Shearer v. Healy

• Decision Date: 02 June 1967
• Docket Number: No. 340,340
• Citation: 230 A.2d 101,247 Md. 11
• Parties: Lois Ellen SHEARER v. Norbert I. HEALY.
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals

Page 11

247 Md. 11

230 A.2d 101

Lois Ellen SHEARER v. Norbert I. HEALY.

No. 340.

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

June 2, 1967.

Spencer M. Beresford, Washington, D. C. (vom Baur, Beresford & Coburn, Washington, D. C., Howard Wood, David C. Bryan and Wood & Bryan, Centreville, on the brief), for appellant.

William W. Beckett and James P. Salmon, Hyattsville (Duckett, Orem, Christie & Beckett and John C. Joyce, Hyattsville, on the brief), for appellee.

Before HORNEY, MARBURY, BARNES, McWILLIAMS and FINAN, JJ.

BARNES, Judge.

This appeal involves the caveat to the will of Charles Byrne Finn who died, a resident of Queen Anne's County, on March 30, 1964, at the age of 60. The will, dated June 18, 1963, recited that all other wills were revoked and left the entire estate of the testator to 'my good friend of long standing, Norbert I. Healy, 619 A Street, N.E., Washington, D. C. absolutely and in fee simple.' Mr. Healy was made executor of the will.

The caveator, Lois Ellen Shearer, is the legatee of the testator's entire estate under an earlier will dated March 9, 1962. Mr. Healy, as administrator pendente lite, is the caveatee. At the conclusion of all of the evidence, the trial court (Keating, J.) reserved its rulings on the caveatee's motion to direct the verdict of the jury in his favor on the issues involving the execution of the will, the knowledge of its contents, mental capacity and of undue influence allegedly practiced on the testator by Mr. Healy. The jury found for the caveatee on the issues of execution of the will and knowledge of its contents; failed to reach a verdict on the issue of mental capacity; and found that the will of June 18, 1963, had been procured by Mr. Healy's undue influence. The trial court thereafter directed a verdict for the caveatee on the issue of mental capacity and also granted the caveatee's motion for a judgment, notwithstanding the verdict, upon the issue of undue influence, and ordered that the appropriate answer to that issue ('No') be entered. An appeal was timey taken from this action by the trial court. The only issue raised in this Court is in regard to undue influence, the caveator contending that there was sufficient evidence to justify the submission of this issue to the jury and to support the jury's verdict in her favor on this issue.

In our consideration of the facts in this case, we must resolve all conflicts in the evidence in favor of the caveator and must assume the truth of the evidence produced on her behalf, as well as all reasonable inferences which may be drawn from the evidence. Ingalls v. Trustees of Mt. Oak Methodist Church Cemetery, 244 Md. 243, 247, 223 A.2d 778, 779 (1966).

Much of the testimony is undisputed, and establishes the following: The testator was born in Washington, D. C. and lived there until he was about 12 years old when his mother died. After his family divided, he went to live with a Mrs. Martina R. Haynes near Lanham in Prince George's County. He made his home with Mrs. Haynes, who was not a blood relative, for approximately 40 years until her death, becoming her foster son.

In the latter part of 1961, Mrs. Haynes and the testator moved from the home in Lanham to a farm Mrs. Haynes had purchased in Queen Anne's County near Grasonville. Six weeks after moving Mrs. Haynes died. Her will left the bulk of her property, including her real estate, to the testator absolutely, subject to the payment of various legacies. The testator sold the Lanham property for approximately $100,000 net after paying expenses and various legacies. He continued to live on the Queen Anne's County farm, worth approximately $35,000, until his death on March 30, 1964.

On March 9, 1962, the testator executed a will, prepared by Duckett, Orem, Christie and Beckett, by which he devised and bequeathed his entire estate to Mrs. Shearer, the caveator, of Landover Hills, Prince George's County, if she survived him, otherwise to her descendants. These provisions were preceded by the following statement: 'In compliance with the express wish of Martina R. Haynes that I provide for Mrs. Lois Ellen Shearer, in greatful (sic) appreciation * * *.' Most of the assets of the testator were received under the will of Mrs. Haynes.

