Pirtle v. Tucker

• Decision Date: 15 December 2006
• Docket Number: 1050907.
• Citation: 960 So.2d 620
• Parties: Melissa Dawn PIRTLE and Anna Dell Prchal v. John Wayne TUCKER.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

960 So.2d 620

Melissa Dawn PIRTLE and Anna Dell Prchal v. John Wayne TUCKER.

1050907.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

December 15, 2006.

James P. Hess of Hess & McMurtrie, P.C., Huntsville, for appellants.

P. Scott Arnston and Jeffrey T. Kelly of Lanier Food Shaver & Payne, P.C., Huntsville, for appellee.

HARWOOD, Justice.

Melissa Dawn Pirtle and Anna Dell Prchal, contestants in a will contest involving a document purported to be the will of their grandfather, James F. Miller, appeal from the summary judgment entered in favor of the proponent and sole beneficiary of the will, John Wayne Tucker. Pirtle and Prchal contend that the will was the product of Tucker's undue influence over Miller, that Miller lacked testamentary capacity, and that the will was, for those and for additional reasons, invalid. They argue that the circuit court erred in entering the summary judgment for Tucker because, they say, there existed several questions of material fact. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

This Court's standard for reviewing a summary judgment is settled:

"This Court reviews a summary judgment de novo. Turner v. Westhampton Court, L.L.C., 903 So.2d 82, 87 (Ala. 2004). We seek to determine whether the movant has made a prima facie showing that there exists no genuine issue of material fact and has demonstrated that the movant is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Turner, supra. In reviewing a summary judgment, this Court reviews the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmovant. Turner, supra. Once the movant makes a prima facie showing that he is entitled to a summary judgment, the burden shifts to the nonmovant to produce `substantial evidence' creating a genuine issue of material fact. Ala.Code 1975, § 12-21-12; Bass v. SouthTrust Bank of Baldwin County, 538 So.2d 794, 797-98 (Ala.1989). `Substantial evidence' is `evidence of such weight and quality that fair-minded persons in the exercise of impartial judgment can reasonably infer the existence of the fact sought to be proved.' West v. Founders Life Assurance Co. of Fla., 547 So.2d 870, 871 (Ala.1989)."

Muller v. Seeds, 919 So.2d 1174, 1176-77 (Ala.2005). We apply that same standard in reviewing a summary judgment entered in a will contest. See Allen v. Sconyers, 669 So.2d 113, 115 (Ala.1995). Because Pirtle and Prchal do not argue on appeal that Tucker failed to meet his prima facie burden, we are concerned only with whether the elements of their claims were supported by substantial evidence.

The undisputed record, viewed in the light most favorable to Pirtle and Prchal, the nonmovants, shows the following facts. The testator, James F. Miller, died on September 11, 2004. Twice widowed and once divorced, Miller lived alone for several years immediately preceding his death. Miller's relationships with his surviving relatives, two sisters and his granddaughters, Pirtle and Prchal, were limited. Pirtle and Prchal both lived in Tennessee, approximately 30 miles from Miller's house in Madison County. Prchal testified that she had a good relationship with Miller and that her visits to Miller's house varied in number between one and several times each year, although she usually did not see him during holidays. When his health began to fail during the last year of his life, Prchal visited him more frequently, and except for a two-month period during which she underwent and recovered from surgery, she saw him several times each month at his house, in the hospital when he was hospitalized, and at the nursing home after he was admitted there. Prchal was with Miller the day before he died. Pirtle saw Miller a couple of times each year and had only a limited knowledge of his daily life. Pirtle did not attempt to contact the hospital or nursing home to check on Miller's condition. Tucker testified that in early 2004, Miller did not know exactly where his granddaughters lived.

Miller and Tucker had been neighbors since approximately 1977. Tucker testified that he "adopted" Miller as a father figure after his own father died and that, during the last 10 years of Miller's life, he and Miller spent time together nearly every day. Pirtle testified that Miller did not talk to her about Tucker until approximately two years before he died. Miller's friend, Patrick Meagher, stated in an affidavit that at some point during his 16-year friendship with Miller, Miller had referred to Tucker as "a g. . d. . . leach," and, referring to Tucker, had once remarked, "He's always wanting something," or words to that effect. Meagher did not specify when Miller made these statements.

