Guthrie v. Fields

• Decision Date: 08 November 1927
• Docket Number: No. 19928.,19928.
• Parties: GUTHRIE et ux. v. FIELDS.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

299 S.W. 141

GUTHRIE et ux. v. FIELDS.

No. 19928.

St. Louis Court of Appeals, Missouri.

November 8, 1927.

Appeal from Circuit Court, Shelby County; V. L. Drain, Judge.

"Not to be officially published."

Action by Clarence Guthrie and wife against Emma Fields, administratrix of the estate of Robert H. Crump, deceased. From a judgment for plaintiffs, defendant appeals. Amended and affirmed, and cause remanded, with directions.

J. H. Whitecotton, of Paris, and Harry J. Libby, of Shelbina, for appellant.

Alex T. Stuart and Oliver W. Nolen, both of Paris, for respondents.

SUTTON, C.

This is an action for services instituted on December 10, 1924, by the filing of a demand, in the probate court of Monroe county. The trial, with a jury, in the probate court resulted in a verdict and judgment in favor of plaintiffs for $4,000. From this judgment the defendant appealed to the circuit court of Monroe county. On application of the defendant, the venue of the cause was changed from said court to the circuit court of Shelby county, where, upon a trial anew, with a jury, the plaintiffs again prevailed and obtained a verdict and judgment for $4,000. From this judgment the defendant has appealed to this court.

The decedent, Robert H. Crump, died intestate at his home in Paris, in Monroe county, on October 26, 1924. He was 89 years old at the time of his death. He was one of the early pioneers of Monroe county, and was a farmer by occupation. He was actively and personally engaged in the pursuit of agriculture, until about 20 years "before his death, when he removed to Paris, where he thereafter made his home, still continuing to go back and forth from his home to his farms, supervising and actively managing them.

He had all the rugged strength of body and mind of the early pioneers. Though in the last years of his life his bodily strength failed and he became extremely feeble, as the result of disease and old age, his mind appears to have retained its pristine vigor almost to the end. He was a successful business man. He is said to have owned three farms, his home in Paris, and a comfortable amount of personal property. He was, for a number of years, president of the old bank at Stoutsvile, near Paris. Later he relinquished the presidency, but was retained as one of the bank's board of directors until the time of his death. He was also a customer of, and depositor in, the Paris National Bank, doing his local business, so called, at that bank. His account there ran as much as $1,000, and he made his own deposits and signed his own checks. He was spoken of as a man of very fixed and positive ideas about his business, and as a careful business man. He was described as a learned man, frequently discussing philosophy with his Paris hanker, and, as is shown by the testimony of his banker, was a great admirer of the writings of Robert Burns. He liked to talk and visit with his neighbors, and continued to do this until the day before he was stricken with apoplexy, which resulted in his death.

He was twice married. His first wife died many years ago. By this wife he had two children, each of whom died single, and without issue, before he remarried. No children were born of his second marriage.

The plaintiff Belle Guthrie was a niece of decedent's second wife. She was taken into the decedent's home when she was a child, and reared in said home by decedent and his wife, and continued to live in said home until her marriage. She was never legally adopted by decedent. She married some 20 years before his death, and went with her husband to Portland, Or.

Some time in September, 1923, decedent's wife was very ill and not expected to live. Decedent sent a message to plaintiff Belle Guthrie asking her to come, and she in response thereto came. Shortly after her arrival decedent's wife died. At the time of Mrs. Crump's death plaintiffs lived in Portland, where plaintiff Clarence Guthrie was in the employ of Meier & Frank Company, a large mercantile house. He had been in the employ of this company for a number of years. He received a salary of $150 per month and certain bonuses, which bonuses increased according to the lengtn of time he remained in said employment. The bonuses were sufficient to make his salary $2,000 or more per year. On the death of Mrs. Crump, Mrs. Guthrie stayed in decedent's home for a week or more, and her husband and her daughter, Alta, who was in college, were still in Portland, waiting for the return of Mrs. Guthrie home. Thereupon a conversation was had between plaintiff Belle Guthrie and the decedent, in his home, which, according to the testimony taken in the light most favorable to plaintiffs, was as follows: Mrs. Guthrie was telling the decedent that she must return home. Decedent said that he wanted Clarence to come back and help her to take care of him, and stated that he would see that they were well paid. She mentioned to decedent the position that Clarence held and the amount of salary that he was receiving, and the expense of breaking up their home and moving to Paris. The decedent said that it did not make any difference about the salary Clarence was receiving, that he would see that they were both well paid, and that he would also see that the salary and expenses were all made up to them, and for her to write to Clarence and have him to come. Mrs. Guthrie then wrote her husband concerning this conversation, and he at once resigned his position and moved to decedent's home in Paris. Plaintiffs from that time took care of decedent and labored for him until his death. They rendered all necessary services required, consisting of nursing, laboring for, and taking general care of decedent. Decedent acknowledged said services and expressed himself entirely satisfied with same. He on a number of occasions expressed his full approval of the services rendered and stated that he expected to pay plaintiffs well for said services. The evidence showed that the reasonable value of said services was $5 per day.

During the period covered by the plaintiffs' services, the decedent was in bad health and very feeble. He was not bedfast, but spent much of his time lying on a couch. He was afflicted with paralysis agitans and rheumatism, and had a bad heart. He also had trouble with his kidneys and bladder, and at times was unable to control the flow of his urine. He was also unable to control the action of his bowels; involuntary actions would occur when he was walking around. The plaintiffs personally attended to him on these occasions. In addition to nursing and taking care of decedent, Mrs. Guthrie did the housework, and Clarence did much work about the home and on the decedent's farms. He also usually attended decedent when he would go to his farm, which was about a mile from Paris. Decedent liked to ride horseback, and persisted in doing this, though he had to be helped on and off his horse. When he rode horseback, Clarence would usually attend him, sometimes riding behind him.

The demand filed in the probate court is as follows:

                The Estate of Robert H. Crump, Deceased, to
                   Clarence Guthrie and Belle Guthrie, Dr
                

                  1924.                                   Dollars  Cents
                To services rendered deceased during
                his lifetime at his special instance
                and request, for a period beginning
                September 5, 1923, and ending October
                27, 1924, at $150 per month, said services
                consisting of nursing, cooking
                labor, and general care................... $2,050  00
                To reimbursement of salary of Clarence
                Guthrie, occasioned by leaving
                employ of Meier & Frank Company
                at Portland, Or., from October 1
                1923, to October 27, 1924, $1,935, end
                expenses incidental to moving family
                from Portland, Or., to Paris, Mo.,
                $500, as per all of the above express
                agreement of ___ day of ___, 1923           2,435  00
                

To this demand is attached the affidavit of both the plaintiffs, in which they say:

"That to the best of their knowledge and belief they have given credit to the estate of Robert H. Crump, deceased, for all payments or offsets to which it is entitled, and that the balance claimed is justly due."

In the circuit court, before the trial was begun, the defendant filed a demurrer to the plaintiffs' demand, stating therein as ground for the demurrer that the demand improperly joins two causes of action, the one in favor of Clarence Guthrie only, and the other in favor of Clarence Guthrie and Belle Guthrie jointly. The demurrer was overruled, and the defendant assigns this ruling as error here. Clearly the assignment is not well taken. The strict legal rules of pleading are not applicable to...