In re Estate of Laughter

• Decision Date: 24 September 2009
• Docket Number: No. 2008-CA-00719-SCT.,2008-CA-00719-SCT.
• Citation: 23 So.3d 1055
• Parties: The ESTATE OF James M. LAUGHTER: Rubye C. Foster v. Marjorie Williams.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

23 So.3d 1055

The ESTATE OF James M. LAUGHTER: Rubye C. Foster v. Marjorie Williams.

No. 2008-CA-00719-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

September 24, 2009.

As Modified on Denial of Rehearing October 29, 2009.

Rehearing Denied January 7, 2010.

Roy O. Parker, Jr., Tupelo, attorney for appellant.

Kenneth E. Stockton, attorney for appellee.

BEFORE WALLER, C.J., RANDOLPH and CHANDLER, JJ.

WALLER, Chief Justice, for the Court.

¶ 1. Rubye C. Foster appeals the decision of the DeSoto County Chancery Court granting summary judgment in favor of Marjorie Williams. The chancellor's order upheld the validity of a will of James M. Laughter, Williams's brother, against a challenge by Foster. Foster also appeals the chancellor's order, entered prior to summary judgment, determining that a promissory note allegedly given by Laughter to Foster during their marriage was an asset of Laughter's estate.

¶ 2. Finding genuine issues of material fact exist with respect to the testamentary capacity of Laughter and potential undue influence by Williams, we reverse and remand for a trial on the merits as to these issues. Also, because we find Laughter made a valid inter vivos gift of the promissory note to Foster, we reverse the decision of the chancellor holding that the note should have been included in Laughter's estate.

FACTS & PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 3. In 2003, Laughter sold a business he owned and the land on which it was situated to David Adams. As payment, Adams provided Laughter with a promissory note for $100,000, payment of which was secured by a deed of trust. Laughter and Adams later amended the promissory note and the sales contract to provide that, upon Laughter's death or inability to accept payment, any remaining payments would be made to Rubye C. Foster. Both Adams and Laughter initialed the amendments to the note and the sales contract.

¶ 4. Foster and Laughter were married at the time the sale and the amendment were made. Foster asserts that Laughter presented her with the amended note and the deed of trust on their anniversary, Valentine's Day of 2004, and told her, "this is your present." Thereafter, Foster retained possession of the documents, keeping them at her home.

¶ 5. On March 2, 2005, Laughter and Foster were divorced, allegedly for financial reasons,¹ but they continued to live together. On March 3, 2005, Marjorie Williams, Laughter's sister, got Laughter to execute a quitclaim deed, giving Williams sole ownership, for one dollar, of a lot jointly owned by Laughter and Williams.

¶ 6. On March 4, 2005, Laughter executed a will in the offices of his attorney, Phillip Stroud. The will named Foster as executrix and bequeathed all of Laughter's property to Foster, except the lot that he owned jointly with Williams, the same lot he had deeded to Williams the day before. In this March will, Laughter specifically devised to Foster his property interest in the deed of trust, "together with the indebtedness secured thereby, which is further evidenced by [the] Promissory Note." The meeting with Stroud, at which Laughter and Stroud discussed the will and Laughter signed it, was videotaped.

¶ 7. Also on March 4, 2005, Laughter and Foster executed a warranty deed, conveying ownership of Laughter's home to himself and Foster "as joint tenants with full right of survivorship and not as tenants in common." Within the week, Laughter was admitted to the hospital, and on March 11, 2005, he granted power of attorney to Williams. Laughter was later transferred to a nursing home.

¶ 8. On March 28, 2005, Williams's attorney, Randy Garner, sent Foster a letter instructing her to transfer her interest in the home deeded to Foster on March 4 back to Laughter. The letter explained that Williams and Garner "cannot find where [Laughter] remembers ever executing a deed giving you a joint tenancy ... to his home." The letter stated that Laughter had signed the deed at a time when he was "extremely ill and unable to handle his affairs." The letter stated that if Foster did not comply, Williams would pursue legal action.

¶ 9. Jack Nazary, a minister, visited Laughter in the hospital in April of 2005. Nazary provided a sworn affidavit stating that Laughter had told him during the visit that "nothing ha[d] changed" with his relationship with Foster. Laughter stated that he had "been looking for [Foster] everyday [sic]."

