Wilkin v. O'Brien

176 P. 853, 53 Utah 1, 1918 Utah LEXIS 1
CourtUtah Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 2, 1918
DocketNo. 3224
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 176 P. 853 (Wilkin v. O'Brien) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Utah Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wilkin v. O'Brien, 176 P. 853, 53 Utah 1, 1918 Utah LEXIS 1 (Utah 1918).

Opinion

THURMAN, J.

This is an action by plaintiff against the defendant, as executor, to recover the sum of $2,236.60, including interest, for services alleged to have .been rendered, and for medicines and supplies alleged to have been furnished, to defendant’s intestate, Esther Byrne, deceased, during her lifetime, to-wit, from and including the 1st day of January, 1913, to and including the 2d day of April, 1916.

Defendant; answering, denies any knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the alleged services rendered, or board or medicine furnished; and further alleges that the plaintiff is the granddaughter of Esther Byrne, deceased, and made her home with said deceased until plaintiff’s marriage with James Wilkin; that deceased, prior to plaintiff’s said marriage, clothed, eared for, and educated her and otherwise treated her as her own daughter; that plaintiff [3]*3after her said marriage continued (with her husband) to live with deceased up to the time of the death of the deceased, in April, 1916; that deceased was the owner of the home in which she resided, and was at all times possessed of sufficient means to provide the necessaries for the home, and was in -no wise dependent on plaintiff or her husband for support; that, if plaintiff did render any services to deceased, the same were done voluntarily, and without promise of reward or compensation, and were in consideration of blood relationship, and the fact that said parties were residing under the same roof. Defendant further alleges that if any services were rendered deceased by plaintiff, or board or medicine furnished, the plaintiff was compensated therefor by deceased in deeding to plaintiff 'the home of deceased and by advancing to plaintiff certain sums of money.

By way of counterclaim, defendant alleges, in substance, that plaintiff and her husband, for more' than three years, resided with the deceased, occupied and enjoyed her home as a place of residence, and that the reasonable rental value of said home and furniture therein was the sum of $2,500; that during said time deceased furnished plaintiff and her husband goods, groceries, and supplies of the reasonable value of $1,500, no part of which has been paid.

Defendant prayed judgment against plaintiff for the sum of $5,000 and interest thereon and costs.

The case was tried to the court without a jury. The court dismissed defendant’s counterclaim, and found for the plaintiff in the sum of $390. Judgment was entered accordingly.

Defendant appeals, and assigns as error the order of the court overruling the motion for nonsuit, inconsistencies in the findings of fact, and that the same are contradictory and unintelligible, insufficiency of the evidence to sustain the findings, and that the findings and judgment of - the court are against law.

We have not undertaken to state the errors relied on by appellant, as stated by him in the assignments of error, but, the foregoing, in substance, covers and includes all that are deemed material.

[4]*4Tbe testimony given by plaintiff tends to show that the deceased, Esther Byrne, was the grandmother of the plaintiff, and that the plaintiff resided with the deceased all her life; that plaintiff married in October, 1913, and that she and her husband, at deceased’s request, thereafter lived with the deceased ; that plaintiff built an extra room to the house, painted and shingled it, and made other repairs; that she bought furniture and put it in the house; that she took care of the deceased as she would a little child; that she washed her face combed her hair, dressed her,, prepared her for her meals, and took her meals to her bed for breakfast every morning; that deceased was feeble and childish; that plaintiff washed deceased’s clothing, the same being in such a condition that no one else'would do it; that deceased’s bowels were sloughing off all the time from old age; that the services performed before deceased became bedridden were worth a dollar a day; that plaintiff furnished board and medicino and bought toddies for deceased; that from the time deceased returned from Salt Lake City until she died she was just like a sick person; that this condition went on for two years, but the last six months it was worse; that during that period the services were worth $30 a week; that plaintiff did all the washing, kept the house clean, furnished the lights and coal, and paid all the expenses.

On cross-examination plaintiff, speaking of the services rendered by her, testified that while deceased was sick she always told plaintiff she would make it right. Plaintiff stated that deceased deeded her the home and gave all the rest something; that she did not think deceased considered she was deeding plaintiff the home as consideration for services; did not think deceased considered it in that way.

There was other testimony for plaintiff tending to. corroborate the above as to the character and extent of the services rendered; that the same were disagreeable on account of the nature of the disease with which deceased was afflicted; she was unable to control her bowels; frequent cleansing of her body, clothing, and bedclothing was necessary, rendering the service not only arduous, but disagreeable and offensive. .There was also testimony to the effect that deceased gave, or [5]*5attempted to give, the plaintiff a promissory note of the face value of $3,000, but that-the gift, lacking some legal formality, did not become effective; that deceased stated on one occasion that she “would have been dead years before if it had not been for Mary (meaning the plaintiff); that Mary had been a good girl to her, and all that she (deceased) wanted was a decent burial' and a stone to mark her resting place; the rest she expected to leave to Mary.”

The testimony above detailed, as to services rendered, supplies furnished, and the value thereof, was contradicted to a greater or less extent by witnesses for defendant.

At the close of the testimony introduced by plaintiff defendant moved for a- nonsuit, assigning as grounds therefor:

“ (1) That no promise on the part of the deceased to pay, either expressly or impliedly, was ever made by deceased to plaintiff, for the services rendered or alleged to have been rendered; (2) that the evidence of the plaintiff shows that the services were gratuitous and were performed without expectation of remuneration; (3) that the presumption that the services were gratuitous, on account of being performed by a grandchild, and in this case where the parties had always lived as parent and child, was not overcome by any proof on the part of the plaintiff that said services were performed at the request of the decedent and that said decedent promised to pay the plaintiff therefor.”

The motion for nonsuit was denied.

1 Under the evidence before the court and the rulings of this court, to which we will hereafter refer, we are of the opinion the trial court was justified in the conclusion it reached. The evidence of the plaintiff herself, corroborated by other testimony, shows that the services rendered were unusual, arduous, and disagreeable. Her testimony further shows that the deceased, after she became sick and during her sickness, promised plaintiff to make it right. When plaintiff married she requested her to come and live with her.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
176 P. 853, 53 Utah 1, 1918 Utah LEXIS 1, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wilkin-v-obrien-utah-1918.