Hatcher v. Sawyer

• Citation: 52 N.W.2d 490,243 Iowa 858
• Decision Date: 01 April 1952
• Docket Number: No. 47981,47981
• Parties: HATCHER et al. v. SAWYER et al.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Iowa

Page 490

52 N.W.2d 490

243 Iowa 858

HATCHER et al. v. SAWYER et al.

No. 47981.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

April 1, 1952.

Rehearing Denied June 13, 1952.

Bray, Carson & McCoy, of Oskaloosa, for appellants, cross-appellees.

Edwin Willcockson and F. M. Beatty, of Sigourney, for appellees, cross-appellants.

WENNERSTRUM, Justice.

Plaintiffs in an action in equity sought specific performance of a claimed oral contract entered into between W. T. Wadsworth, now deceased, the father of plaintiffs, and his wife, their mother who predeceased him. It is claimed the father agreed with his wife to leave to the plaintiffs the property owned by him. They also sought judgment against the defendant, Merle Sawyer, in the amount of $4,000 with interest at five per cent per annum from April 27, 1950 for money claimed to have been turned over by their father to said Sawyer after the claimed oral contract was made. They also asked for a writ of injunction enjoining the admission to probate of an instrument filed as the last will and testament of their father and which they claim is violative of the contract entered into by him with their mother. Merle Sawyer, a nephew of W. T. Wadsworth, and his son, Ronald Sawyer, were beneficiaries under the last will of the father, along with the two plaintiffs and the sons of the plaintiffs. Each beneficiary of this will was to receive a one-sixth share of the estate. The two Sawyers denied the making of the claimed oral contract and alleged that such a contract, if made, was contrary to law, public policy, void, without consideration, and was obtained by coercion and duress.

Merle Sawyer in an amendment to his answer alleged that he was the holder of a note in the principal amount of $1,000 given to him by W. T. Wadsworth on November 15, 1941 and that he was entitled to have said note allowed as a claim against the estate. The trial court entered a decree wherein it established the contract sued on by the plaintiffs. It upheld the gift of $4,000 made by Wadsworth to the defendant, Merle Sawyer, found the $1,000 note to Sawyer was a valid instrument and established it as a claim, enjoined the admission to probate of the instrument filed as the last will and testament of W. T. Wadsworth and directed the special administrator to pay to the defendant, Merle Sawyer, $1,000 with interest at seven per cent per annum from the date of the death of W. T. Wadsworth. It further directed the special administrator to pay one-half of the remaining proceeds of the personal property to each of the plaintiffs and decreed them to be the owners of the real estate described in the petition. It also entered a judgment against the defendants Merle Sawyer and Ronald Sawyer for costs.

The plaintiffs, the two daughters, who were the beneficiaries under the claimed contract between W. T. Wadsworth and his wife, appealed from that part of the decree and judgment which denied the recovery of $4,000 and interest from the defendant, Merle Sawyer, and which decree also ordered the special administrator of the W. T. Wadsworth estate to pay to Merle Sawyer the sum of $1,000 and interest. The two Sawyers have also appealed from the relief granted to the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs will be hereafter referred to as the appellants and Merle Sawyer and Ronald Sawyer as cross-appellants.

W. T. Wadsworth and Nellie Wadsworth were husband and wife and were the parents of Blanche Hatcher and Hila Ewing, the plaintiffs in this action and the appellants in this appeal. They were the only children of the Wadsworths. Blanche Hatcher is married and has one son, LaVerne Hatcher. Hila Ewing is also married and has one son, Eugene Ewing. The two grandsons were made defendants in this action and are appellees herein. Merle Sawyer is a nephew of W. T. Wadsworth, deceased, his mother being a sister of Wadsworth. Ronald Sawyer is a son of Merle Sawyer.

Nellie Wadsworth died on January 6, 1949 and W. T. Wadsworth, her husband, died on April 27, 1950. Prior to the 30th day of December, 1948 Nellie Wadsworth was the owner of a farm of 100 acres situated in Mahaska County, Iowa and was also the owner of a rent check in the amount of $600 and certain household furniture and other personal property. Prior to the last named date W. T. Wadsworth was the owner of a residence property in Oskaloosa which was his home and that of his wife. He also had United States bonds, Series G, of the face value of $15,000 and which were payable to himself or to Mrs. Nellie Wadsworth. They also had a joint checking account in the amount of $3,407.74. On or prior to December 28, 1948 Nellie Wadsworth had arranged for the preparation of a deed conveying the 100 acres to her grandson. Edward LaVerne Hatcher. This deed was subject to a life estate to William T. Wadsworth. It had been prepared in the office of an Oskaloosa attorney but prior to that date had not been signed or delivered. On December 28, 1948 John S. Sproatt, the attorney previously referred to, was asked to come to the Wadsworth home, which he did, and he took with him the deed which had been prepared. This deed to LaVerne Hatcher was signed on the date mentioned by Mrs. Wadsworth, and she instructed Mr. Sproatt to keep it until he received further instructions. On December 30, 1948 the attorney was again called to the Wadsworth home and was directed to bring the deed with him.

