Held v. Florida Conference Ass'n of Seventh Day Adventists

• Decision Date: 23 January 1940
• Citation: 141 Fla. 646,193 So. 828
• Parties: HELD et al. v. FLORIDA CONFERENCE ASS'N OF SEVENTH DAY ADVENTISTS et al.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

193 So. 828

141 Fla. 646

HELD et al. v. FLORIDA CONFERENCE ASS'N OF SEVENTH DAY ADVENTISTS et al.

Florida Supreme Court

January 23, 1940

Rehearing Denied Feb. 23, 1940.

Suit by Edith E. Held, individually and as administratrix of the estate of Vincent H. Waggoner, deceased, and others against the Florida Conference Association of Seventh Day Adventists a corporation not for profit, and others for cancellation of a deed, for cancellation of a will, for an accounting and for general relief. From a decree dismissing amended bill of complaint in part with prejudice and in part without prejudice, plaintiffs appeal.

Affirmed.

BUFORD J., dissenting.

On Petition for Rehearing. Appeal from Circuit Court, Palm Beach County; C. E. Chillingworth, judge.

COUNSEL

Earnest & Lewis, of West Palm Beach, for appellants.

Metcalf & Finch and Boozer & Boozer, all of West Palm Beach, for appellees.

OPINION

PER CURIAM.

The facts of this case are sufficiently stated in the opinion prepared by Mr. Justice BUFORD.

The final decree contains the following:

'This cause was duly presented for final hearing, upon the pleadings and the proof. At the final hearing plaintiff gave notice of an application for leave to file an amended bill, which was filed a few days thereafter. The amended bill substantially presents the same case as the original bill, although certain allegations of the amended bill, as to which there was an obvious deficiency of proof, have been omitted from the amended bill. The matter has been duly considered by the Court.

'A careful consideration of this record, viewed in the light of conditions surrounding the deceased in his lifetime, may indicate that he was what some people call a religious fanatic. However, his peculiarities and conduct fail to disclose a state of mind which would indicate that, in contemplation of the law, he was insane, or that he was subject to any undue influence--or unfair persuasion at the time of the execution of the deed to the defendant Church. It is true that a presumption may arise concerning a conveyance of this sort to a religious organization, but the whole record fails to show any lack of a sufficient intelligence on the part of the deceased, not only to grasp his business affairs, but to understand and appreciate the significance of his action, and those whom he cared to have the property, either by gift or as the result of some business transaction.

* * *

'With reference to an accounting, and to the partial or total invalidity of the purported will of July 29, 1935, it seems that those matters can be fully handled in the County Judge's Court, which has ample jurisdiction to determine them. That Court first assumed jurisdiction over the Estate. There is no reason why this Court, at this time, should endeavor to deprive that Court of a proper exercise of its jurisdiction.

'Thereupon, it is ordered, and adjudged that leave be granted to plaintiffs to file the amended bill; that the amended bill be dismissed, with prejudice, as to all matters except those pertaining to an accounting and the partial or total invalidity of the purported will of July 29, 1935 and, as to those matters, the amended bill be dismissed, without prejudice, with costs in the amount of $-----, including compensation of the Special Master in the amount of $25.00, taxed against the plaintiffs, for which let execution issue.

'Done and Ordered, in Chambers, at West Palm Beach, Florida, this 24 day of June, A. D. 1938.

'C. E. Chillingworth

'Circuit Judge.'

There is ample evidence to sustain the findings of the Chancellor in effect that the deed of conveyance of land referred to in the record was not made because of undue influence upon the grantor, and the final decree should be and is affirmed.

TERRELL, C.J., and WHITFIELD, BROWN, CHAPMAN, and THOMAS, JJ., concur.

BUFORD J., dissents.

DISSENTING

BUFORD, Justice (dissenting).

On appeal we review final decree dismissing amended bill of complaint.

The decree was entered on amended bill of complaint, answer thereto, and testimony taken on the issues.

The amended bill of complaint alleged in effect that during his lifetime Vincent H. Waggoner, who will hereafter be referred to as the donor, was seized and possessed of certain real estate described as, 'Southwest Quarter (SW 1/4) of Sec. 10, Twp. 43 S.'R. 36 E.'

