Estate of Hoover, In re

• Decision Date: 17 June 1993
• Docket Number: No. 73519,73519
• Citation: 615 N.E.2d 736,185 Ill.Dec. 866,155 Ill.2d 402
• Parties: , 185 Ill.Dec. 866 In re ESTATE OF H. Earl HOOVER (Robert C. Hoover et al., Appellees, v. Miriam U. Hoover et al., Appellants).
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

Page 736

615 N.E.2d 736

155 Ill.2d 402, 185 Ill.Dec. 866

In re ESTATE OF H. Earl HOOVER (Robert C. Hoover et al.,

Appellees, v. Miriam U. Hoover et al., Appellants).

No. 73519.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

June 17, 1993.

James J. Carroll, Sidley & Austin, Michael W. Coffield and John D. English, Coffield, Ungaretti & Harris, Chicago, for appellants.

Michael T. Hannafan & Associates, Chicago, for appellees Nancy Hoover, Elizabeth Hoover, Courtney Hoover.

David L. Poindexter and Robert A. Holstein, Holstein, Mack & Klein and Jerold S. Solovy, Laura A. Kaster, Norman M. Hirsh and Patricia A. Bronte, Jenner & Block, Chicago, for appellees Robert C. Hoover et al.

Seymour F. Simon, Stanley J. Adelman, Michael R. Goldman and Frederic A. Cohen, Rudnick & Wolfe, Chicago, for appellee Richard S. Schiffrin.

Hinshaw & Culbertson, Chicago, for appellees Robert A. Holstein, Holstein, Mack & Dupree.

Justice BILANDIC delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiffs, Robert C. Hoover and five of his seven children, brought this action in the circuit court of Cook County against the defendants, the executors and several beneficiaries of H. Earl Hoover's estate, to contest the validity of Mr. Hoover's will and several codicils. In their first amended complaint, plaintiffs alleged that Mr. Hoover's will and the last five codicils to the will were invalid because the testator lacked testamentary capacity and, alternatively, because these instruments were the products of undue influence. Defendants moved for summary judgment on both the testamentary capacity count and the undue influence count. Plaintiffs only contested the motion for summary judgment on the undue influence count. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants as to both counts of the complaint. Thereafter, plaintiffs filed a motion to vacate the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendants. Plaintiffs also moved for leave to file a second amended complaint instanter, which included a count alleging fraud in the inducement. The trial court denied plaintiffs' motions.

Defendants then filed a motion for sanctions against the plaintiffs and their attorneys pursuant to section 2-611 of the Code of Civil Procedure (Ill.Rev.Stat.1987, ch. 110, par. 2-611 (now preempted by Supreme Court Rule 137 (134 Ill.2d R. 137))). The trial court granted defendants' motion for sanctions, assessing $129,000 in sanctions against Robert C. Hoover, individually, and $805,000 in sanctions, jointly and severally, against Robert C. Hoover, Robert A. Holstein, and the law firm of Holstein, Mack & Dupree. The trial court refused to impose sanctions against any other individual attorneys of the law firm, finding that they had acted on the authority of Robert A. Holstein and on the law firm's behalf.

Plaintiffs appealed from the trial court's grant of summary judgment on the undue influence count and its denial of their motion to file an amended complaint instanter. Plaintiffs and their attorneys also challenged the trial court's imposition of sanctions. In a cross-appeal, defendants challenged the trial court's refusal to impose sanctions on any other individual attorneys.

The appellate court reversed the trial court's grant of defendants' motion for summary judgment on the undue influence count and remanded the cause for further proceedings, finding that the record contained numerous issues of material fact. (226 Ill.App.3d 422, 430, 168 Ill.Dec. 499, 589 N.E.2d 899.) In light of this reversal, the appellate court also reversed the order imposing sanctions and remanded the issue of sanctions for further consideration following the trial of the case in chief. (226 Ill.App.3d at 432, 168 Ill.Dec. 499, 589 N.E.2d 899.) In addition, the appellate court reversed the trial court's order denying plaintiffs leave to amend their complaint instanter. (226 Ill.App.3d at 432, 168 Ill.Dec. 499, 589 N.E.2d 899.) We granted defendants' petition for leave to appeal (134 Ill.2d R. 315).

On appeal, the issues before this court are whether: (1) the appellate court properly reversed the trial court's grant of summary judgment entered in favor of the defendants; (2) the appellate court properly allowed plaintiffs to amend their complaint on remand to include a count of fraud in the inducement; (3) the appellate court properly reversed the trial court's order imposing sanctions against Robert C. Hoover, Robert A. Holstein and the law firm of Holstein, Mack & Dupree; and (4) the trial court properly admitted an affidavit from plaintiffs' expert witness.

