Flaherty v. Feldner, 870292

• Decision Date: 25 February 1988
• Docket Number: No. 870292,870292
• Citation: 419 N.W.2d 908
• Parties: John H. FLAHERTY, Jr., Petitioner and Appellant, v. Norine FELDNER, Personal Representative of the Estate of John J. Flaherty, Deceased, Respondent and Appellee. In the Matter of the ESTATE OF John J. FLAHERTY, Deceased. Civ.
• Court: North Dakota Supreme Court

Page 908

419 N.W.2d 908

John H. FLAHERTY, Jr., Petitioner and Appellant, v. Norine FELDNER, Personal Representative of the Estate of John J. Flaherty, Deceased, Respondent and Appellee In the Matter of the ESTATE OF John J. FLAHERTY, Deceased.

Civ. No. 870292.

Supreme Court of North Dakota.

Feb. 25, 1988.

Eaton, Van de Streek & Ward, Minot, for petitioner and appellant, argued by Michael Ward, Minot.

McGee, Hankla, Backes & Wheeler, Ltd., Minot, for respondent and appellee, argued by Robert A. Wheeler, Minot.

ERICKSTAD, Chief Justice.

John H. Flaherty, Jr., (John, Jr.) appeals from a Ward County judgment dismissing his petition to set aside informal probate of the will of John J. Flaherty (testator). We reverse and remand.

Elizabeth "Bessie" Rock Matthews married the testator on March 21, 1938, and on April 12, 1938, gave birth to John, Jr. The testator subsequently filed suit for an annulment of the marriage in June of 1939. The testator's complaint alleged that his consent to marry Elizabeth Matthews was procured by fraud, namely, that Elizabeth Matthews fraudulently represented the testator was the father of John, Jr. The testator's annulment was granted in May of 1941. The 1941 judgment granting the annulment declared that the testator was not the father of John, Jr.

During his life the testator executed four wills, all of which denied that he had children. All four wills specifically acknowledged the existence of John, Jr., but stated that John, Jr., was to "receive nothing" from the testator's estate. The testator died on March 17, 1986, at the age of eighty.

In his petition protesting informal probate of the testator's will, John, Jr., asserts that he is the son of the testator and that the testator was laboring under an insane delusion or undue influence and thus lacked the requisite testamentary capacity to execute a will. ¹

The dispositive issue of this appeal is whether or not the doctrine of res judicata prohibits John, Jr., from litigating his claim that the testator is his natural father. John, Jr., was not a party to the action for annulment. The probate court, however, dismissed John, Jr.'s, petition because the 1941 judgment "established that [John, Jr.] was not the son of the [testator]." Thus, the probate court apparently ruled that the doctrine of res judicata prohibits John, Jr., from asserting that the testator is his father. Because we disagree with this analysis by the probate court, we reverse and remand this case to the trial court.

The testator's personal representative and sister, Norine Feldner, concedes the 1941 marriage annulment between Elizabeth Matthews and the testator does not preclude John, Jr., from litigating the question of whether or not the testator is John, Jr.'s, father. Feldner contends, however, that the undisputed facts of this case clearly show that the testator possessed testamentary capacity and thus the trial court properly granted summary judgment, albeit for the wrong reason.

It is undisputed that John, Jr., was born during the 1938 marriage of Elizabeth Matthews and the testator. Thus, John, Jr., is presumed to be legitimate under section 14-17-04(1)(a), N.D.C.C., ² and is exempt from the statute of limitations for establishing paternity under section 14-17-06, N.D.C.C. ³ See Matter of Estate of Sorensen, 411 N.W.2d 362, 365 (N.D.1987) (section 14-17-06, statute of limitations under Uniform Parentage Act, does not apply to child with statutorily presumed father).

John, Jr., is not barred from proving the testator was his father by the statute of limitations or the doctrine of res judicata. Although we have consistently recognized that "issues litigated in a previous action between the same parties are conclusively settled by that judgment," Larimore East View Development, Inc. v. City of Larimore, 275 N.W.2d 309, 314 (N.D.1979), it is clear in the instant suit that John, Jr., was not a party to the 1941 annulment proceeding and that his interests were not represented therein. As we said in Sturdevant v. SAE Warehouse, Inc., 270 N.W.2d 794, 798 (N.D.1978), it is a general rule that the doctrine of res judicata "binds only parties to the action in which the judgment was rendered and their privies and does not affect strangers to the judgment who are neither parties nor in privity with a party to the action." Sturdevant citing Armstrong v. Miller, 200 N.W.2d 282, 284 (N.D.1972). We explained in Heasley v. Glinz, 142 N.W.2d 606, 607 (N.D.1966), that when final judgment is rendered upon the merits, without fraud or collusion, by a court of competent jurisdiction, such judgment is conclusive of rights, questions, and facts in issue, as to parties and their privies, in all other actions in the same or any other judicial tribunal of concurrent jurisdiction. John, Jr., was not a party nor in privity with a party in the 1941 judgment. Accordingly, the doctrine of res judicata is inapplicable.

We note that other jurisdictions have reached the same conclusion on similar facts. For example, in Matter of Estate of Kinsella, 120 Mich.App. 199, 327 N.W.2d 437 (1983), the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that an annulment judgment, which was apparently based on a mother's admission that the decedent was not the father of her children, was not res judicata and could not prevent the children from having an opportunity to prove that the decedent was their father. The children in Kinsella sought to prove the decedent was their father for purposes of intestate succession. See also McNeece v. McNeece, 39 Colo. 160, 562 P.2d 767, 769 (1977) (issue of paternity raised in divorce proceeding between husband and wife is res judicata in later proceeding between spouses, but child who was not a party to the divorce action could not be bound by paternity determination in divorce action); Ruddock v. Ohls, 91 Cal.App.3d 271, 154 Cal.Rptr. 87 (1979), (determination of non-paternity in a marital dissolution action is not res judicata as to the independent rights of a minor child without formal joinder of the child). ⁴ In accord with these decisions we hold that the doctrine of res judicata does not estop John, Jr., from asserting that the testator is his father, notwithstanding the 1941 judgment which declared that the testator was not the father of John, Jr.

Appellee Norine Feldner concedes that John, Jr., should not be estopped from raising the issue of paternity but contends that summary judgment was nevertheless proper because there are no facts to support the assertion that testator's testamentary capacity was destroyed by an insane delusion or undue influence. The probate court's order for summary judgment did not discuss whether or not there are facts to support or discredit John, Jr.'s, contention.

We pointed out in Kingdon v. Sybrant, 158 N.W.2d 863 (N.D.1968), and Matter of Estate of Koch, 259 N.W.2d 655, 660 (N.D.1977), that "[w]hether a testator is laboring under an insane delusion which materially affects the will is generally a question of fact...." As we believe that questions of fact should usually be first resolved at the trial level, we reverse and remand this appeal...