Mollendorf v. Derry

• Decision Date: 20 September 1972
• Docket Number: No. 10905,10905
• Citation: Mollendorf v. Derry, 501 P.2d 199, 95 Idaho 1 (Idaho 1972)
• Parties: Helen I. MOLLENDORF, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. George DERRY et al., Defendant-Appellants, and Gerald E. Browning, Administrator of the Estate of Charles Miller, Deceased, et al., Defendants.
• Court: Idaho Supreme Court

Page 199

501 P.2d 199

95 Idaho 1

Helen I. MOLLENDORF, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. George DERRY et al., Defendant-Appellants and Gerald E. Browning, Administrator of the Estate of Charles Miller, Deceased, et al., Defendants.

No. 10905.

Supreme Court of Idaho.

Sept. 20, 1972.

McFadden & Park, St. Maries, for defendants-appellants.

E. L. Miller, William D. McFarland, Coeur d'Alene, for plaintiff-respondent.

McFADDEN, Justice.

The parties to this action in the district court were the heirs (seventeen nieces and nephews) of Charles Miller, and the administrator of Miller's estate. Plaintiff-respondent Helen I. Mollendorf, a niece, brought the action to quiet title to 160 acres of Benewah County land, relying on a deed executed by her uncle, Charles Miller, which purported to convey the land and also the personal property contained in the dwelling house to her. The administrator and certain of the heirs contested the action. After trial to the court, judgment was entered in favor of respondent Mollendorf. Thereafter a motion for new trial was denied. Eleven of the heirs, but not the administrator of the estate, appeal from the judgment and order denying a new trial, raising nine assignments of error.

Charles Miller, the uncle, died intestate on October 25, 1968. For several years prior to his death Miller had been in poor physical health, having undergone several major surgical operations. In September, 1967, Miller was recuperating from a leg amputation and staying with his niece, Helen Mollendorf. While staying in her home, on September 5, 1967, Miller executed a quitclaim deed to his 160 acre ranch and the house and outbuildings situated thereon together with the personal property in the buildings. Miller retained a life estate for himself.

The record clearly shows, and the court found, that respondent maintained a close, confidential relationship with her uncle up to the time of his death. Respondent testified that her own father died when she was quite young and since that time she had fondly regarded her uncle Charles as a fatherly advisor. The court also found that two other nieces enjoyed similar relationships with their uncle.

The property covered by the disputed deed is 160 acres of wooded land near Sanders, Idaho, on which Miller lived and made his living during his lifetime. Apparently this land had been in the family for a long period of time. On it was situated the family cemetery. Various of the witnesses testified that Miller expressed the wish that this land 'remain in the family' after his death. In early September, 1969, according to respondent, her uncle requested that she procure a deed form and fill out the property description on the form as he dictated it explaining it was his desire that the land would become hers after his death. Respondent, who had experience as a real estate agent, typed in the description on the deed form as instructed. Later on the some day Miller both signed it and delivered the deed to her in the presence of two non-family witnesses. About two months after Miller's death and after probate proceedings were instituted, respondent produced the unrecorded deed and claimed sole possession of the land.

Appellants claim that the facts indicate Miller did not act freely in signing the deed. Thus they stress that Miller had only an eighth grade education, whereas respondent was experienced in business, that he was in ill health, and that he sought no third party advice or counsel before signing the deed. All these facts are undisputed. A fact also not disputed is Finding of Fact IV entered by the district court:

'CHARLES MILLER was a bachelor. During his lifetime and until his death in October of 1968, he was an independent and strong willed individual. Until his death he conducted his own business affairs independently of other persons and was mentally competent. Although he did suffer from physical illnesses which required medical attention, these illnesses in no way affected his mental acuity.'

While it is apparent Miller did not get outside advice, the record shows, and the court found (a finding not challenged on appeal), that subsequent to the execution and delivery of the deed Miller informed others in the family that he had deeded the property to respondent. Likewise unchallenged is the court's finding that prior to September 5, 1967, Miller had stated to several of the heirs his intent to deed the land to respondent.

Appellants contend that despite these facts respondent did not sufficiently overcome by her proof the inference of fraud or undue influence raised by these facts, arguing that respondent in this situation labors under a presumption of undue influence which shifts the burden of proof to her. Respondent's position is that Idaho has no presumption of fraud where a deed has been given in circumstances involving only a confidential relationship.

The fact that respondent maintained a confidential relationship with the grantor who in turn was a close relative does not establish, standing alone, grounds for voiding a conveyance. Dickey v. Clarke, 65 Idaho 247, 142 P.2d 597 (1943); Turner v. Gumbert, 19 Idaho 339, 114 P. 33 (1911). It is doubtless an ordinary occurrence when an older person conveys property to another relative under circumstances where a confidential relationship exists, that the grantor was motivated by affection or even gratitude does not establish undue influence. 23 Am.Jur.2d, Deeds, § 148.

The policy of the law is not to defeat a grantor's intent. Hogan v. Blakney, 73 Idaho 274, 251 P.2d 209 (1952). The law does, however, provide protection to a grantor or his heirs where the circumstances show the grantor's mental condition or capacity was such that he could not understand the nature and effect of his act of conveyancing. Kelly v. Perrault, 5 Idaho 221, 48 P. 45 (1897). Nor is physical infirmity necessarily an indication of mental incapacity. Olsen v. Hawkins, 90 Idaho 28, 408 P.2d 462 (1965). Protection is also afforded when the grantor's own will is not his own in the sense that he is not a free agent due to the acts or influence of another. Turner v. Gumbert, supra; Curtis v. Kirkpatrick, 9 Idaho 629, 75 P. 760 (1904); see Chamberlin v. George, 63 Idaho 658, 125 P.2d 307 (1942).

Although the basic mental capacity of the grantor is not at issue here, one must examine the record to determine what indication there is that Miller's own will was not operative due to what is labeled 'undue influence.' Appellants have pointed to Miller's modest education and respondent's relative sophistication and experience in business. This, in itself, is not determinative. The record shows that Miller was capable of making decisions regarding the management of his property up to the time of his death. It also appears without...