Caulder v. Knox, 18810

• Decision Date: 10 July 1968
• Docket Number: No. 18810,18810
• Court: South Carolina Supreme Court
• Parties: Raymond W. CAULDER, Administrator of the Estate of Anna Boyd W. Caulder, Respondent, v. Edna M. KNOX, Individually and as Administratrix of the Estate of L. L. Knox, Novelena K. Driggers and Margie K. Marsh, a Minor Over the Age of Fourteen (14)years, Appellants.

Page 262

162 S.E.2d 262

251 S.C. 337

Raymond W. CAULDER, Administrator of the Estate of Anna Boyd W. Caulder, Respondent, v. Edna M. KNOX, Individually and as Administratrix of the Estate of L. L. Knox, Novelena K. Driggers and Margie K. Marsh, a Minor Over the Age of Fourteen (14)years, Appellants.

No. 18810.

Supreme Court of South Carolina.

July 10, 1968.

James E. O'Shields, Hemingway, LaNue Floyd, Kingstree, McEachin & McEachin, Florence, C. K. Truluck, Olanta, for appellants.

Nettles, Thomy & Floyd, Lake City, for respondent.

LITTLEJOHN, Justice.

This action in equity was brought by Mrs. Anna Boyd W. Caulder for specific performance of an alleged oral contract to make a will devising to her 28 acres of land located in Florence County.

After the trial of the case Mrs. Caulder died and her husband Raymond W. Caulder, as administrator, was substituted as party plaintiff. The defendants are the widow and two nieces of L. L. Knox, who died intestate leaving these three as his heirs.

The circuit judge, confirming the report of the master in equity, held that the contract had been established and ordered the heirs of L. L. Knox to convey the property to the heirs at law of Mrs. Anna Boyd W. Caulder.

The order of the lower court is before us on fifteen exceptions, raising, however, only three basic questions taken from appellants' brief as follows:

1. Did the evidence of the existence of a contract to make a will meet the necessary degree of proof required to establish such a contract?

2. If the alleged contract existed, is respondent entitled to specific performance thereof?

3. Was there error in giving weight to testimony of respondent (Mrs. Caulder) that she was never paid for any of her services to the intestate (L. L. Knox) or his mother?

The first question which this court must determine is: did L. L. Knox in 1947 enter into a binding agreement to convey by will the 28 acre tract of land involved to his foster sister, Mrs. Anna Boyd W. Caulder?

We review the evidence in the light of the rule of this court that: 'The ordinary rule of preponderance or greater weight of the evidence, applicable to civil actions generally, is insufficient in this class of cases; some Courts require proof beyond a reasonable doubt, as on the criminal side; universally a higher degree of conviction of truth is necessary than in the usual civil case.' Young v. Levy, 206 S.C. 1, 32 S.E.2d 889.

Mrs. Anna Boyd W. Caulder was reared from infancy by her mother's brother, Walter Welsh and his wife, Anna Welsh. Anna Welsh had two sons, Otis Knox and L. L. Knox, by a previous marriage. The two Knox boys and Mrs. Caulder lived in the Welsh home as brothers and sister until she was married at the age of twenty in 1930. Mrs. Caulder said that she was grown before she learned that the Welshs were not her own parents.

By 1947 Walter Welsh had died and his widow, Anna Welsh, was the sole owner of the 28 acre tract of land involved. She and her son, L. L. Knox, were living together in a house on the same tract. Mrs. Anna Welsh was suffering from arthritis and was in poor health. L. L. Knox was working in Florence at the air base and was away during the day. The land was being sharecropped by a tenant.

At that time Mrs. Anna Boyd W. Caulder, her husband, and children were sharecropping a farm on the Ben Truluck place located about two miles away. Mrs. Welsh's other son, Otis Knox, was living in Georgetown.

The trial court ruled out the testimony of Mrs. Caulder under the dead man statute. We proceed to consider the other evidence, applying the rule stated above.

