Will of Eaton

202 N.W. 309, 186 Wis. 124, 1925 Wisc. LEXIS 229
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 10, 1925
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 202 N.W. 309 (Will of Eaton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Will of Eaton, 202 N.W. 309, 186 Wis. 124, 1925 Wisc. LEXIS 229 (Wis. 1925).

Opinion

Doerfler, J.

Counsel for the appellant first challenges the finding of the court that the deceased at the time of his death was a resident of California. For about thirteen years before his death the deceased lived with his wife in Venice, California. He established a home there and engaged in business. It therefore must be conceded that until the month of July, 1923, he had a fixed residence in California, and such state became his place of domicile. While a resident of California during the period aforesaid he made periodical trips to Monroe, where he visited his relatives and renewed his old acquaintanceships. ITis visit, therefore, during the summer of 1923 at Monroe, in and of itself had no particular significance with respect to any change of residence. Appellant’s counsel, however, strenuously contends that there are many facts and circumstances which appear in the evidence which establish quite conclusively the abandonment of his residence in.California and the establishment of a new residence in Monroe. Among such facts and circumstances relied upon are the following:

That before leaving California he transferred to his wife the homestead; that he took with him a large sum of money, aggregating about $9,000, and deposited the same in the Citizens Bank of Monroe in the name of his brother George, with the understanding that such sum should be held in trust for him; that when he left California early in July, 1923, he had had some difficulties, with his wife, and that he departed on unfriendly terms, and from the date of such departure until the time of his death in March, 1924, he did not return to Venice or to his wife, and his wife did not again see him alive; that in October, 1923, while his health was failing, he traveled to San Diego, California, with a [129]*129nurse whom he met in Chicago, and who attended him, and at her request proceeded to Mechanicsville, New York, where he remained at her home and under her care until March, 1924, when he died; that all of the living relatives of the deceased reside in the vicinity of Monroe, and that all of the beneficiaries under his will, excepting his wife, reside at Monroe, and that all of his property, real and personal, of which he was the owner at the time of his decease is located at Monroe; that it appears from the evidence of his wife that she was unable to locate any property belonging to the deceased in the state of California; that both before and after the execution of his will he made statements to a number of his friends and acquaintances at Monroe that he was through with Venice, California; that he had settled with his wife; and that he had returned to Monroe to make his future home, although he might spend his winters in a warmer climate, on account of the rigorous climate of Wisconsin during the winter months. It must be conceded that the showing so made strongly evidenced not only an intention to abandon his residence in California, but to establish a residence at Monroe, Wisconsin.

The respondent, on the other hand, made a showing by documentary evidence which is quite convincing, that the deceased at the time of his death still retained his residence in California. The will, which is dated September 6, 1923, and which was executed at Monroe,' recites that the testator’s residence is in Venice, in the county of Los Angeles, in the state of California. In one of the paragraphs of his will he bequeaths to his wife the sum of one dollar, and recites that there is no community property, and that he had previously bestowed upon her a proper and just amount of his estate. Before leaving Venice he executed a deed in blank of certain property of which he was the owner at Monroe, Wisconsin, and procured the signature of his wife to such deed upon the pretext that he intended to use the proceeds [130]*130of the sale in investment in California property. This deed, however, he contemplated to' deliver to his nephew, Jay Harvey Eaton, a son of his brother George Eaton, but the deed not being properly witnessed as required by the laws of Wisconsin was deemed ineffectual by him and for that reason was not made use of. On August 13, 1923, while the deceased was at Monroe, Wisconsin, it appearing that the deed aboye referred to was ineffectual, he executed a new deed of property at Monroe, Wisconsin, to his nephew, Jay Harvey Eaton. This deed, among other things, contained the following:

“This conveyance is intended as and for and does constitute an absolute conveyance of all my right, title, and interest in and to said above described property; that said described property is not a homestead, nor has it been occupied by said grantor and his wife as a homestead, and for that reason my wife does not join in this conveyance, not being, required to do so under the laws of the state of Wisconsin applying to land in this state. Said grantor and wife being nonresidents

The acknowledgment is in the following form:

“Be it remembered that on the 13th day of August, 1923, personally came before me this day the above named J. H. Eaton, of Venice, California, to me known to be the person who executed the said deed, and acknowledged the execution thereof to be his free act and deed for the uses and purposes therein mentioned. . . . ”

The notary, one Corson, before whom the last named deed was executed, testified that at the time of its execution he was not familiar with the rule that a nonresident wife need not sign a deed as to real estate owned by the husband in Wisconsin. The deceased was a lawyer, admitted to practice both in Wisconsin and California. It becomes quite evident, therefore, that the recital as to the Monroe property not being a homestead, and the recital in the deed that the grantor and his wife were nonresidents, originated with the deceased.

[131]*131In testifying as a witness, Corson, the notary, made the statement that during the summer of 1923 the deceased told him that he was through with California and was going to make Monroe his home. On cross-examination, in order to explain the recitals contained in the deed whérein the deceased’s residence was stated to be in California and that both he and his wife were nonresidents, he testified that he took such statements from a former deed. The only other deed besides the one dated August 13, 1923, referred to in the evidence, is the one which was not properly witnessed, and an examination of this deed revealed the fact that it contained no recital whatever of the residence of the deceased or his wife, nor does it contain a recital that they are nonresidents.

This, in substance, constitutes the evidence adduced on the hearing, and from such evidence the court found that the deceased at the time of his death was a resident of the state of California.

That the deceased left no property in California at the time he came to Wisconsin in July, 1923, is supported by-the evidence of his wife, who testified that she was unable to locate property in such state. This does not conclusively establish that there was no property in California, but merely establishes the fact that the witness was unable to locate property there. The evidence does not affirmatively show that the $9,000 deposited in the Citizens Bank of Monroe was taken by the deceased with him at the time he left Venice in July, 1923, but it must be conceded, under all the facts and circumstances of the case, that a strong inference arises that such sum was at that time taken with him when he went to Monroe.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
202 N.W. 309, 186 Wis. 124, 1925 Wisc. LEXIS 229, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/will-of-eaton-wis-1925.