Shackleford v. Edwards, 44592

• Decision Date: 09 May 1955
• Docket Number: No. 44592,No. 1,44592,1
• Citation: 278 S.W.2d 775
• Parties: Mary SHACKLEFORD and Helen Shackleford, Appellants, v. Thomas H. EDWARDS, Respondent
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

Page 775

278 S.W.2d 775

Mary SHACKLEFORD and Helen Shackleford, Appellants, v. Thomas H. EDWARDS, Respondent.

No. 44592.

Supreme Court of Missouri, Division No. 1.

May 9, 1955.

Schaumburg & Martin, W. H. Martin, Boonville, for appellants.

Roy D. Williams, Boonville, for respondent.

COIL, Commissioner.

Mary and Helen Shackleford have appealed from a judgment denying them relief in the nature of specific performance of an alleged contract between the Crawfords (husband and wife) to make irrevocable, mutual and reciprocal wills. We shall refer to the parties as they were designated in the trial court.

Plaintiffs were the nieces of George K. Crawford, deceased. Frances H. Crawford, deceased, was George's wife and defendant, Thomas H. Edwards, was Frances's son by a former marriage. The Crawfords married when George was in his 50's. He had a strong dislike for his stepson. Plaintiffs had lived for many years as members of their Uncle George Crawford's household. Mr. Crawford owned as his separate property 250 acres of farm land, a portion of which was improved with a residence. Mrs. Crawford owned as her separate property a house in Bunceton, Missouri. In 1931 Mr. Crawford executed a note payable to Mrs. Crawford for about $11,000 secured by a deed of trust on the acreage mentioned, excluding the farmhouse and a plot of ground surrounding it.

Mr. Boyle G. Clark, a lawyer, represented Mr. Crawford some time in the 1930's in litigation in which Crawford was sued as director of the Bunceton bank. A few days prior to July 18, 1939, Mr. Clark was in Boonville, where the Crawfords were then living, and conferred with them on that and perhaps another occasion with respect to matters concerning their respective properties and the contemplated execution of wills. Mr. Clark apparently made a memorandum of the matters discussed and obtained from the recorder's office copies of two deeds (presumably deeds containing descriptions of the farm acreage and the Bunceton house). Apparently this memorandum was delivered by Mr. Clark to Mr. Peterson (Mr. Clark's law partner) and, as a result, Peterson drew reciprocal wills for the Crawfords and presumably drew some deeds. In any event, on July 18, 1939, Mr. and Mrs. Crawford were by prearrangement in Mr. Clark's office and at that time executed the wills which had been prepared by Mr. Peterson. At the same time Mr. Crawford executed a deed to the 250 acres and Mrs. Crawford executed a deed to the Bunceton house, each conveying their respective separate properties to Miss Rummell, a secretary in the Clark office. Miss Rummell immediately conveyed the farm and the Bunceton house to Mr. and Mrs. Crawford as husband and wife. The next day (July 19, 1939) Mr. Peterson released the farm deed of trust heretofore mentioned.

The wills were reciprocal in their provisions. Mr. Crawford devised and bequeated to his wife all of his property, provided, however, that should she predecease him, the personal household effects which had been the property of Mrs. Crawford at the time of her marriage were bequeathed to her son, the defendant, and like personal effects which belonged to Mr. Crawford at the time of his marriage were bequeathed to his nephew, John Shackleford, and his two nieces, the plaintiffs (John Shackleford died in 1941 without heirs or descendants); and provided further, in the event Mrs. Crawford predeceased him, that one half the residue of his estate was devised and bequeathed to plaintiffs in equal shares, the other half to his stepson, Thomas H. Edwards, or, in the event defendant predeceased testator, to the descendants of Thomas H. Edwards, or, if none, then to Martha Frances Cooper, an adopted child of Mrs. Crawford's brother.

Mrs. Crawford's will contained the same provisions, i.e., she devised and bequeathed all of her property to her husband provided, however, that if he predeceased her, then her estate was to be disposed of exactly as provided in Mr. Crawford's will. Each named his spouse as executor and each named one Lon B. Wendleton as alternate executor.