The testimony of Raymond Caulder, is that during the year 1947, while he and his wife were at the Welsh home, a conversation took place between L. L. Knox and Mrs. Caulder. His testimony is susceptible of both the inference that they (the Caulders) had already moved into the home of Mrs. Welsh, and susceptible of the inference that they still lived on the Truluck farm. From the whole of the showing, however, we conclude that they were already residing at the Welsh house.

The following is taken from the record and indicates the conversation upon which plaintiff relies to establish the contract: (Raymond Caulder is testifying)

'Q. Sometime about two years before her death, did you have occasion to be present in the dining room of the home in which Mr. Leon and Mrs. Anna were living, on Sunday, at which a conversation took place between your wife, Mrs. Anna Boyd W. Caulder, and Mr. L. L. Knox?

'A. I was.

'Q. Will you tell us what, if anything, took place in that conversation?

'A. He started talking about his mother being so sick.

'Q. Who was he talking to?

'A. Boyd, my wife.

'Q. All right, go on.

'A. He said, 'We see that Mama can't live too much longer. I know I will have to pay Otis off when she dies, and if you will come and look after Mama while I am away in the daytime at work, when I am through with the place, I will have it fixed where you will reap the benefit of it, and if you are not living then, I will have it fixed where your children will reap the benefit.' And he said, 'I might need your help myself.'

'Q. As a result of that statement having been made to her, what, if anything, did Mrs. Anna Boyd say?

'A. She told him she would come when he wanted her.'

He further testified that he and Mrs. Caulder, along with four of their children, remained in the home and cared for Mrs. Welsh until her death on March 15, 1949, A portion of their household furnishings were moved to the Welsh house, but their home was not closed, and he continued to work the Truluck farm.

It is his testimony that during this period of some two years L. L. Knox worked in Florence at the air base, but continued to maintain his same home, commuting to work daily. Knox paid for medical bills, but he (Caulder) paid for the groceries. Mrs. Caulder did all of the housework and cared for Mrs. Welsh, who was bedridden. The Caulders received no pay for their assistance.

About three weeks after the death of Mrs. Welsh they moved back to the Truluck farm. L. L. Knox and Otis Knox inherited the land here involved and eight months later L. L. procured by deed the interest of Otis such that he became the sole owner on October 7, 1949.

Apparently after his mother's death Mr. Knox lived by himself for several years. About 1955 he was assaulted and seriously injured, being paralyzed from the waist down for some time. The Caulders moved back to his home again and stayed about nine months to help him.

In February 1957 L. L. Knox married Edna M. Knox. He died in 1963 without having made a will, and leaving as his heirs at law his widow and two nieces, all of whom are defendants in this case.

The plaintiff relief on the conversation cited above, together with all of the surrounding circumstances to establish the contract to devise.

In addition, plaintiff would for corroboration rely on the testimony of witness Dallas L. Pigate, who operated the store at which the Caulders traded. Pigate said that he saw Mr. Knox almost daily, and testified as follows relative to a conversation he had with Mr. Knox: 'The question came up one night (concerning disposition of his property) and we talked about it, and he said that Boyd had been good to him and to his mother and that his plans were that he was going to give her the place.'

Mrs. Cecile Lee, a witness for the plaintiff, testified that she had a conversation with Mr. Knox in the presence of her husband at a time she believed to be after the death of Mrs. Welsh, and quotes him as saying, in answer to a question as to why he didn't sell the property, 'I don't have much and Boyd and her children need it.'

Her husband, Kelly Lee, confirmed the conversation and testified that Knox said he thought Boyd was entitled to the property. He testified that on a later occasion Knox said he was remodeling the house and that 'Boyd and her children is going to get the farm.' This latter conversation took place after the death of Mrs. Welsh.

The defendants' evidence consisted solely of Mrs. Edna Knox's testimony and the introduction of her marriage certificate and the deed from Otis Knox to L. L. Knox dated October 7, 1949. It would appear that the two nieces were extremely young, if born at all, at the time of the alleged contract in 1947. Their age is not in the record but one appears by a guardian ad litem. They obviously would know nothing of what took place at the Welsh house.

Mrs. Knox testified that after marrying L. L. Knox in 1957 she lived with him on the premises as man and wife...