Withers v. Sproul

393 S.W.2d 659, 1965 Tex. App. LEXIS 2952
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided July 21, 1965·No. No. 5723·Published

Opinion

CLAYTON, Justice.

This is a will contest. The testator, Robert C. Withers, died on or about June 15, 1961. One H. E. Sproul, no relative but a friend of the testator, filed for probate in the County Court of Jeff Davis County a will of the deceased dated August 14,1959, in which Sproul was named Independent Executor, which will was contested by Casey I. Withers, a son of the deceased and his sole heir at law, alleging mental incapacity of the deceased and undue influence exerted upon the deceased by Sproul. This will was admitted to probate, and an appeal taken by contestant to the district court of said county. In a trial before a jury, the parties stipulated that there was no issue raised by the evidence as to the proper execution of the will or the testamentary capacity of Robert C. Withers at the time the will was executed. In answer to special issues, the jury answered “We do not” to Special Issue No. One, inquiring whether the jury found that the decedent had revoked the will of August 14, 1959 by the execution of another will with the intention of revoking the August 14, 1959 will; and answered “We do not” to Special Issue No. Two, inquiring whether the jury found that the August 14, 1959 will was procured by undue influence on the part of the proponent Sproul. To a judgment on this verdict, admitting the [660] will of August 14, 1959 to probate and appointing proponent Sproul as Independent Executor, contestant Withers appeals.

Appellant presents five points of error: No. 1, that the finding and answer of the jury to Special Issue No. 1 is contrary to the great weight and preponderance of the evidence and the manifest weight of the testimony; No. 2, that therefore the trial court erred in admitting to probate the will of August 14, 1959; No. 3, that in admitting said will to probate the trial court erred as a matter of law since the evidence introduced by contestant raised a sharp issue as to the revocation of said will and the proponent failed to obtain an affirmative finding by the jury as required hy law that the will had not been revoked; No. 4, that the admission of the will to probate was error as a matter of law since the requirements of part (3) of subdivision (b), section 88 of the Texas Probate Code had not been given compliance because the proponent of the will had not met his burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence and failed to obtain a jury finding thereon that said will had not been revoked; and No. 5, that the jury’s response, to Special Issue No. 2 is contrary to the great weight and preponderance of the evidence and the manifest weight of the testimony. Appel-lee raises the objection to appellant’s Points 3 and 4 that they were not assigned as error in appellant’s Amended Motion for New Trial and they therefore cannot be considered on appeal. We do not pass on the merits of this objection for the reason that we consider the objected-to points are properly disposed of in our discussion of Points 1 and 2, dealing with the matter of revocation.

§ 88, Texas Probate Code, subsection (b), part (3) provides: “(b) Additional Proof for Probate of Will. To obtain probate of a will, the applicant must also prove to the satisfaction of the court: * * * (3) That such will was not revoked by the testator.” The Texas Supreme Court discusses this statutory provision in the 1964 case of Ashley v. Usher, 384 S.W.2d 696, in the following language: “Thus, the burden of establishing that a will has not been revoked is placed by this statute on the proponent of the will sought to he probated.” (Citing numerous cases). “The rule enumerated in the above cases is that where' testator’s will produced in court comes from the custody of those to whom it has been delivered by the testator, or is found among testator’s papers in a place he usually keeps his valuable papers, and there is no suspicion cast upon the genuineness of the will, there exists a presumption that the will has not been revoked. Under such circumstances, a proponent has satisfied the statutory requirement to prove no revocation.” See also Covington v. McDonald, 307 S.W.2d 335 (Tex.Civ.App., 1957; n. w. h.). The above is precisely the situation presented here. When the August 14, 1959 will was drawn, an original and two signed copies were executed. The original was kept by the testator, one signed copy went to the attorney who drew it up, and a second signed copy went to Sproul, the main beneficiary and proponent here. One of these signed copies was filed for probate and later replaced by the original will, which was found by the proponent in a box on the bed or a desk in decedent’s bedroom. This original will was introduced in evidence and was in an unmarked and unmutilated condition. One of the attesting witnesses testified by deposition that the will was executed under all the necessary formalities to make it a valid will (and this was stipulated by the parties to this cause), and had not been revoked in so far as the witnesses knew. This was held to be sufficient to satisfy the burden of proving that the will had not been revoked, in the Covington v. McDonald case cited above. That case also quoted section 63, Texas Probate Code, as to the manner in which wills in writing may be revoked:

“ ‘No will in writing, and no clause thereof or devise therein, shall be revoked, except by a subsequent will, codicil, or declaration in writing, executed with like formalities, or by the [661] testator destroying or canceling the same, or causing it to he done in his presence. Acts 1955, 54th Leg., p. 88, ch. 55.’”

and cites Baptist Foundation of Texas v. Buchanan, 291 S.W.2d 464, 472 (Tex.Civ.App., 1956; ref., n. r. e.) as authority for the statement that:

“ ‘The burden is upon the party who asserts revocation “to show by a preponderance of the testimony the execution, attended by due formality and legal requirements, of a subsequent instrument, which either expressly or impliedly revoked the former will.” 44 Texjur., Wills, Sec. 101, p. 645.’ ”

No will, codicil or declaration in writing subsequent to the August 14, 1959 will was produced in the instant case, but it is of interest to note that a previous will, dated April 29, 1946, was canceled by the decedent writing across the face of the instrument, and signing, the following declaration: “I have this the 17. day of Sept., 1958, cancelled this, the above Will, and am making another Will for all Purposes. (Signed) Robert C. Withers.”

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Withers v. Sproul, 393 S.W.2d 659, 1965 Tex. App. LEXIS 2952 (Tex. Ct. App. 1965).

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