Mr. Crawford died March 30, 1950. On May 10, 1950, the Cooper County Probate Court refused to administer on Mr. Crawford's estate for the reason that his property did not exceed in value the amount allowed by law to the widow as her absolute property. In the application for this order, the only property listed as belonging to Mr. Crawford was books, furniture, and bedding of no value, and a Plymouth automobile worth $400. In this connection we note that plaintiffs averred in their amended petition that pursuant to the alleged contract of irrevocability, certain personal property consisting of household goods, money bonds, other securities, and other chattels, the value of which plaintiffs did not know but which they alleged to be substantial, was by the joint action of the Crawfords vested in them as joint tenants with right of survivorship. Defendant denied this allegation and there was no direct evidence supporting this averment. There was testimony, however, which will be again referred to hereinafter, that Mrs. Crawford, after the death of her husband, stated that there was more money in the bank than she had expected and that she would be able to live comfortably without using the farm--that she would have cash and income sufficient to live.

On September 2, 1950 (about five months after her husband's death), Mrs. Crawford conveyed to defendant (her son) the farm and the Bunceton house reserving in herself a life estate, with the right to the full use and income during her life.

On December 1, 1950, Mrs. Crawford executed a new will in which defendant was sole beneficiary, and, in September 1952, executed a codicil thereto providing that her estate should go to a Kansas City hospital in the event her son predeceased her. Her former will (the July 1939 will) was destroyed by the attorney who drew the December 1950 will.

On October 29, 1951, Mrs. Crawford and defendant conveyed 40 of the 250 acres to Mr. and Mrs. Robien who paid $450 therefor by a check payable to Mrs. Crawford. On May 27, 1953, Mrs. Crawford and defendant conveyed the Bunceton house to Mr. and Mrs. Renken for $3,000 which was paid by several checks payable to Mrs. Crawford and her son and delivered when they both were present.

Messrs. Clark and Peterson testified that they had no independent recollection of the preparation and execution of the wills and the deeds but, in addition to the obvious fact that the wills and deeds were drawn by the Clark firm and executed there on July 18, 1939, the effect of their testimony was that neither had knowledge of an agreement, contract, or understanding between Mr. and Mrs. Crawford that they would not revoke the reciprocal wills and, thus, neither Mr. Clark nor Mr. Peterson made any attempt to so draw the wills or, by any other means, to give effect to such an agreement.

Mr. Wendleton, who, as noted, was named alternate executor in each of the wills and who, in addition, was the Crawford's long-time friend and neighbor, testified that shortly after Mr. Crawford's funeral he had some conversations with Mrs. Crawford at her request. Mrs. Crawford said to him 'that when her and George finally agreed on what they were going to do with their property' they went to Mr. Clark's office and that he drew the wills for them, and she further said 'they [Mr. and Mrs. Crawford] had a joint will, that her will was in line and I was named as Executor in it.'

Mrs. Gladys Stevens, Mrs. Crawford's second cousin and a next-door neighbor, testified that Mrs. Crawford told her that she and Mr. Crawford were going to Columbia 'to make a will and to fix up their property'; that upon their return from Columbia, Mrs. Crawford said that 'they had decided together they would divide it half and half; Tom would get half and the Shackleford girls would get the other half.'

Mary Chambers and her sister Ruth, who were plaintiffs' fourth cousins and Mr. Crawford's third cousins, visited Mrs. Crawford for 1 1/2 or 2 hours shortly after Mr. Crawford's death. Mary Chambers testified that Mrs. Crawford said that she and George 'had made a contract and joint wills * * * and she thought he couldn't have been better to have agreed to make these joint wills * * * that Mary and Helen would receive Cousin George's half * * * and that her half would go to her son Tom * * * she told us that [three pieces of furniture from Crawford side of family] was Mary's and Helen's and * * * she said they just as well enjoy it now and she would like for them to have it at that time, because she didn't need it and then she repeated again that Cousin George had left more money in the bank than she thought he had and that she was well provided for * * * she went over that time and time again about the property and that she would have enough and could live comfortably and she would have or at her death that this was to be divided this way * * * she was very much pleased that her property was fixed so that she wouldn't have to worry and that it would go where they wanted it to go. * * * and it would be carried out that way.'

Ruth Chambers, relating Mrs. Crawford's statements in the same conversation, testified that Mrs. Crawford 'told us that they had fixed their property, she and Cousin George and that they had made their wills and had fixed a contract so at her death her property would go to Tom, her son, and his property would go * * * to these Shackleford girls at his death or the one that survived it would go to and she said she thought it was just wonderful in Cousin George to have...