¶ 10. In May of 2005, Williams made arrangements for another attorney, Gerald Chatham, to assist Laughter in preparing a new will. On May 4, Chatham met Laughter at the nursing home, where Laughter executed a new will. In this May will, Laughter named Williams as executrix and bequeathed the balance of his promissory note to Lauren Elizabeth and Kaitlyn Elise Roberts.² Laughter devised the rest of his property, including his home, to Williams. The meeting with Chatham, at which Chatham and Laughter discussed the new will and Laughter signed it, also was videotaped. Laughter died on July 2, 2005.

¶ 11. In September 2005, Foster and Williams filed petitions for probate of the March will and the May will, respectively. In August 2006, the two cases were combined.

¶ 12. That December, Foster filed a motion for declaratory judgment asking that the promissory note be removed from Laughter's estate because it was an inter vivos gift to her. Foster also refiled an earlier motion asking the court to view the videotapes that were taken at the execution of the two wills. On April 13, 2007, the chancellor denied both motions, finding that the motion regarding the videotapes was premature and that the promissory note "is in fact an asset of the Estate of James M. Laughter. ..."³

¶ 13. On August 10, 2007, Williams moved for summary judgment to confirm the validity of the May will. A hearing was held on September 5, at which Chatham and Williams both testified. On September 13, 2007, the chancellor granted the motion for summary judgment. Thereafter, Foster filed a motion for a new hearing, which the chancellor denied.

¶ 14. On March 7, 2008, Williams was appointed executrix of Laughter's estate pursuant to the May will. Williams immediately moved to strike Foster's original probate claim, which motion was granted on March 19, following a hearing.

¶ 15. On April 3, 2008, the chancellor issued an order enjoining Foster from filing any further motions, except an appeal. Thus, on April 24, Foster appealed, asking this Court to compel that the videotapes of the two wills be included in the record on appeal and viewed by the Court. This Court denied the motion, holding that it needed to be filed in the chancery court. Foster did so, and on November 13, 2008, the chancellor denied the motion on the ground that no proper predicate had been laid for the tapes' introduction.

¶ 16. Foster appeals the chancery court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Williams confirming the validity of the May will. Foster asserts that summary judgment was erroneously granted because: (1) there is a genuine issue of material fact concerning Laughter's testamentary capacity when he executed the May will; (2) there is a genuine issue of material fact regarding whether Williams unduly influenced Laughter in the making of the May will; (3) the chancellor erred in refusing to admit the videotapes; and (4) the chancellor erred in limiting argument at the summary judgment hearing to fifteen minutes. Additionally, Foster asserts that the chancellor erred in deciding that the promissory note should be included in Laughter's estate and thus was not an inter vivos gift to her.

DISCUSSION

I. Whether summary judgment was granted erroneously.

¶ 17. Our appellate standard for reviewing a trial court's grant or denial of summary judgment is the same standard as that of the trial court under Rule 56(c) of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure.

We employ a de novo standard of review of a trial court's grant or denial of a summary judgment and examine all the evidentiary matters before it—admissions in pleadings, answers to interrogatories, depositions, affidavits, etc. The evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the party against whom the motion has been made. If, in this view, there is no genuine issue of material fact, and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, summary judgment should forthwith be entered for the movant. Otherwise, the motion should be denied.

Bullock v. Life Ins. Co., 872 So.2d 658, 660 (Miss.2004) (citing Hurdle v. Holloway, 848 So.2d 183, 185 (Miss.2003)). Concurrently, at the trial-court level, when a motion for summary judgment is made and supported, "an adverse party may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials set forth in his pleadings, but his response ... must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial." Miss. R. Civ. P. 56(e).⁴

A. Whether there is a genuine issue of material fact concerning Laughter's testamentary capacity when he executed the May will.

¶ 18. The burden of proving testamentary capacity is on the proponents of the will, who can present a prima facie case simply by offering into evidence the will and the record of probate. In re Last Will and Testament and Estate of Smith, 722 So.2d 606, 610-11 (Miss.1998) (citing In re Estate of Edwards, 520 So.2d 1370, 1372-73 (Miss.1988)). Once a prima facie case has been established, the burden of going forward shifts to the contestants to overcome the prima facie case. Id. at 611.

¶ 19. Since the May will has been properly admitted to probate, Williams has presented such a prima facie case. Therefore, the burden shifts to Foster to show that Laughter lacked testamentary capacity at the time of the will.

¶ 20. Testamentary capacity is determined based on three factors: (1) whether the testator had the ability at the time of the will to understand and appreciate the effects of his act; (2) whether the testator had the ability at the time of the will to understand the natural objects or persons to...