In re Estate of Knowles

• Decision Date: 03 October 2006
• Docket Number: No. 34235-9-II.,34235-9-II.
• Citation: 143 P.3d 864,135 Wn. App. 351
• Court: Washington Court of Appeals
• Parties: In the Matter of the ESTATE OF Merle L. KNOWLES, Deceased. Vickie Wall, Appellant, and Terry Lyons, Petitioner, v. Randy Knowles, Respondent.

143 P.3d 864

135 Wn. App. 351

In the Matter of the ESTATE OF Merle L. KNOWLES, Deceased.

Vickie Wall, Appellant, and Terry Lyons, Petitioner, v. Randy Knowles, Respondent.

No. 34235-9-II.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 2.

October 3, 2006.

Lance Stewart Stryker, Attorney at Law, White Salmon, WA, for Appellant.

Jeffrey Joseph Baker, Attorney at Law, Hood River, OR, for Respondent.

ARMSTRONG, J.

¶ 1 Vickie Wall appeals the denial of her petition to reject her father's will. Wall's brother, Randy Knowles, filled out the handwritten parts of the will and also received the bulk of the estate. The trial court rejected Wall's claims of undue influence, improper attestation, and unauthorized practice of law. Although the circumstances of the will's creation raise a presumption of undue influence, when viewed in light of the rebuttal evidence, they do not prove undue influence by clear, cogent, and convincing evidence. And substantial evidence supports the trial court's conclusion that the will was properly attested and that Randy Knowles was not practicing law when he filled out parts of the will. Accordingly, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2 Randy Knowles hand wrote the material provisions of Merle Knowles's will on a preprinted will form. The will appointed Randy as personal representative. To five of Merle's seven children, including Randy, it left certificates of deposit, which were already in their names. To Randy, the will also gave Merle's home, real property, and all residue. Randy estimated the value of the property he received at $78,674.62. Each certificate of deposit was apparently worth $5,000.

¶ 3 More than three years after executing the will, Merle died and Randy submitted the will for probate. Two of Merle's daughters, Vickie Wall and Terry Lyons, contested the will on the grounds that it was not properly attested and that Randy had procured it through undue influence. The trial court found that the petitioners had met their initial burden of raising a presumption of undue influence, requiring Randy to come forward with rebuttal evidence.

¶ 4 Randy submitted a declaration explaining that he had completed the will form at his father's request. Another brother, Dusty Knowles, filed a declaration corroborating that their father had long intended for the bulk of the estate to go to Randy. These statements were excluded under the Dead Man's Statute, RCW 5.60.030.

¶ 5 Randy also submitted declarations of various friends and associates of Merle. These described Merle as a stubborn, strong-willed man who would not easily be influenced by anyone. They also stated that Merle had a closer relationship with Randy than with his other children. Finally, they reported that for the last 30 years of Merle's life, the contesting daughters had very little contact with their father and that the daughters' relationship with their father had been bitter and strained.

¶ 6 Leroy Goodrich and Carlene Camp attested the will, which Merle signed in Goodrich's office. Goodrich said that he and Merle had been best friends. In his declaration, Goodrich stated that he had seen Merle sign all three pages of the will. At his deposition, he again testified that he watched Merle sign the will, but he did not remember how many times Merle had signed.

¶ 7 Camp was Goodrich's business manager and a licensed notary public. When she signed the will, she applied her notary stamp, which listed both Randy and Merle as signatories. In her declaration, she claimed that she had mistakenly included Randy's name as a witness. In deposition, she stated further that Randy had not even been present at the will signing. She expressed no confusion as to whether Merle had signed.

¶ 8 The trial court found that the petitioners had failed to prove the will's invalidity by clear, cogent, and convincing evidence. On motion to reconsider, the petitioners argued that Randy was barred from taking under the will because he had been practicing law when he drafted the will's terms. The trial court rejected the petitioners' challenge and awarded attorney fees to neither party. Wall appeals.

ANALYSIS

¶ 9 We review a challenged finding of fact for substantial supporting evidence. Evidence is substantial if it is sufficient to persuade a rational, fair-minded person of the factual finding. Wenatchee Sportsmen Ass'n v. Chelan County, 141 Wash.2d 169, 176, 4 P.3d 123 (2000). If the standard is satisfied, we will not substitute our judgment for the trial court's. Croton Chem. Corp. v. Birkenwald, Inc., 50 Wash.2d 684, 685, 314 P.2d 622 (1957). We review the trial court's legal conclusions de novo. Sunnyside Valley Irrigation Dist. v. Dickie, 149 Wash.2d 873, 880, 73 P.3d 369 (2003). The trial court resolves credibility issues—decisions that we may not review. State v. Thomas, 150 Wash.2d 821, 874, 83 P.3d 970 (2004) (citing State v. Camarillo, 115 Wash.2d 60, 71, 794 P.2d 850 (1990)).

