In re Jaaska's Estate

• Decision Date: 27 March 1947
• Docket Number: 30022.
• Court: Washington Supreme Court
• Parties: In re JAASKA'S ESTATE. v. JAASKA. JAASKA

178 P.2d 321

27 Wn.2d 433

In re JAASKA'S ESTATE.

JAASKA v. JAASKA.

No. 30022.

Supreme Court of Washington

March 27, 1947

Department 2

Rehearing Denied May 2, 1947.

Proceeding in the matter of the estate of Alex Jaaska, deceased, wherein Antton Jaaska filed a petition to set aside the will, opposed by Alex H. Jaaska, executor. From a judgment dismissing the petition, the petitioner appeals.

Reversed with instruction.

Appeal from Superior Court, Thurston County; John M. Wilson, judge.

Warner Poyhonen and Lester Stritmatter, both of Hoquiam, for appellant.

H. E Grimm, of Centralia, for respondent.

HILL Justice.

Alex Jaaska died in the Oakhurst Sanatorium, near Elma Washington, on May 18, 1945, at the age of seventy-eight. The cause of his death was given as 'far advanced pulmonary tuberculosis.' On May 8th (all dates herein referred to are in 1945 unless otherwise indicated) he had signed the document which, on May 28th, was filed for probate as his last will and testament and which was admitted to probate, as such, on July 16th. It is conceded that this document was signed by Alex Jaaska, and by Mary B. Woodhull and Jake O. Salo. The last two named signed the usual form for 'Testimony of Subscribing Witness on Probate of Will' on the date last referred to.

If said document be in fact the will of Alex Jaaska, his property is bequeathed and devised as follows:

Lot 1 section 7, township 15 north, range 4 west of W. M., situate in Thurston county, Washington, and containing 13.45 acres, more or less, to Alex H. Jaaska, a nephew of the decedent (note the initial 'H,' as it will serve, throughout this opinion, to distinguish the nephew from the decedent); and all the rest of his real property to Arne Aldolph Jaaska, a son of the said Alex H. Jaaska; $500 each to two nieces in Finland; and the remainder of his personal property to said Alex H. Jaaska, who also was named as executor in said will, and who apparently qualified as such.

In addition to the real property specifically devised to Alex H. Jaaska, which was appraised at $500, the inventory and appraisement shows ten different tracts of land comprising 138.58 acres, more or less, and appraised at $6,550. The personal property, which include $2,190.53 cash, was appraised at $2,245.53.

A brother, Antton Jaaska, filed a petition on November 9th, asking that the will be set aside, on the grounds (1) that the decedent was not competent to make a will, and (2) that the will was the result of undue influence exercised by Alex H. Jaaska. A hearing was had on this petition in January of 1946, and on March 4, 1946, the superior court of Thurston county entered an order dismissing the petition, from which order this appeal is prosecuted.

It appears from the petition that the heirs at law of the decedent are a brother (the petitioner) and five children of a deceased brother. These five children include the said nephew, Alex H. Jaaska, and the two nieces in Finland named in the will, together with Tyyko Jaaska and Hilda Widenoja, who were witnesses at the hearing.

We present herewith a brief sketch of the relationship of the interested parties and of the situation as it existed in the latter part of April, 1945:

Alex Jaaska was seventy-eight years of age and had been in the United States for more than fifty years. He operated a small store and gasoline station across the road from his home at Helsing Junction, on Independence road in Thurston county. He had lived in that neighborhood continuously since sometime prior to 1911, and had been a widower since 1913. He was a Finn, and his knowledge of English was limited, although he spoke it and understood it sufficiently to carry on business with his English speaking customers. The extent to which he read English and understood what he read, is one of the pivotal points in this case and will be discussed later. He was then in the terminal stages of tuberculosis, although it would appear that he did not know the nature of his illness, nor did his friends and relatives. For some little time he had kept the store locked and customers had to go across the road to his home to get him to wait on them.

Antton Jaaska, the appellant here, was eighty-three years of age and a brother of Alex. The latter had sent Antton money to enable him to come to Washington. The two old men had 'batched' together for twenty years, and Antton had helped Alex somewhat with the store and gasoline station. They had differences but apparently none of a serious nature, although Alex may have regarded Antton as something of a 'dunce or mixed up in the head.' It does not appear from the record that Antton had any means of his own, and he was apparently dependent on the good will, or charity, of his brother.

