Burgess v. Sylvester
| Decision Date | 24 May 1944 |
| Docket Number | No. A-91.,A-91. |
| Citation | 182 S.W.2d 358 |
| Parties | BURGESS et al. v. SYLVESTER et ux. |
| Court | Texas Supreme Court |
Lizzie Burgess in this action contests the probate of the will of her father, T. Bunker, deceased, upon two grounds, (1) mental incapacity and (2) undue influence alleged to have been exercised upon the testator by Frank Sylvester and wife, two of the beneficiaries named in the will. In a jury trial in the district court upon special issues findings were made that the testator had testamentary capacity at the time he executed the will, but that he executed same under the undue influence of the Sylvesters. Upon the verdict petitioners, Lizzie Burgess and husband, filed a motion that judgment be entered denying the admission of the instrument to probate as a will, and respondents, the Sylvesters, filed a motion under Rule 301 that the court disregard the finding on the issue of undue influence and enter judgment admitting the will to probate. This latter motion, after notice and hearing, was granted and judgment was entered admitting the will to probate. The Court of Civil Appeals affirmed the trial court's judgment. 177 S. W.2d 271.
The application for writ of error was granted for the purpose of reviewing the ruling of the trial court, affirmed by the Court of Civil Appeals, that the finding of undue influence had no support in the evidence. After subjecting the record to a more careful examination since the case was submitted than we were able to do in passing upon the application, we have concluded that no error was committed by the trial court in that ruling, and that consequently no error was committed by the Court of Civil Appeals in upholding same. The opinion of the Court of Civil Appeals makes a fair statement of the evidence on this question. Since that opinion has been published, no reason is perceived why we should again summarize this evidence. The applicable rules of law are well established, and it would profit nothing for us to restate the facts. These facts simply, in our opinion, do not in any manner connect the Sylvesters with the making of this will or warrant the inference that same was made under the spell of their influence. A solemn will executed under the formalities required by law by one mentally capable of executing it should not be set aside upon a bare suspicion of wrongdoing on the part of a beneficiary. We sustain the holding of the Court of Civil Appeals upon this point.
Another question brought here for decision relates to the alleged improper remarks by the trial judge in connection with his ruling on objections to argument of counsel for petitioners. One of the elements embodied in the court's definition of testamentary capacity, as contained in the charge, was that the testator must have had sufficient mental ability to understand the nature and extent of his...
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