¶ 10 Once a will has been probated, a contesting party bears the burden of proving its invalidity by clear, cogent, and convincing evidence. In re Estate of Reilly, 78 Wash.2d 623, 649, 479 P.2d 1 (1970) (quoting In re Estate of Bottger, 14 Wash.2d 676, 685-86, 129 P.2d 518 (1942)). Wall has challenged the will on three grounds: (1) that it was procured through undue influence; (2) that it was not properly attested and executed; and (3) that the bequest to Randy is invalid because Randy was practicing law without a license when he drafted the will.

I. UNDUE INFLUENCE

¶ 11 A will is the product of undue influence when a party interferes with the testator's free will, preventing the testator from exercising his own judgment and choice. In re Estate of Smith, 68 Wash.2d 145, 153, 411 P.2d 879 (1966). Certain circumstances may raise a suspicion, varying in its strength, of undue influence. The most important of these are: (1) a fiduciary or confidential relationship between the testator and the beneficiary, (2) active participation by the beneficiary in preparing or procuring the will, and (3) the beneficiary's receipt of an unusually or unnaturally large part of the estate. Other appropriate considerations include "`the age or condition of health and mental vigor of the testator, the nature or degree of relationship between the testator and the beneficiary, the opportunity for exerting undue influence, and the naturalness or unnaturalness of the will.'" Reilly, 78 Wash.2d at 647, 479 P.2d 1 (quoting In re Estate of Schafer, 8 Wash.2d 517, 521, 113 P.2d 41 (1941)). The presence of these elements will not automatically invalidate a will. Rather, they "appeal to the vigilance of the court and cause it to proceed with caution and carefully to scrutinize the evidence offered to establish the will." Dean v. Jordan, 194 Wash. 661, 672, 79 P.2d 331 (1938). The combination of facts may be so suspicious as to raise a presumption of undue influence and, "in the absence of rebuttal evidence, may even be sufficient to overthrow the will." Dean, 194 Wash. at 672, 79 P.2d 331 (citing In re Estate of Beck, 79 Wash. 331, 334-35, 140 P. 340 (1914)). But the existence of the presumption does not relieve the will challengers of proving undue influence by clear, cogent, and convincing evidence. Reilly, 78 Wash.2d at 663, 479 P.2d 1.

¶ 12 Here, Wall successfully raised a presumption of undue influence. Randy conceded a fiduciary relationship with Merle, he actively participated in the preparation of the will by drafting the handwritten portions, and he received the bulk of the estate to the near exclusion of the testator's remaining offspring. Thus, the trial court properly called on Randy to produce evidence rebutting that suspicion. Our review of Randy's rebuttal evidence demonstrates that substantial evidence supported the trial court's findings.

¶ 13 First, there was substantial evidence that Merle voluntarily signed the will. Camp and Goodrich testified that Merle signed the will in their presence. Camp also testified that Merle discussed the will's provisions with them at the time of signing. And although Wall argues that these two witnesses are not credible because of their confused deposition testimony, the trial court resolved these credibility issues against Wall, a decision we may not tamper with.

¶ 14 Second, there was substantial evidence that Merle was not a vulnerable testator. In cases where suspicion of undue influence existed but the contestant failed to carry the burden of proof, the Supreme Court has often noted the testator's strength of mind. See, e.g., Reilly, 78 Wash.2d at 625, 479 P.2d 1; Smith, 68 Wash.2d at 151, 411 P.2d 879; In re Estate of Malloy, 57 Wash.2d 565, 570, 358 P.2d 801 (1961); In re Estate of Martinson, 29 Wash.2d 912, 919, 190 P.2d 96 (1948). In contrast, courts have voided wills for undue influence where the testators demonstrated "little or no mental capacity." Smith, 68 Wash.2d at 154, 411 P.2d 879 (citing In re Estate of Ganjian, 55 Wash.2d 360, 347 P.2d 891 (1959); In re Estate of Jaaska, 27 Wash.2d 433, 178 P.2d 321 (1947); In re Estate of Tresidder, 70 Wash. 15, 125 P. 1034 (1912)); see also In re Estate of Bush, 195 Wash. 416, 422-23, 81 P.2d 271 (1938). In Bush, for example, the decedent was practically blind and helpless, and while his mind was probably as strong as that of an average 90-year-old, he was peculiarly susceptible to his daughter's influence. Bush, 195 Wash. at 422-23, 81 P.2d 271.

¶ 15 Here, Merle's friends and associates described him as a particularly strong-willed man of sound mind. Christopher Lanz, an attorney who had represented Merle in a number of matters in the latter years of Merle's life, described him as "a strong-willed individual who would not be led to do certain acts, such as write a will or make a codicil to a will, without understanding the gravity of such acts." Clerk's Papers (CP) at 85. Darlene Goodrich, a personal friend of Merle, said he "was never shy on how he felt and would let you know his opinion...