Alex H. Jaaska, who, as executor, is respondent here, was a nephew of both Alex and Antton. He first came to this country in 1922, returned to Finland in 1930, and again entered the United States in 1938, and has lived at Helsing Junction since that time. He was married and had four children. (At the time of the hearing their ages ranged from nine to thirteen years.) Alex helped Alex H. get into the United States and had rented some land to him continuously since 1938. Alex H. bought a place of his own in 1941, and his home was 'right close' to that of Alex. He testified: 'I help him all the help he need. I held in the store. I get some groceries and I sell some wood for him, and all the kind of help he need.'

Arne Aldolph Jaaska, nominally the principal beneficiary under the will of Alex Jaaska, is a minor son of Alex H., but whether the oldest or the youngest is not clear, as the record shows that his father testified as follows:

'Q. [Mr. Grimm] He liked one of your children pretty well, didn't he? A. Yes, he liked my youngest boy the best of all. He like all my children.

'Q. What is the oldest boy's name? A. Arne.

'Q. He is the one that is mentioned in the will? A. Yes.' (Italics ours.)

It may be that Mr. Grimm meant 'youngest' in his question, and that Alex H. so understood him.

Tyyko Jaaska is a brother of Alex H. and, of course, a nephew of Alex and Antton. He came to this country from Finland in 1922. From 1925 until he moved to Tacoma in the spring of 1945, he lived on a farm about a mile from Alex. Thereafter he came down from Tacoma every week. He had worked for Alex many times.

Hilda Widenoja is a sister of Alex H. and Tyyko Jaaska, and a niece of Alex and Antton. She had known Alex since 1911, and had lived about a mile from him for many years. She saw him 'sometimes once a week and sometimes about two weeks.'

The two nieces of Alex who each receive $500, by the terms of the purported will, lived in Finland. Alex had not seen them since he came to this country more than fifty years Before . He had not heard from them since the beginning of World War II.

Against this background, the story unfolds rapidly between April 19th and May 18th, 1945. Alex sent word to John A. Widenoja (the husband of Hilda) on April 19th that he was ready to go to a hospital, but a few hours later he decided that he did not want to go. On April 24th or 25th he fell and was unable to get up until Alex H. came to his aid. From that time on he was bedridden and unable to move without assistance. On April 28th Alex H. sent word to John A. Widenoja that Alex was then ready to go to the hospital, and Mr. Widenoja assisted in taking him to St. Peter's Hospital in Olympia. Alex H. testified as follows: '* * * Well, we helped him downstairs, yes. He want to sit down in rocking chair when he got down to the kitchen, and I think one time he sit down about an hour. We ask him many times if he is tired, but he is not tired, he just like to sit down there and he tell his brother to make good fire because he feel kind of chilly, make good fire in the stove.' (Italics ours.)

Mr. Widenoja testified that they 'mostly carried him' to Alex H. Jaaska's car. Alex H. told how Alex asked him 'to take care of all his business when he was away,' and he further said that Alex 'gave me the keys and things when he left.'

While at St. Peter's Hospital, Alex was attended by Dr. K. L. Partlow, who saw him every day from April 28th to May 3d, but who was unable to understand anything he said except that he was dizzy and cold. The doctor said that Alex had no control over his bladder, slept most of the time, and was markedly senile. He further testified that during the period Alex was in the hospital he was 'absolutely unable to transact any business, to say nothing of making a will.'

On May 3d Antton Jaaska and the Widenojas, Hilda and John, visited him. He was dissatisfied, and the first thing he told them was that he wanted to get out of there. He said that he had not seen a doctor; blamed his condition on a dentist to whom he had paid $200; and wanted to go home, or 'any place else.' They secured an ambulance and Hilda rode with him to St. Helen's Hospital, in Chehalis, Here, for the first time, his condition was diagnosed as tuberculosis. The hospital did not want to receive him and insisted that he should go to a tuberculosis sanatorium, but he was permitted to remain overnight.

There was no place then available for him at the sanatorium of his choice (Oakhurst, near Elma), so on May 4th Alex was taken back to his home. He traveled lying in the back seat of Alex H.'s car. Hilda rode in the back seat with him and when his feet became cramped, he asked her to straighten them out.

Alex H was accompanied on this occasion by his wife, Anna. He testified that Alex wanted to return to his home Before going to Elma and that, while at Chehalis, Alex spoke to him about a will. Neither Hilda nor his wife heard anything about a will. Significantly, of all the...