In re Klein's Estate
| Decision Date | 18 July 1947 |
| Docket Number | 30199. |
| Citation | 28 Wn.2d 456,183 P.2d 518 |
| Court | Washington Supreme Court |
| Parties | In re KLEIN'S ESTATE. v. LANG et al. REDHEAD |
Department 2
Rehearing Denied Sept. 12, 1947.
Proceeding in the matter of the estate of Johanna Klein, deceased wherein a will contest was filed by Mathilda Redhead, opposed by Carl P. Lang, as executor of the estate of Johanna Klein deceased, and others. From the decree, the opponents appeal and the contestant cross-appeals.
Affirmed.
Appeal from Superior Court, Spokane County; Ralph E. Foley, Judge.
Luby & Lang and Powell & Nethercutt, all of Spokane, for appellants.
Paine, Lowe & Coffin and A. P. O'Kelly, all of Spokane, for respondents.
This was a proceeding to contest the will of Johanna Klein, a widow, now deceased. At the time of executing the purported will, on June 14, 1944, Mrs. Klein was eighty-one years of age. By the terms of that instrument, she bequeathed to her daughter, an only child, the sum of $1.00; to the pastor of her church she bequeathed the sum of $100, and a like sum to the minister who should officiate at her funeral; the remainder of her estate, appraised at approximately $22,000 she bequeathed and devised to St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, in Spokane, of which she was then a member. Upon the death of Mrs. Klein, in April, 1946, the will, which was of the nonintervention type, was admitted to probate, and the executor named therein thereupon duly qualified and immediately proceeded to administer upon the estate. On May 6, 1946, the daughter of the deceased filed a petition in contest of the will, alleging that at the time of its execution the decedent was not of sound and disposing mind. Issue being joined on the petition, the cause was tried to the court sitting without a jury. The trial, lasting six days, resulted in findings and conclusions by the court, declaring that at the time of executing the will the testatrix was laboring under an insane delusion and hallucination materially affecting the testamentary instrument. A decree was entered accordingly, setting aside the order of probate and revoking the will, but allowing to the executor his costs actually incurred, including attorneys' fees fixed by the court, all to be paid out of the estate. The executor, the minister who officiated at the decedent's funeral, and the church have appealed from that portion of the decree revoking the will, and the daughter, who is the sole surviving heir at law of the deceased and contestant herein, cross-appealed from that part of the decree which allowed costs and attorneys' fees to the executor.
The sole question involved upon the main appeal is whether the record establishes, by clear, cogent, and convincing evidence, that at the time of making the alleged will Johanna Klein was suffering from an insane delusion materially affecting the terms of that instrument.
The size of the record in this case makes it impracticable to set forth in complete detail the evidence as given by the thirty witnesses who testified at the trial. We must perforce confine ourselves to a general statement of the facts, particularizing them only to the extent necessary to a clear understanding of the issues and the basis of the trial court's decision.
The decedent, Johanna Klein, was born in Germany in about the year 1863, and, when fourteen years old, came to the United States. She first settled in Colorado, where, at the age of sixteen years, she married William Klein. Respondent, Mathilda Redhead, who was born in 1886, is the only child of that union. In 1900, the Klein family moved to Spokane, acquired a home, and lived in that city continuously until the death of Mr. Klein in 1935, after which Mrs. Klein continued to live there until her death in 1946, she being then eighty-three years of age.
Although Mrs. Klein understood and could speak the English language, she was more proficient in the German tongue. When talking with her daughter or with her German friends, she would carry on her part of the conversation largely in that vernacular. She could read English print, but not English script. Throughout her life she remained intensely loyal to her German heritage and resented any reflections on the German people or the land of her nativity, even during those periods when the United States was at war with that country. For many years, and at the time of her death, she was a member of the Daughters of Herman, a secret society composed of women of German extraction; in that organization she maintained a benefit payable upon her death.