The caveator, her husband and four sons, had moved to Landover Hills about the year 1943. Their home was approximately three miles from that of Mrs. Haynes. The Shearer family, Mrs. Haynes and the testator had become close friends by 1950. The Shearers referred to Mrs. Haynes as 'Aunt Tina' and Mrs. Haynes often introduced Mrs. Shearer to strangers as 'her daughter.' Mrs. Haynes often said that she would like Mrs. Shearer 'to be my daughter' and that 'If I ever had a daughter I would like her to be just like Lois. (Mrs. Shearer).' Both Mrs. Haynes and the testator were fond of the Shearer children and made a habit of stopping in to see the Shearers when they went to town or otherwise passed the Shearer home. Mrs. Haynes and the testator often had dinner with the Shearers and spent many holidays with them. They would see the Shearers weekly. Mr. Shearer died in 1959 by which time three of the four sons had married. Mrs. Shearer continued to live at the home in Landover Hills with her fourth son, then 12 years of age.

Both Mrs. Haynes and the testator were great lovers of animals especially horses and dogs. They had both horses and dogs at their home in Lanham and later at the Grasonville farm. The testator had a routine job sorting mail at the Washington, D. C. post office where he obtained night duty so that he could spend the day at home taking care of his many pets. Taking care of the animals and working out of doors were his principal diversions.

The testator had only about a sixth-grade education. He was straightforward and honest, was friendly but shy and prone to embarrassment. He was very close to his foster mother, Mrs. Haynes and depended on her to a great extent. He did not know how to cook and was not used to keeping the house inside, although, as indicated, he did outside work. Mrs. Haynes drove the testator from their Lanham home to his work. He disliked paper work and never handled any business matters of his own, Mrs. Haynes doing it all for him.

The testator had married an employee of the Post Office Department in Washington, D. C. This marriage was not successful and resulted in a mutually agreeable separation. There was no issue of the marriage. The wife predeceased the testator by a number of years, the date of her death not appearing in the record.

The testator retired from the Government service on disability around 1960. He had suffered a heart attack and was a diabetic. Because of his diabetic condition, he had been ordered by his physician not to consume alcohol in any form. Before Mrs. Haynes' death he had gone on drinking bouts from time to time. Mrs. Haynes disapproved of this conduct. After her death he stated that he would drink no more 'until he got all this settled,' and expressed concern over taking care of business matters relating to her estate. He visited Mrs. Shearer even more frequently and often spoke to her over the telephone when he did not see her.

Approximately two months after the death of Mrs. Haynes on December 14, 1961, the testator went to Mrs. Shearer's home and left a will with her which had been drawn at his request by his counsel, Duckett, Orem, Christie and Beckett. He told her that this will revoked an earlier will which left all of his estate to his sister. The sister, however, remained the sole beneficiary of his life insurance policies, amounting to $16,000, and was the joint owner of his personal bank account, which, at the time of his death, had a balance of between $2500 and $3000. The testator told Mrs. Shearer that he had made the new will because it disposed of the property which came to him from Mrs. Haynes who had expressly requested him to make Mrs. Shearer his beneficiary. Not long after this visit, the testator, on March 9, 1962, made a new will which again named Mrs. Shearer as sole beneficiary if she survived him, and, as indicated, expressly stated that this was done in accordance with the wishes of Mrs. Haynes. The descendants of Mrs. Shearer were named as beneficiaries if she predeceased the testator. The testator left the will of March 9, 1962, with Mrs. Shearer and took back the previous will. He never asked Mrs. Shearer to return the March 9, 1962 will and spoke about it as late as eight days before he died.

The friendship between the Shearers and the testator continued until his death. He frequently consulted Mrs. Shearer about signing documents relating to the property he had received from Mrs. Haynes. Until the spring of 1963 it was customary for Mrs. Shearer and Mr. and Mrs. Earl Wagner (Mrs. Wagner, a nurse, had cared for the testator when he was seriously ill, and she and her husband were friends of the testator), to drive down to Queen Anne's County on Sunday, pick up the testator at his home and take him out to a meal at a restaurant or at the home of friends.

In early 1963, Mrs. Shearer observed certain changes in the testator's life. He saw his old friends less frequently. He began to drink again and his health deteriorated. In May, 1963, the testator began calling the Shearers and Wagners on Sunday mornings to ask them not to come down. He stated that the caveatee, Mr. Healy, was there; they had been drinking heavily; and, that women were there with whom he did not want Mrs. Shearer and Mrs. Wagner to associate.

The testator had known Healy when they were small boys living next door to each other in Washington, D. C. When they were in their teens, they did some camping with friends during the summer. The caveatee was also employed in the Washington general post office building and when he and the testator were on the day shift, they sometimes had lunch together. However, they usually worked in different departments and on different...