Miller was described by his pastor as eccentric. He had no telephone and spent much of his time collecting items and making things out of odd items he found. A motorcycle was Miller's primary means of transportation until he could no longer drive it, approximately one year before his death. The evidence showed that Miller spent much time in a shed in his backyard. Pirtle and Prchal testified that during the last year of his life, Miller moved into the shed. Tucker testified that Miller would work in the shed until he fell asleep and would then move into the house when he woke up in the middle of the night. Prchal described Miller as a "pack rat" who, at times, spent time in jail rather than pay fines for violating certain rules or ordinances regarding the trash and other items in his yard. Pirtle testified that Miller's neighbors complained to her that he would urinate and defecate in his backyard.

Miller had a history of diabetes and heart problems. During the last year of his life, Miller's health had declined, particularly during the last six months. Additionally, Miller's eyesight grew bad, to the point that he had difficulty reading. In early 2004, when Miller could no longer drive his motorcycle, he became dependent upon Tucker for transportation. Tucker often took Miller with him while he attended to his own business. Miller came to depend on Tucker for at least two of his meals each day, and beginning in March 2004 Tucker made sure that Miller took his medications. Tucker frequently checked on Miller late at night. Pirtle and Prchal did not complain about Tucker's increasing care of Miller; they were grateful for his help because they did not live nearby.

Miller's accountant, Brooks Gentle, who had prepared Miller's income tax returns for approximately 15 years, testified that when he prepared Miller's 2003 tax returns in mid-March 2004, Miller was "an average person like everyone else" and acted the same way as he had in previous years. Gentle testified that Tucker did accompany Miller to the office on that occasion.

In February 2004, when Miller and Tucker were at an office-supply store, Miller purchased a "will kit." Tucker testified that in March 2004, Miller asked if Tucker's wife would type his will. She did so on a computer at her and Tucker's house. Miller did not execute the will when it was prepared. Tucker further testified that he never talked with Miller about the will before Miller executed it, and never saw it when his wife prepared it or before it was executed.

The will consists of one page of text and a separate signature page. The size and style of the font on the signature page is different from the size and style of the font of the text of the will. When questioned about the discrepancy, Tucker explained that his wife had typed the page of text and that Miller had used a form from the will kit for the signature page.

The will appoints Tucker as Miller's personal representative and gives Miller's entire estate to Tucker. The will also contains the following statements: "Should either of the granddaughters contest this will they shall be automatically removed as a legal heir," and "I hereby declare that this Will and Testament is not made as the result of a contract of understanding with any other person but solely of my own free will." Tucker testified that Miller discussed with him his appointment as personal representative of Miller's estate but not the disposition of his property; Miller told Tucker only that he did not want his sisters to have anything and that he did not want Pirtle and Prchal to be in his house or to see how he had "collected things."

Tucker testified that Miller told him both before and after he executed the will that he wanted Pirtle and Prchal to each have $50,000 from one of his bank accounts. Tucker also testified that in April 2004 Miller stated that he wanted Tucker "to supply [Pirtle and Prchal] with some monies, whatever was left, over a period of five years." Tucker understood Miller to mean that Pirtle and Prchal were to have whatever money remained after he died. Prchal testified that her grandfather was the type of person who would have told her that he was disinheriting her if he was doing so and that he never told her that.

When Tucker's wife typed Miller's will, she also prepared a power of attorney appointing Tucker as Miller's attorney in fact. As with the will, the size and style of the font of the signature page for the power of attorney was different from the size and style of the font on the first page, and Tucker explained that the signature page was a form from the will kit. According to Tucker, he and Miller discussed the terms of the power of attorney, but Miller did not execute the power of attorney when it was prepared.

Tucker testified that in April 2004 Miller had a "real downfall" in health, and he was frequently "in and out of the hospital." Miller's medical records show that he lost 20 pounds between April 2004 and July 2004. Tucker transported Miller to and from the hospital and doctor's offices and cared for him while he recuperated. In April 2004, Tucker began going into the doctors' examination rooms with Miller. The record shows that Miller underwent a colonoscopy in mid-April 2004 and that he was hospitalized on April 23 for a few days and again on April 30. It is undisputed that...