. Stanfill, 612 S.W.2d 435, 436 (Mo.App.1981).

In Estate of Murphy, 661 S.W.2d 657 (Mo.App.1983), this district held a post-nuptial agreement invalid because there was no evidence that the widow “knew or was advised of her rights of election.” 661 S.W.2d at 661. In Murphy, there were no recitals in the agreement relating to her disclosure or knowledge of the legal right of an election to take against the will.

In Estate of Thrasher, 651 S.W.2d 562, 563 (Mo.App.1983), a widow argued that the burden was on the estate to prove that before the antenuptial agreement she had been given a full disclosure of the nature and extent of the assets of the decedent. The agreement generally recited disclosure of the parties’ assets and the court found that this constituted “prima facie” evidence that the disclosure had occurred.

Murphy dealt with knowledge or advice of the rights of an election and Thrasher with disclosure of assets. Murphy distinguished Thrasher because there was no recital in Murphy of disclosure as was present in Thrasher. In Thrasher, the only question of disclosure was of property and recitals made a prima facie showing of that.

Here, the agreement recites that “both parties are possessed of considerable property, real, personal and mixed, and both parties have been advised as to their respective rights therein in the event of their marriage to each other and in the absence of any agreement between them”. Thus, the agreement recites that both parties have been advised as to their rights in the other’s property, but it does not recite that they know or have been advised of each other’s property.

Following the reasoning in Thrasher, we believe that the recitals in the agreement before us prima facie established that the widow was advised as to the usual legal rights of a surviving spouse, which would include the rights she now seeks to exercise. We are left with the question of whether she received adequate information or was charged with sufficient knowledge of his assets.

Estate of Tegeler, 688 S.W.2d 794, 799 (Mo.App.1985), accurately states that § 474.220 expressly requires “full disclosure of the nature and extent of the right” of election, but it does not expressly require full disclosure of the nature and extent of the property of the spouse.

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808 S.W.2d 919 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1991)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
718 S.W.2d 185, 1986 Mo. App. LEXIS 4834, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/white-v-estate-of-white-moctapp-1986.