Wilson Estate

19 Pa. D. & C.2d 510
Pennsylvania Orphans' Court, Luzerne County·Decided September 22, 1959·No. No. 2; no. 1177 of 1956·Published

Opinion

Selecky, P. J.,

The single 'matter before the court in this proceeding is the claim of Dr. Donald B. Lewis for medical services rendered decedent during her lifetime, after a hearing in accordance with our previous decree of March 25, 1959.

The basic problems involved in' this matter are the frequently recurring questions of the disqualification of a witness under the so-called dead man’s rule, as laid down in the “Dead Man’s” Act of May 23, 1887, P. L. 158, see. 5, 28 PS §322, and the effect of. the Uni[511]*511form Business Records as Evidence Act of May 4, 1939, P. L. 42, 28 PS §91 (a), et seq., and the so-called “shop-book rule” thereon.

It is clear that the statute of May 23, 1887, above cited, disqualified claimant, Dr. Donald B. Lewis, from testifying not merely as to any transaction with Stella A. Wilson before her death, which occurred on September 28, 1956, but even to any fact which occurred after her death, which would preclude even his identification of his handwriting in his office records. Swieczkowski v. Sypniewski, 294 Pa. 323, 328 (1928), states it thus: “That an interested party is generally incompetent for all purposes [as to facts prior to the death of the decedent] ... is accepted without discussion [citing cases].”

In the instant case, there was no question in the mind of the court or of counsel that Dr. Donald B. Lewis was disqualified from testifying as to facts occurring during the lifetime of decedent, to whom he rendered medical services. It would appear that all the parties, including claimant and the executor in the estate, Robert J. Doran, himself an attorney, were in agreement that certain medical services were performed, but the dispute lay as to whether or not the services had been paid in full by decedent, prior to her death and by the executor’s check for $758 delivered to claimant on November 8, 1956, after the death of decedent on September 29,1956.

When claimant, Dr. Donald B. Lewis, took the stand to identify certain entries in a series of books which he called his business records, no objection to this identification nor to his explanation of the method he used to prepare his book entries was presented to the court by the executor nor his counsel. Evidently, the executor, himself a lawyer, and his counsel felt that they could prove, by the use of the doctor’s own records, that the doctor had submitted certain bills and receipts [512]*512during the lifetime of decedent and after her death which would tend to prove that he was paid in full, and that an examination of the books would reveal that any further claim could not be sustained. In their anxiety to cross-examine the doctor about these bills, receipts and books, as to whether the bill was actually paid in full, apparently the executor and his counsel unwittingly opened the door to claimant to testify, and by their extensive cross-examination of claimant and his books, and about all phases of his treatment of decedent, they waived their right to object to the witness’s disqualification from being able to identify and qualify his own records. After a careful examination of the doctor’s books did not reveal that the doctor’s total bill for his services was paid in full, then, at the second day of the hearing, the executor’s counsel objected to the use of the books for the first time, apparently finding that the books were not to his expectation or liking.

It is clear that the executor and his counsel could not use the doctor’s own records to disprove his claim, and then failing in that, move to strike this testimony from the record. This rule is clearly stated in Dean v. Warnock, 98 Pa. 565 (1881), at page 569, thus:

“. . . But the objection to his competency came too late. He was permitted to testify fully in chief to the facts which he was called to prove. It was not until he was partially cross-examined, that any objection was raised. The defendants must have known in the outset the ground of objection which they interposed after they heard what the witness had to say. They cannot thus be permitted to take the chance of obtaining testimony favorable to themselves, and then, upon discovering that it is against them, ask to have it excluded. The testimony in itself was both competent and relevant. If there was a valid objection to the competency of the witness by whom it was delivered, it [513]*513should have been interposed at the proper time. Not having been done then, it should be considered as having been waived.”

Of course, this case was decided prior to the above cited Act of 1887, but the principle stated therein applies with full force to the Act of 1887, as indicated in O’Bold’s Estate, 221 Pa. 145, 147 (1908) ; Heller v. Fabel, 290 Pa. 43, 50 (1927) ; Mack’s Estate, 278 Pa. 426, 431 (1924).

At the second day of the hearing, the executor’s counsel moved to strike the doctor’s testimony from the record, citing Stoneroad Estate, 19 D. & C. 2d 493 (1959), wherein the court indicated that under the Uniform Business Records as Evidence Act of 1939, the requirement is that the person who qualifies the records must himself be a qualified witness, because section 2, 28 PS §91(6), of the act reads:

“A record of an act, condition or event shall, in so far as relevant, be competent evidence if the custodian or other qualified witness testifies to its identity and the mode of its preparation, and if it was made in the regular course of business at or near the time of the act, condition or event, and if, in the opinion of the court, the sources of information, method and time of preparation were such as to justify its admission.”

There was no question that the physician’s records were proper records under the Uniform Business Records as Evidence Act, because all of his books were proper records of all of his services not only to this decedent but to all of his patients, which entries were made in the regular course of his business at or near the time of the act, condition or event, and the sources or information and the methods of preparation were such as to justify its admission. Their objection was to the fact that the physician, himself a disqualified witness, was allowed to qualify these records and identify his handwriting. The executor, in his anxiety [514]*514to prove from the physician’s own records that his several bills were incorrect and that he had actually been paid in full, made full use of these records for his own case, without objecting to the physician’s testimony as to how he prepared this record, thereby resulting in a waiver of any right to object later, after the executor found that he could not disprove the physician’s bill, so that his late motion to strike out all the evidence cannot be sustained at this time. Once the records are in evidence, if they prove harmful to the executor, it is too late for him to move to strike them from the record.

The Stoneroad Estate decision above clearly indicates that the “shop-book” rule, which allowed, as an exception to the hearsay rule, records of a merchant or other person for goods delivered to be introduced into evidence after the death of decedent, was never extended to include records of a physician’s or other professional services, because of the difficult problem of evaluating professional services. The Uniform Business Records as Evidence Act, cited above, does definitely include physician’s records, but these must be properly qualified by a properly qualified custodian or qualified witness.

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Wilson Estate, 19 Pa. D. & C.2d 510 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1959).

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