Padula v. Machado, 77-393-A

• Decision Date: 16 July 1980
• Docket Number: No. 77-393-A,77-393-A
• Citation: 416 A.2d 1184
• Parties: Dorothy PADULA et al. v. Laura MACHADO, Executrix. ppeal.
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

Page 1184

416 A.2d 1184

Dorothy PADULA et al. v. Laura MACHADO, Executrix.

No. 77-393-Appeal.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

July 16, 1980.

Robert L. Kiernan, Kirshenbaum & Kirshenbaum, Providence, for plaintiffs.

Thomas Santamaria, Providence, for defendant.

OPINION

DORIS, Justice.

This is an appeal by the appellant Laura Machado from a judgment of the Superior Court holding that a will and a deed for property, both executed by Rose Correia on September 4, 1974, were procured through undue influence.

The facts in this case are extremely complex because Mrs. Correia executed four purported wills and the witnesses at trial provided varying versions of the motivations and circumstances surrounding each execution. We will try to unravel the evolution of these four wills as directly and concisely as possible.

Rose and Joseph Correia married and had four children Mary Brodeur, William Correia, Laura Machado, and Dorothy Padula. One of these children, Laura Machado, lived with her parents and because of her mother's limited ability to speak and read English, handled most of her mother's telephone calls and correspondence.

In 1971, Rose and Joseph Correia executed their first set of wills which had been drafted by Attorney Robert Afflick. These were reciprocal wills under which Dorothy Padula was named executrix and sole legatee of her parents' estate.

Upon learning of these wills, Laura Machado questioned her parents about why she had been excluded as a beneficiary. According to Mrs. Machado's testimony, her father was "upset" that she had been left out and told her to take the wills to Attorneys Kirshenbaum and Kirshenbaum to be amended to include her as a legatee. She followed these instructions, and a second set of wills was drafted and executed by Rose and Joseph Correia. These were also reciprocal wills, but this time Attorneys Kirshenbaum and Kirshenbaum were named executors and the parents' estate passed to all four of the Correia children equally and per stirpes to their issue.

Following the execution of these wills, Mr. and Mrs. Padula testified that Mrs. Machado convinced Mrs. Correia that executors not in the family could diminish an estate by the assessment of exorbitant fees and charges. Thus, a third set of wills was drafted this time by Attorney Cameron Quinn. These reciprocal wills, leaving their estate to their four children equally, were executed by Rose and Joseph Correia on June 27, 1973. The wills contained no per stirpes provision and Mrs. Machado (then Mrs. Pimental) was named executrix.

On December 29, 1973, Mr. Correia died, and his will was probated with his estate passing to Mrs. Correia.

On February 2, 1974, Mrs. Machado entered into a third marriage, this time to Donald Machado, a New Bedford, Masachusetts resident, eleven years her junior.

In the early part of 1974, a family meeting was held to discuss Mrs. Correia's third will. At this meeting Dorothy Padula's husband explained the terms of this third will and emphasized that Mrs. Correia's estate would pass only to Mrs. Correia's children and neither to her grandchildren nor to her children's husbands. Mrs. Padula testified that when Mr. and Mrs. Machado heard this, they became very upset and that Mr. Machado immediately contacted his attorney, Roy Santos in New Bedford, Massachusetts, to corroborate that he was not a beneficiary under this will. Mr. Padula indicated that when Attorney Santos confirmed Mr. Machado's failure to take under the will, Mr. Machado reassured his wife that he would have his "good friend," Roy Santos, draft a new will under which Mr. Machado would be a legatee.

Following this family meeting, Mrs. Correia and her family went to visit Attorney Cameron Quinn allegedly with the purpose of seeing whether, now that her husband was deceased, her will needed to be amended. Attorney Quinn testified that it was a "volatile" meeting and that Mrs. Machado urged that spouses of Mrs. Correia's children be made legatees. Attorney Quinn testified that the meeting concluded with Mrs. Correia stating that she was satisfied with the disposition of her property as specified in the will drawn by Attorney Quinn.

In contrast to Attorney Quinn's testimony, Mrs. Machado indicated that her mother was not satisfied with her will as drafted by Attorney Quinn. Mrs. Machado stressed that her mother was concerned that she was still being referred to as Mrs. Pimental, her previous married name, in the will drafted by Attorney Quinn. Mrs. Machado indicated that, therefore, she made an appointment for her mother with her husband's attorney, Roy Santos, in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Mrs. Machado explained that she did not make the appointment with Attorney Quinn because she believed her mother should have the opportunity to meet with an attorney, such as Roy Santos, who spoke Portuguese, her mother's language.

As a result of Mrs. Correia's meeting with Attorney Santos a great deal more of the will than Mrs. Machado's name was changed. Indeed, a fourth will was drafted which left Mrs. Correia's estate to Mrs. Machado and in the event that Mrs. Machado did not survive her mother, then to Mrs. Machado's husband. Mrs. Correia executed this will on September 4, 1974. At the same time she executed a deed for her house on 81 Providence Street in West Warwick to Mrs. Machado.

Mrs. Padula testified that, upon learning of the execution of this latest will and the deed, she confronted her mother as to why she and the other children had been excluded as beneficiaries. Mrs. Padula emphasized that her mother responded that she wanted all of her children to take equally under the will and ordered Mrs. Machado to correct the...