In re Larsen's Estate

• Decision Date: 23 August 1937
• Docket Number: 26591.
• Citation: 191 Wash. 257,71 P.2d 47
• Court: Washington Supreme Court
• Parties: In re LARSEN'S ESTATE. v. LANE. OLSON

71 P.2d 47

191 Wash. 257

In re LARSEN'S ESTATE.

OLSON v. LANE.

No. 26591.

Supreme Court of Washington

August 23, 1937

Department 2.

Appeal from Superior Court, King County; Robert M. Jones, Judge.

Proceeding in the matter of the estate of Henry Larsen, deceased, with respect to the contest of the will of deceased which had been admitted to probate on the petition of Ole Olson, opposed by Chris Lane. The will of the deceased was sustained, a motion by Ole Olson for a new trial was denied, and he appeals.

Affirmed.

Spencer Gray and Earle C. Lassen, both of Seattle, for appellant.

J. P Wall and Lloyd R. Savage, both of Seattle, for respondent.

HOLCOMB Justice.

The essential undisputed facts to present the point under consideration are these: This is a will contest. The deceased, Henry Larsen, who died testate on February 10 1936, was a Norwegian fisherman and lived for a number of years prior to his demise on a boat named 'Get' in King county. Decedent's will was admitted to probate February 10, 1936. The inventory and appraisement show the assets of his estate consist of two bank accounts, one in the Canadian Bank of Commerce of Seattle in the sum of $2,739.69, and one in the Seattle-First National Bank in the sum of $2,756.90.

The record shows that respondent secured possession of $125 in gold from Larsen on the boat Get about a week Before Christmas in 1935. On December 28, 1935, decedent executed a bill of sale of the Get, and an assignment of his account in the Washington Mutual Savings Bank of Seattle, Wash., to respondent.

On December 2, 1926, Larsen executed a last will and testament. Pursuant to the second article of this will, after the payment of the debts, taxes, funeral expenses, and costs of administration of the estate, the residue of the estate was to become the property of one Ole Olson, a stranger to the blood of the testator. About nine years later, on December 28, 1935, decedent executed another last will and testament appointing one Chris Lane executor, and in the third paragraph thereof designated Lane, who also bears no blood relationship to the testator, the sole beneficiary after the expense of the probate of this will had been paid. The beneficiaries mentioned in the two respective wills had both been friends of decedent for many years. The wife of decedent had predeceased him many years and he had no children.

We now consider the disputed facts. Appellant asserts that decedent was not of a sound and disposing mind or capable of executing a will or transacting business, and therefore did not possess the necessary testamentary capacity to execute a last will and testament on December 28, 1935, and that its execution was due to duress and undue influence exerted by Lane over the testator. Appellant also urges that the $125 in gold was surreptitiously and fraudulently secured, and that the bill of sale and assignment are invalid because decedent did not have sufficient command of his faculties when these instruments were executed.

Respondent, however, contends that Larsen was mentally and physically competent to make a will, possessed the necessary testamentary capacity, and was not unduly influenced in the preparation and execution of the last will and testament dated December 28, 1935. Respondent asserts that the gold in question was rightfully given to him and that decedent freely and voluntarily executed the bill of sale and assignment, and was in command of his faculties at the time of their execution. There is some uncertainty as to the exact age of decedent at the time of the execution of the later will, but it quite definitely appears that he was something in excess of minety years of age at that time.

The trial court, under these facts, ordered the petition of Ole Olson for contest of will, contesting the last will and testament of Henry Larsen, deceased, be denied and dismissed with prejudice. The trial court held the last will and testament of decedent of December 28, 1935, having been admitted to probate on February 10, 1936, as the last will and testament of Henry Larsen, deceased, to be his last will and testament, and the probate thereof was in all respects confirmed and approved. A motion for a new trial was denied.

In the brief of appellant two assignments of error are presented: (1) That the court erred in refusing to set aside the will of December 28, 1935, for lack of testamentary capacity and undue influence, and in dismissing appellant's petition; and (2) in denying appellant's motion for a new trial.

The rules of law applicable to the instant case are clear, but the difficulty arises with respect to their application. It is well recognized that the right to dispose of one's property by will is a valuable incident of ownership and the intent expressed therein by the testator should not be rendered ineffective unless the facts clearly require the same. Pond's Estate v. Faust, 95 Wash. 346, 163 P. 753; In re Murphy's Estate, 98 Wash. 548, 168 P. 175.

