Morris v. Donovan

• Decision Date: 20 November 1911
• Parties: MORRIS v. DONOVAN.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

141 S.W. 428

159 Mo. App. 401

MORRIS v. DONOVAN.

Kansas City Court of Appeals, Missouri.

November 20, 1911.

1. CONTRACTS (§§ 22, 216)—CONSTRUCTION— SUPPORT.

Where decedent in his lifetime wrote plaintiff that if she was willing to move to Missouri and live with him he would take care of her the rest of her life, and would expect the same of her in return, plaintiff, by performing services in caring for him during his life, completed a contract, by which decedent was bound, not only to support plaintiff during the rest of his life, but, if she survived him, to provide for her suitable maintenance for the remainder of her life.

2. APPEAL AND ERROR (§ 1068)—INSTRUCTIONS—PREJUDICE.

Plaintiff was not prejudiced by an instruction, submitting the question of the making of the contract sued on to the jury, where the jury found that issue in her favor.

3. CONTRACTS (§ 322)—PERFORMANCE.

Where decedent contracted to furnish plaintiff support during her life, in consideration of services rendered to him as his housekeeper, property bought and deeded to her, and money paid to her by decedent in his lifetime, should be considered in determining whether the legacy left for her in decedent's will was sufficient to constitute a performance of the contract.

4. CONTRACTS (§ 229)—PRESENT PAYMENT— COMPUTATION.

Where plaintiff was entitled to life support from decedent, in consideration of services rendered

as his housekeeper, she was entitled to an annuity equal to the reasonable cost of her maintenance, and, on election of the parties to commute the annuity into a lump sum, this should be done by ascertaining plaintiff's life expectancy in accordance with the annuity table prescribed by Rev. St. 1909, § 8499.

Error to Circuit Court, Dekalb County; A. D. Burnes, Judge.

Action by Mary Morris against William Donovan, executor of the estate of John Donovan, deceased. Judgment for plaintiff for less than the relief demanded, and she brings error. Affirmed.

W. H. Haynes and Hewitt & Hewitt, for plaintiff in error. W. M. Fitch and Kendall B. Randolph, for defendant in error.

JOHNSON, J.

This suit was instituted in the circuit court of Dekalb county against the executor of the estate of John Donovan, deceased, to recover the sum of $5,000, alleged to be due plaintiff under a contract of employment she had with Donovan. A trial to a jury resulted in a verdict and judgment for plaintiff for $200, but plaintiff, dissatisfied with this judgment, brought the case here by proceedings in error.

Donovan died at his home in Maysville in November, 1907, leaving a modest estate, which he disposed of by will. He devised and bequeathed to plaintiff, who was his niece and housekeeper, his home place and household goods, of a total value estimated by the witnesses at from $1,200 to $1,800. Plaintiff accepted this property as a payment on account of her demand for services, and brought this suit for the remainder, alleging that "said John Donovan died, having made a partial but not sufficient provision in his will for her support during the remainder of her life, and without fully compensating her for the services rendered him, as aforesaid, under said agreement."

The facts, relating to the agreement referred to, thus may be stated: In March, 1898, Donovan, then a widower, old and in ill health, wrote a letter to plaintiff's sister in Wisconsin, with whom plaintiff was living, in which he proposed that plaintiff should come to Maysville and serve in the dual role of housekeeper and nurse for him, and he inclosed a remittance of $20, to...