Jones v. Sperau
| Decision Date | 28 May 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. S02A0418.,S02A0418. |
| Citation | 563 S.E.2d 863,275 Ga. 213 |
| Parties | JONES v. SPERAU. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Milton D. Rowan, Atlanta, for appellant.
Adam R. Gaslowitz & Associates, Adam R. Gaslowitz, Duane D. Pritchett, Atlanta, for appellee.
Richard Haddock executed a will on January 25, 2000, leaving everything to his niece, appellee Ashley Sperau. On March 16, 2000, Haddock met appellant James Jones in an Internet chat room, and by April 18, 2000, Jones had moved into Haddock's condo. On May 20, 2000, Haddock executed another will, this time naming Jones as executor and sole beneficiary. After Haddock's death on August 24, 2000, Sperau filed a caveat to the May 20 will. The sole issue at trial was undue influence. A jury found that the will was a product of undue influence, and the probate court upheld the caveat.
1. Jones enumerates as error the trial court's denial of his motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, contending that there was no evidence of undue influence to support the verdict. In reviewing the denial of Jones's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, "we must decide whether the evidence, when construed most favorably for [Sperau], demanded a finding that the will was not the product of [Jones's] undue influence." Cook v. Huff, 274 Ga. 186(1), 552 S.E.2d 83 (2001).
Testimony at trial that Haddock was ill and that Jones moved in with him, administered his medication, and took care of his financial affairs was some evidence of a confidential relationship between Haddock and Jones. McGahee v. Walden, 216 Ga. 352(1), 116 S.E.2d 559 (1960). Testimony that Haddock gave Jones a financial power of attorney which Jones used to write checks on an account owned by Haddock, and that Jones's name was added to an investment account just days before Haddock's death was some evidence of undue influence (id.), as was testimony that Jones arranged for an attorney to come to the hospital to have the will naming him as beneficiary executed. Cook, supra. Medical testimony that Haddock's illness and medication rendered him more susceptible to influence further supports a finding of undue influence. See Bowman v. Bowman, 205 Ga. 796, 811, 55 S.E.2d 298 (1949). Prior to the inception of Haddock's relationship with Jones, Haddock had expressed his intent to leave his estate to Sperau, making his subsequent exclusion of her to Jones's benefit the proper subject of inquiry into undue influence. Knox v. Knox, 213 Ga. 677(3), 101 S.E.2d 89 (1957).
"Although this evidence did not demand a finding that the will was the product of Propounder's undue influence, it was sufficient to authorize the submission of that question to the jury." Cook v. Huff, supra, 274...
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