Baldwin's Will, In re

• Decision Date: 04 December 1951
• Citation: 260 Wis. 195,50 N.W.2d 463
• Parties: In re BALDWIN'S WILL. MARINE NATIONAL EXCHANGE BANK OF MILWAUKEE et al. v. OUTAGAMIE COUNTY.
• Court: Wisconsin Supreme Court

Page 463

50 N.W.2d 463

260 Wis. 195

In re BALDWIN'S WILL.

MARINE NATIONAL EXCHANGE BANK OF MILWAUKEE et al. v. OUTAGAMIE COUNTY.

Supreme Court of Wisconsin.

Dec. 4, 1951.

Motion for Clarification of Mandate Granted Feb. 5, 1952.

See 51 N.W.2d 361.

Suzanne Petit Baldwin died February 21, 1950. A petition for the admission of her will to probate was made by her son, who stated therein that the deceased was a resident of the city of Milwaukee. The will was admitted to probate on March 2, 1950, by the county court of Milwaukee county and letters testamentary were issued to the Marine National Exchange Bank of Milwaukee. On June 14, 1950, a verified petition was filed by the executor of the estate asking for a determination as to her residence at the time of her death. Judgment was entered on February 23, 1951, adjudging that on the date of her death Suzanne Petit Baldwin was a resident of the city and county of Milwaukee, state of Wisconsin. Outagamie County appealed from that judgment.

The facts were stipulated as follows:

'1. Prior to her marriage to George B. Baldwin in 1928, Suzanne Petit Baldwin had been a resident of Milwaukee county for many years. After their marriage and until 1933 they maintained a home in Milwaukee owned by Mrs. Baldwin where Mrs. Baldwin resided during this period.

'2. From 1933 to 1939, Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin lived at Mr. Baldwin's home in Appleton, Outagamie county, Wisconsin, where Mr. Baldwin maintained an office and had most of his business connections. During that period, Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin kept no home in Milwaukee, although they spent long periods in Milwaukee at hotels and apartment hotels. Mrs. Baldwin stored her household goods in Milwaukee and retained all of her business, club, social and church activities in Milwaukee. Mrs. Baldwin formed no such business or club, and few social connections in Appleton.

'3. In 1940, Mrs. Baldwin decided that she would again open a house in Milwaukee. Mr. Baldwin agreed. A house was rented in Milwaukee in 1940 and furnished with Mrs. Baldwin's furniture. Subsequently, different houses were rented, and then in 1946 Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin purchased in their joint names a home at 3014 North Shepard Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which house Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin were occupying at the time of her death in 1950. After 1940, Mrs. Baldwin visited Appleton only upon rare occasions and then only on daytime trips, except for the period in 1949 when Mr. Baldwin was sick and Mrs. Baldwin made several overnight trips to Appleton for the purpose of visiting him. During all this time Mr. Baldwin retained his house with a housekeeper, his business, his office and legal residence at Appleton. Normally, he spent week-days at Appleton and the weekends in Milwaukee.

'4. During the period from 1940 until Mrs. Baldwin's death, the following facts are noted:

'(a) Mrs. Baldwin's son and daughter of a prior marriage lived in Milwaukee.

'(b) Mrs. Baldwin's friends, and her social and club life was centered in Milwaukee, and she expressed to her friends on various occasions that it was her intention never to live in Appleton.

'(c) Mrs. Baldwin's extensive financial matters were handled exclusively at Milwaukee. Her agency agreement, her safe deposit box, and her checking account, all with the Marine National Exchange Bank in Milwaukee, carried her address as Milwaukee.

'(d) Mrs. Baldwin's legal work was done exclusively in Milwaukee, including the preparation of her will.

'(e) Considerable property was owned by Mrs. Baldwin, including investments and real estate. The stock and bonds were all kept in Milwaukee and were handled through Milwaukee brokers, whereas Mr. Baldwin handled his investment entirely at Appleton. The real estate owned by Mrs. Baldwin in Milwaukee was a large apartment building. Mrs. Baldwin owned no real estate and had no business interest at Appleton, but she did own certain personal property which she kept at her husband's home in Appleton.

'(f) In 1940, Mrs. Baldwin applied to the Wisconsin Motor Vehicle Division for a license and title for her newly purchased automobile. Her application gave her then Milwaukee address.

'(g) Mr. Baldwin applied for his wartime ration books at Appleton and brought down food coupons as needed to their Milwaukee home. Mrs. Baldwin, however, obtained her ration books at Milwaukee.

'5. At the time of the death of Suzanne Petit Baldwin, the legal residence of George B. Baldwin, her husband, was in Outagamie county, Wisconsin.

'6. The will of Suzanne Petit Baldwin, which is hereby made a part of this stipulation, refers on page one to 'our house' at Appleton, and in the second codicil to her will to 'our residence' in Milwaukee.

'7. The death certificate of Suzanne Petit Baldwin lists Milwaukee as the county of usual residence and states George B. Baldwin to be the informant.

'8. Mrs. Baldwin voted at Appleton after 1933 acting under the belief that that was the only place she could legally vote inasmuch as Appleton was the legal residence of her husband. In the years immediately preceding her death, Mrs. Baldwin voted in Appleton on:

August 13, 1946

November 5, 1946

April 6, 1948

November 2, 1948 (by absentee ballot from Milwaukee)

April 5, 1949

'9. Mrs. Baldwin filed her Wisconsin Income...