Holtz v. DIESZ
| Citation | 68 P.3d 828,2003 MT 132 |
| Decision Date | 29 April 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. 02-532.,02-532. |
| Parties | Joann HOLTZ, Petitioner and Appellant, v. Francis Paul DEISZ, Respondent and Respondent. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Montana |
Brad L. Arndorfer, Arndorfer Law Firm, Billings, Montana, for appellant.
Michael R. Anderson, Anderson & Liechty, Billings, Montana, for respondent.
¶ 1 JoAnn Holtz (JoAnn), longtime companion of the decedent, Michael Deisz (Michael), challenges the findings of fact, conclusions of law, and judgment of the District Court regarding the disposition of the decedent's estate. We reverse.
¶ 2 JoAnn raises three issues on appeal. We conclude that our resolution of the following issues is determinative:
1. Did the deceased's holographic will make a general, demonstrative, or specific devise to the petitioner?
2. If the devise was specific, was it rendered ineffective—adeemed—when the specific assets were sold and the proceeds placed in the bank?
¶ 3 Michael Deisz, a jeweler and city councilman from Billings, Montana, suffered a debilitating stroke while on vacation in California on May 30, 2000. After remaining hospitalized in California for approximately one month, Michael was returned to Billings. There, he lay incapacitated in a nursing home until his death on November 18, 2000 at age 44. He was survived by his companion, JoAnn, his father, a sister, and two brothers.
¶ 4 A few days prior to his trip to California, Michael left a sealed envelope addressed to "Dad" in his room in the home he shared with JoAnn Holtz, petitioner. This was consistent with his practice of leaving such sealed envelopes with his father before he left town for extended periods. The previous letters were never opened; Michael always retrieved them upon his safe return. It was understood, though, that they contained confidential information, including combinations to his safe, alarm codes, and instructions concerning the disposition of his property.
¶ 5 After Michael's stroke, the envelope was retrieved and delivered to his father, Francis Deisz (Francis). Inside was a handwritten letter. The letter, dated 5/27/2000, reads as follows:
(Emphasis in the original.)
¶ 6 Francis submitted an application for informal probate and appointment as personal representative of the estate on December 6, 2000. Based on the existence of the letter above, then assumed to be a holographic will, the application initially referenced the matter as a testate estate. Three weeks later, however, Francis amended the filing as an intestate estate, on the grounds that the holographic will was invalid under Montana law.
¶ 7 The District Court promptly issued an order of informal appointment of personal representative, declaring the holographic will invalid and naming Francis Deisz personal representative in intestacy of the estate. JoAnn filed a petition for formal probate in April 2001. She sought to have the will declared valid, the estate made testate, and the wishes of Michael followed in distributing his estate. ¶ 8 After a trial, held on February 1, 2002, the District Court determined that the letter was a valid holographic will, and that it created a specific devise of both Michael's home and business to JoAnn. The court then concluded that those devises were adeemed, based on the sale of the specific assets to pay for Michael's nursing home care. By virtue of this ruling, JoAnn would have been entitled to nothing from Michael's estate beyond the $50,000 in life insurance she had already collected. JoAnn appeals.
¶ 9 The relationship between JoAnn and Michael was well-documented in the record. They met at a karaoke bar in the summer of 1991. By St. Patrick's Day of 1992, the two slowly began dating. From that point forward, they celebrated St. Patrick's Day as their anniversary. Less than a year after they began dating, Michael moved in to JoAnn's home. Michael lived with JoAnn until the occurrence of his stroke. His house was left unoccupied in the intervening years.
¶ 10 According to JoAnn and friends of the couple, after many years together, JoAnn and Michael talked about marriage. JoAnn had five children with a range of problems. She and Michael apparently felt strongly that they should not marry until the youngest child reached 18, so that Michael would not become responsible for the children if anything happened to JoAnn. It is clear from the record that neither JoAnn nor Michael had a particularly good relationship with her children. Prior to surgery in 1999, JoAnn scribbled the following note to her children on the back of a hospital form:
Kids, Do not give Michael a hard time if I do die. He's here with me you weren't! Its [sic] all in his name for practical reasons. You'll get stuff from him your personal toys clothes & whatever you want & he chooses to give you. Be grateful for what you get & shut up! You didn't buy it for me give it to me or earn it! Love Mom JoAnn Holtz
¶ 11 The Deisz family asserts that despite their living situation, shared vacations, etc., JoAnn and Michael were only friends. They insist Michael never had any plans to marry JoAnn; however, close friends of the couple testified to the contrary. Submitted into evidence were photographs of JoAnn and Michael together, looking very much like a couple, and romantic cards Michael gave JoAnn. The text of one such card says: The card is hand signed "Michael." The text of a second card reads:
With you, I've found what it seems I had been looking for forever—the beautiful, and very real, meaning of love!
Happy Birthday, Sweetheart
At the conclusion of the text, are the handwritten words "Please present for 1 dinner your choice, & $100 @ my store Love Michael."
¶ 12 Friends of the couple also testified that Michael had, on several occasions, expressed concern about JoAnn's future if anything happened to him. According to those witnesses, Michael asserted that she "would be well taken care of." They said he intended to ensure that she was supported financially and not left in need.
¶ 13 After Michael's stroke, there was concern that his insurance—connected to his position as a city council member—would terminate because he was no longer functioning as a city councilman. Accordingly, the family decided—with JoAnn's consent—to sell his business and his home. The intention was that the proceeds would pay for the full-time care Michael would continue to require after the insurance ran out. There was also testimony that Michael agreed, through communicative blinking, to the sale of these assets to provide for his care.
¶ 14 As it happened, Michael's insurance covered all his care prior to his death. The money from the sale of the business and house was never used for this purpose. Rather, it has been sitting in a bank account since the assets were liquidated. In addition to those proceeds, Michael's father also sold items not specifically mentioned in the will, including Michael's car and some furniture. After the payment of various medical and funeral expenses, there is now between $69,000 and $70,000 in the estate's checking and savings accounts, awaiting the outcome of this appeal.
¶ 15 The standard of review of a district court's findings of fact is whether they are clearly erroneous. In re Estate of Charles Kuralt, 2000 MT 359, ¶ 14, 303 Mont. 335, ¶ 14, 15 P.3d 931, ¶ 14 (citing Daines v. Knight (1995), 269 Mont. 320, 324, 888 P.2d 904, 906). A district court's findings are clearly erroneous if they are not supported by substantial credible evidence, if the trial court misapprehended the effect of the evidence, or if a review of the record leaves this Court with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed. Kuralt, ¶ 14 (citing Norwood v. Service Distrib., Inc., 2000 MT 4, ¶ 21, 297 Mont. 473, ¶ 21, 994 P.2d 25, ¶ 21). It is within the province of the trier of fact to weigh conflicting evidence, and a reviewing court will not substitute its own judgment for that of the factfinder on such matters. In re Estate of Brooks (1996), 279 Mont. 516, 526, 927 P.2d 1024, 1030. We review a district court's conclusions of law de novo, to determine whether the court's interpretation of law is correct. Kuralt, ¶ 14 (citing Carbon County v. Union Reserve...
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