As stated, the plaintiffs instituted this action to contest the validity of H. Earl Hoover's will and the last five codicils to the will. Mr. Hoover died testate and his will and eight codicils were admitted to probate in November 1985. He executed his last will and testament in June 1974. The testator's son, Robert, and Robert's children were beneficiaries under the will and the first through third codicils. Under the fourth codicil, Mr. Hoover partially disinherited Robert and five of Robert's seven children. Under the fifth codicil, Mr. Hoover completed the disinheritance of Robert and Robert's five children. The sixth through eighth codicils to Mr. Hoover's will upheld this disinheritance.

As stated, plaintiffs filed a will contest in the circuit court of Cook County based on the theories of lack of testamentary capacity and undue influence. The undue influence count was based on allegations that Mr. Hoover's free will and agency had been overcome by a calculated series of lies, misrepresentations, and omissions concerning Robert's character. According to the allegations in plaintiffs' complaint, these lies and misrepresentations about Robert came from the testator's wife, Miriam, Robert's brother, Jack, Robert's daughters, Elizabeth and Courtney, and, primarily, Robert's ex-wife, Nancy. Specifically, the complaint alleged that the defendants, by way of a scheme of lies, omissions, and misrepresentations, convinced Mr. Hoover that Robert had mishandled his divorce from Nancy, that his actions had destroyed his family and his relationship with his daughters, Courtney and Elizabeth, that his divorce settlement with Nancy was unfair and had left her, Courtney, and Elizabeth virtually destitute, and that he had refused to provide funding for Courtney's and Elizabeth's educations. The complaint further alleged that these misrepresentations struck at the core of Mr. Hoover's ethical code of conduct and were designed to and did destroy the once warm and loving relationship that had existed between Mr. Hoover and his son and resulted in Robert's disinheritance.

I

Turning to the merits of defendants' appeal, we initially note that, although the use of summary judgment aids in the expeditious disposition of a lawsuit, it is a drastic means of disposing of litigation. (Purtill v. Hess (1986), 111 Ill.2d 229, 240, 95 Ill.Dec. 305, 489 N.E.2d 867.) Summary judgment is, therefore, proper only when the resolution of a case hinges on a question of law and the moving party's right to judgment is clear and free from doubt. (Purtill, 111 Ill.2d at 240, 95 Ill.Dec. 305, 489 N.E.2d 867.) In considering a motion for summary judgment, the court must consider the affidavits, depositions, admissions, exhibits, and pleadings on file and has a duty to construe the evidence strictly against the movant and liberally in favor of the nonmoving party. (Outboard Marine Corp. v. Liberty Mutual Insurance (1992), 154 Ill.2d 90, 131-32, 180 Ill.Dec. 691, 607 N.E.2d 1204.) If the court finds that the record contains any material issues of genuine fact, the motion for summary judgment must be denied. A triable issue of fact exists where there is a dispute as to material facts or where the material facts are undisputed but reasonable persons might draw different inferences from those facts. (See Pyne v. Witmer (1989), 129 Ill.2d 351, 358, 135 Ill.Dec. 557, 543 N.E.2d 1304.) As in all cases involving summary judgment, we review the evidence in the record de novo. Outboard Marine, 154 Ill.2d at 102, 180 Ill.Dec. 691, 607 N.E.2d 1204.

In the case at bar, the appellate court found that the record before it contained numerous issues of material fact with regard to the plaintiffs' undue influence count. As this court has previously stated, undue influence which will invalidate a will is " 'any improper * * * urgency of persuasion whereby the will of a person is over-powered and he is induced to do or forbear an act which he would not do or would do if left to act freely.' [Citation.]" (Franciscan Sisters Health Care Corp. v. Dean (1983), 95 Ill.2d 452, 460, 69 Ill.Dec. 960, 448 N.E.2d 872.) To constitute undue influence, the influence " 'must be of such a nature as to destroy the testator's freedom concerning the disposition of his estate and render his will that of another.' [Citation.]" Franciscan Sisters, 95 Ill.2d at 460, 69 Ill.Dec. 960, 448 N.E.2d 872; see also Swenson v. Wintercorn (1968), 92 Ill.App.2d 88, 105, 234 N.E.2d 91.

What constitutes undue influence cannot be defined by fixed words and will depend upon the circumstances of each case. (Smith v. Henline (1898), 174 Ill. 184, 201, 51 N.E. 227.) The exercise of undue influence may be inferred in cases where the power of another has been so exercised upon the mind of the testator as to have induced him to make a devise or confer a benefit contrary to his deliberate judgment and reason. ( Smith, 174 Ill. at 201, 51 N.E. 227.) Proof of undue influence may be wholly inferential and circumstantial. (Cheney v. Goldy (1907), 225 Ill. 394, 400, 80 N.E. 289.) The influence may be that of a beneficiary or that of a third person which will be imputed to the beneficiary. (Cheney v. Goldy (1907), 225 Ill. 394, 400, 80 N.E. 289; Smith, 174 Ill. at 201, 51 N.E. 227; see also Schmidt v. Schwear (1981), 98 Ill.App.3d 336, 342, 345, 53 Ill.Dec. 766, 424 N.E.2d 401; Swenson, 92 Ill.App.2d at...