The record discloses that during October, 1948 Mrs. Wadsworth had become ill and that on the day following Thanksgiving, 1948, she had a stroke. Her doctor testified that in his opinion she was mentally and physically weakened by reason of her condition, that during the last ten days before her death she was more easily influenced, and also in his opinion, legally incompetent to carry on business transactions during that ten day period. A witness who had been in the home during the last several months of Mrs. Wadsworth's life testified that there had been arguments between Mrs. Wadsworth and her husband relative to the disposition of their property. Another witness who was assisting at the home testified that on December 28, 1948, at the direction of Mrs. Wadsworth, she called John S. Sproatt, the attorney, and that he came to the home and brought with him a deed. She also testified that the grantee named in this deed was Edward LaVerne Hatcher, which deed was signed on that date by Mrs. Wadsworth. On December 30, 1948, according to the testimony of a Mrs. Spurgeon, she was told by Mrs. Wadsworth that she and her husband had reached an agreement and that she, Mrs. Wadsworth, would give the 100 acres to her two grandsons, Eugene Ewing and LaVerne Hatcher, and that Mr. Wadsworth had agreed to take a life estate in the land, that he was not to take anything in addition to this life interest, and that Mr. Wadsworth was to leave the balance to their daughters.

On the occasion of the second visit of John S. Sproatt to the Wadsworth home on December 30, 1948 he was in Mrs. Wadsworth's room and Mr. Wadsworth was also present. Inquiry was made of the attorney if the deed could be torn up or the name of William Eugene Ewing added to it. The attorney told her the name could be added and she requested him to do so. The attorney then returned to his office to change the deed as directed and then went back to the Wadsworth home with the changed deed which showed that it was made to William Eugene Ewing and Edward LaVerne Hatcher as grantees and that the husband, William Wadsworth, had a life estate. The record then shows that she stated that was the way she wanted it and she acknowledged the signing of the deed. After the signing of the deed and its acknowledgment she made a statement to her husband, as follows: 'Now I have done my part, you do yours.' The attorney testified that the husband nodded his assent. The deed was then handed to the attorney and he was told to deliver it to the two grandsons.

Shortly after the attorney returned to his office with the deed, W. T. Wadsworth came into the office and stated that it was his desire to make a will so that his property would go to his two daughters, Hila Ewing and Blanche Hatcher, equally. A will to this effect was prepared and executed by W. T. Wadsworth who took the original will and left the law office. A carbon copy of it was retained by the attorney for his files. The deed was subsequently delivered to the grantees named.

There is other testimony substantiating the evidence heretofore referred to which, for purposes of brevity, will not be here set forth. A carbon copy of the will which is in evidence executed by William T. Wadsworth on December 30, 1948 shows that the original will devised and bequeathed to the two daughters a one-half interest to each of them of all the property belonging to W. T. Wadsworth other than that necessary for the payment of his just debts and expenses of his last illness and burial.

It is shown by the record that on July 6, 1949 W. T. Wadsworth visited the law office of Edwin T. Willcockson, an attorney at Sigourney, and at that time Mr. Wadsworth executed a will wherein he left a one-sixth share of his property to each of the following: the appellants, Hila Ewing and Blanche Hatcher; his two grandsons, LaVerne Hatcher and Eugene Ewing; and the cross-appellants, Merle Sawyer and Ronald Sawyer. After the death of W. T. Wadsworth, this last referred to will was filed for probate in the district court of Mahaska County. Objections were filed by the appellants herein to the probate of this will and thereafter a special administrator was appointed. There is no evidence that the will prepared in the office of John S. Sproatt was ever found.

I. The burden of establishing a contract to will property to certain individuals, such as is claimed in this case, is on the party or parties so claiming and he or they must prove performance by the original contracting person or persons under whom claim is made. 68 C.J., p. 598, section 220; In re Estate of...