Paragraph 2 of the Amended bill of complaint alleges:

'Your orators further represent that on or about the 21st day of February, A. D. 1934, less than eighteen months before his death, Vincent H. Waggoner sometimes known as Vincent Howard Waggoner, purported to execute a warranty deed to the defendant Florida Conference Association of Seventh Day Adventists, conveying the aforesaid parcel of land to it as grantee therein, but that such warranty deed was not executed in the presence of two witnesses as it purports to have been attested; that said deed was without consideration and said deed was not delivered to the grantee during the lifetime of Vincent H. Waggoner, but on the contrary, was delivered to the grantee subsequent to his death, and thereafter, on the 29th day of August, A. D. 1935, said warranty deed was filed for record in the office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court in and for Palm Beach County, State of Florida, and was recorded in Deed Book 516, at page 385. Copy of said warranty deed being attached and marked Exhibit 'A', to the original bill herein.'

Paragraph 4 of the bill alleges:

'Your Orators further aver that Vincent H. Waggoner died on or about the 5th day of August, A. D. 1935; that up until about ten years before that he was not a man of any religious inclinations whatsoever; that along about the year A. D. 1925 he was persuaded to become a member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church embrace its faith and to adhere to its dogma and precepts; that during the period of a few years preceding his death he began to deteriorate in health, became senile, and he became obsessed with religious ideas more and more, finally becoming a religious fanatic, suffering from religious delusions to such an extent that he was under the domination and influence of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, its clergy, representatives and agents and particularly under the domination of the grantee in the warranty deed aforesaid; that the grantee is, as its name implies, an association of the Seventh Day Adventist Churches in the State of Florida; that notwithstanding the fact that said parcel of land comprised almost the sole wealth of Vincent H. Waggoner; that it comprised his home; that his children were all poor and had a claim upon his bounty; that his relations with them in the past had been cordial and that they had assisted in the acquisition of the said land, yet, nevertheless, being under the domination of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, as aforesaid, he was persuaded by such grantee to give the same to it without consideration and, to effectuate the gift, he purported to execute the said warranty deed on the 21st day of February, A. D. 1934, but, nevertheless, retained possession of said land and collected the income, rents and profits therefrom until the time of his death; that along about the time of this pretended gift he had been suffering from ill health; that he was, and had been, undergoing observation and treatment at the Seventh Day Adventist Hospital in Orlando, Florida; that he was an inmate of said institution and continued to be for several weeks thereafter; that at the time of the purported execution of said deed a major surgical operation on Vincent H. Waggoner was imminent, which was thereafter performed during said period of his treatment at said hospital; and that the relationship of the deceased Waggoner and the Church, his religious fanaticism and delusions, together with the domination and undue influence of the Church over him, continued until the time of his death.'

Paragraph 5 alleges:

'Your Orators further aver that after the death of Vincent H. Waggoner, the grantee in said deed entered into possession of said land and that the defendants, Roy F. Hudson and Andrew F. Trivett are each tenants of the Florida Conference Association of Seventh Day Adventists, having possession of the same or some portion or parcel thereof, said tenants having paid and obligated themselves to pay rent to their landlord.'

The bill then alleges facts showing that the complainant is the duly qualified and acting administratrix of the estate of the donor.

Paragraph 8 of the bill alleges:

'Your Orators further aver that on or about the 29th day of July A. D. 1935, and while the Defendant grantee continued to exert its undue influence over the Deceased Waggoner, and while he continued under its domination and knowing that death was imminent, he, the said Vincent H. Waggoner, executed a purported Will in which the Florida Conference Association of Seventh Day Adventists was made the principal devisee of the remaining property of Vincent H. Waggoner, and again on the 31st day of July, A. D. 1935, Vincent H. Waggoner purported to execute a codicil thereto in which said Will and Codicil W. E. Abernathy, an officer or agent of the Florida Conference Association of Seventh Day Adventists, was named as sole Executor to serve without bond. A copy of said purported Will and Codicil being attached to the original bill of Complaint herein and marked Exhibit 'B'; that at the time of the execution of the said purported Will, Vincent H. Waggoner was ill and confined to a Seventh Day Adventists hospital in Takoma Park, Maryland; that the same was drafted by the Secretary for the General Legal Counsel of Seventh Day Adventist Churches in the United States; that all of the witnesses to said Will and Codicil were...