In Re Roy's Estate, 113 Wash. 277, 193 P. 682, 683, we said: 'Wills are favored in the law, and it is a cardinal principle of construction that the testimony to overcome them must be cogent and convincing. In re Geissler's Estate, 104 Wash. 452, 117 P. 330. Where the will, rational on the face of it, is shown to have been executed in legal form, the law presumes testamentary capacity.'

At the outset it should be remembered that the burden of proof is on the contestant to establish the incapacity of the testator.

Rem.Rev.Stat. § 1387, provides: 'In any such contest proceedings the previous order of the court probating, or refusing to probate, such will shall be prima facie evidence of the legality of such will, if probated, or its illegality, if rejected, and the burden of proving the illegality of such will, if probated, or the legality of such will, if rejected by the court, shall rest upon the person contesting such probation or rejection of the will.'

See Points v. Nier, 91 Wash. 20, 157 P. 44, Ann.Cas.1918A, 1046; In re Adin's Estate, 112 Wash. 379, 192 P. 887; In re Roy's Estate, supra; In re Williams' Estate, 142 Wash. 637, 254 P. 236.

We now consider the testamentary capacity of Larsen and whether undue influence attended the preparation and execution of his will.

The rule in regard to testamentary capacity has been stated by us in Hartley v. Lord, 38 Wash. 221, 80 P. 433, 434:

'The rule of testamentary capacity is that the testator must have sufficient mind and memory to intelligently understand the nature of the business in which he is engaged, to comprehend generally the nature and extent of the property which constitutes his estate, and which he intends to dispose of, and to recollect the objects of his bounty. Underhill on Wills, § 87; Schouler on Wills (3d Ed.) § 68.'

'Neither weakness nor approaching death of themselves render the testator incompetent to make a will. If, in spite of his weakness of body, he has sufficient mental capacity to be able to know and understand the nature and extent of his property, the natural, proper objects of his bounty and the nature of the act which he is about to perform, he has sufficient capacity to make a valid will, even if the disease will eventually destroy testamentary capacity.' 1 Page on Wills (2d Ed.) 277, § 163.

The precise point at which reason is impaired is often most difficult of ascertainment. It is futile to attempt to select an arbitrary test or formula of mental capacity by which to measure testamentary capacity, since there is no uniform rule capable of application apart from the facts of each particular case. Old age alone does not deprive the testator of the power to make a will. 1 Page on Wills (2d Ed.) 231, § 137; 255, § 147.

'The quantum of mental capacity requisite to the valid execution of a will has been stated to be knowledge and understanding by the testator of the nature and consequences of his act. * * *' 68 C.J. 424, § 23.

'Other than the requirement that the testator have mind sufficient to know and understand certain facts prescribed as essential, there is no particular degree of mentality constituting a standard for testamentary capacity, so that the existence of capacity must be determined largely on the facts and circumstances of each particular case. It is not necessary that the testator possess a high order of intelligence or an absolutely sound mind in all respects; mere intellectual feebleness does not disqualify a person to make a will. * * *' 68 C.J. 429, § 24b.

The mere fact a person is sick does not render him incapable of effecting a testamentary disposition. In re Ellis' Estate, 143 Wash. 142, 254 P. 837. By reason of the decedent's advanced age, some of Larsen's actions were somewhat eccentric and the disintegration of the mental and physical processes had set in, but we are not convinced that they were impaired to the point that he did not have sufficient possession of his faculties to execute a will.

It is not open to question that one is free to draft a new will and to change the objects of his bounty at any time so long as he has the capacity to do so. In re Zelinsky's Estate, 130 Wash. 165, 227 P. 507.

This court is committed to the view that to vitiate a will there must be more than influence. It must be undue influence at the time of the testamentary act which deprived the testator of free will agency and prevented the exercise of judgment and choice. In re Patterson's Estate, 68 Wash. 377, 123 P. 515; In re Roy's Estate, supra.

In Re Seattle's Estate, 138 Wash. 656, 244 P. 964, 966, this court said:

"The result of the best considered cases upon the subject seems to put a quantum of understanding requisite to the valid execution of a will upon the basis of knowing and

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