From the time of her arrival in Spokane until about 1904 Mrs. Klein was a regular attendant at St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, in Spokane, one of the appellants herein, and in 1907 her daughter Mathilda and Bert C. Redhead were married in that church. After 1904, however, Mrs. Klein seldom attended any house of worship until about 1932, when for approximately two years she attended a church of the Presbyterian faith. During the intervening years, she nevertheless continued the use of her German bible and also a hymn book which contained prayers in one portion printed in German.
Mr. and Mrs. Redhead have lived in Spokane ever since their marriage in 1907. They have two sons, the younger of whom is about twenty-four years of age; the older one is married and lives in San Francisco. Mr. Redhead, now about seventy-two years old, has for the greater part of his active life been an accountant in the employ of a Spokane transfer and storage company; he is now employed in the county clerk's office.
This introductory statement covers generally the period of Mrs. Klein's life up to the time of her husband's death in 1935, at which time she was about seventy-two years of age. The record in the case bears no other interpretation than that during all those years, both Before and after the marriage of her daughter Mathilda, the utmost harmony, love, and affection existed between Mrs. Klein and the daughter. The two families, though living in different parts of Spokane, visited each other frequently and occasionally took trips together. Mrs. Klein habitually evinced her love for her daughter and her two grandsons, and they in turn manifested a like affection for her. Only two incidents are mentioned in the evidence as indicating, during that period, any resentment or pique on the part of Mrs. Klein toward any member of the Redhead family: In her consultation with her attorney at the time he drew her will in 1944, she told him that on one occasion, during World War I, she and her husband had accompanied Mr. and Mrs. Redhead on an automobile trip to Wallace, Idaho; that during the trip Mr. Redhead made some remark derogatory to the German people; and that, on their return from the trip, Mr. Klein indicated his resentment of the remark and stated to her that he did not want any of his property to go to Mr. Redhead. That occurrence, it will be noted, took place prior to 1919, more than fifteen years Before Mr. Klein's death. It may also be stated that Mr. Redhead, when questioned at the trial, had no recollection of any such remark. The other incident was brought to light at the trial by one of the witnesses who testified that, in a casual conversation with Mrs. Klein on the street some years Before , the latter had complained that one, or both, of her grandsons had said that 'Grandma was Scotch; Grandma was tight.' The evidence shows, however, that Mrs. Klein was at all times deeply attached to her grandsons and that they bore a like affection toward her.
After the death of her husband in March, 1935, Mrs. Klein continued to occupy her home, on College avenue in Spokane, with a nurse in attendance a part of the time. In September of that year she rented her house and moved into the Redhead home at 1903 West Tenth avenue, where she remained for about seven months, living with the family, but having her own private bedroom. In April, 1936, she took a small apartment in the Temple Court Building, where one of her friends, a Mrs. Miller, also resided. While living in that apartment, Mrs. Klein became ill and was taken to a hospital where she underwent an operation. Thereafter, while convalescing, she spent about three weeks in the home of her daughter and was cared for by her. She then returned to her apartment, where she remained about a year or a little longer. In September, 1937, she moved back into her own house, and in November of that year made a trip to California where she spent several months living in a hotel and visiting one of her two grandsons.
Upon her return to Spokane in March, 1938, she resumed occupation of her home on College Avenue, which in the meantime had been rented furnished. There she remained until November, 1943, except for one winter when she boarded with a neighbor.
During all the periods of time that Mrs. Klein resided either in her own house or in the apartment house, she made frequent visits to her daughter's residence, as often as two or three times a week, and the daughter in turn visited her mother, frequently spending an entire afternoon with her. Mr. Redhead also at times accompanied his wife on such visits when made in the evening. The relations between the parties were always cordial and there was nothing to indicate anything other than a deep family affection.
In the fall of 1943, Mrs. Klein had become very lonely. More and more she seemed to feel the absence and loss of her deceased husband, and on many occasions she spoke in terms of personal address to him, as though he were still with her or as though she would soon join him.
In November of that year, arrangements were made by which Mrs Klein again came to live at her daughter's home. At the same time, her house was rented,...
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