Snell v. Weldon

• Decision Date: 16 February 1910
• Citation: 90 N.E. 1061,243 Ill. 496
• Parties: SNELL v. WELDON.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

243 Ill. 496

90 N.E. 1061

SNELL

v.WELDON.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

Feb. 16, 1910.

Appeal from Circuit Court, De Witt County; Salon Philbrick, Judge.

Bill by Richard Snell against Lincoln H. Weldon, as executor of Thomas Snell, deceased. From a decree for complainant, defendant appeals. Affirmed.Herrick & Herrick and Barry & Morrissey, for appellant.

John Fuller, Edward J. Sweeney, W. S. Kenyon, Lemon & Lemon, and Ingham & Ingham, for appellee.

VICKERS, J.

Richard Snell filed a bill in chancery in the De Witt county circuit court to have the will of his father, Thomas Snell, set aside on the grounds that the testator was not of sound mind and memory, was unduly influenced to make said will, and had insane delusions regarding complainant.

The case has been tried in the circuit court by three different juries. On the first trial of the cause the jury failed to agree and were discharged without a verdict. On the second trial there was a finding for the complainant, and against the will, on all of the issues presented. A decree was entered in accordance with the verdict setting aside the will, from which the executor appealed to this court. The decree of the circuit court was reversed because of several errors which are pointed out in the opinion of this court, which is reported as Snell v. Weldon, 239 Ill. 279, 87 N. E. 1022. After the remanding order of this court was filed in the circuit court, but before any notice had been given to appellant that the cause would be redocketed for trial, an application was made to one of the circuit judges, in vacation, for leave to amend the bill, making a child that had been born to the testator's grandson, Harry C. Snell, after the commencement of the suit, a party defendant. This leave was granted, and the child was made a party and brought into court by summons, and the child answered the bill through a guardian ad litem. Upon the third trial of the cause a verdict was returned finding that the alleged will, and each of the three codicils thereto, purporting to be the last will and testament of Thomas Snell, were not his last will and testament, and specifically finding that at the time when the will and the several codicils thereto were executed the testator was laboring under an insane delusion concerning his son, Richard Snell. The circuit court entered a decree setting aside the will, after having overruled motions to set aside the general and special verdicts and for a new trial. The executor has again brought the record to this court for review and asks a reversal for several reasons, which will be hereinafter considered.

When this cause was before this court on the previous hearing, the circumstances attending the execution of the will were stated; but in view of the issues then presented and the conclusion reached by this court in respect thereto we did not deem it necessary to set out the will and the three codicils at large, but as the case is now presented it is necessary to a proper discussion and understanding of the questions involved to set out the entire will and the three codicils thereto. Before doing so a few of the leading facts will be stated.

The testator was born in December, 1818, and died June 19, 1907, at the age of 88 years. He had lived the greater part of his life in De Witt county. He had been exceptionally successful in accumulating a large fortune, and at the time of his death his estate was valued at approximately $1,500,000, which consisted largely of valuable real eatate in McLean and De Witt counties, in this state, and lands in Iowa and Missouri. At the time of his death he left one child, Richard Snell, the appellee herein, and three grandchildren, Thomas Thornton Snell, Harry C. Snell, and Lena E. Dinsmore, children of his deceased son, James Thornton Snell, as his only heirs at law. The testator's wife died many years before the will was executed. Other facts and circumstances which have a bearing upon the issue in regard to the existence of an insane delusion in the mind of the testator will be stated hereinafter in connection with the consideration of that question.

The will of Thomas Snell is as follows:

‘I, Thomas Snell, of the county of De Witt and state of Illinois, do make, publish and declare this to be my last will and testament, hereby revoking all former wills by me made at any time.

‘1. I give, bequeath and devise all my property, real and personal, wherever the same may be, to Lincoln H. Wldon and his successor or successors, in trust for the uses and purposes herein expressed and specified, until the time hereinafter named for the final distribution of my estate.

‘2. It shall be the duty of said Lincoln H. Weldon (who is also hereinafter named as the executor of this my will) to pay my funeral expenses and all my just debts in due course of administration, and in case a contract for building a vault or tomb for myself and family, now in contemplation, is not let or made before my decease, I hereby authorize, direct and require the said trustee to let or make such contract within six (6) months from my decease, the contract price to be not less than seven thousand ($7,000) dollars, and not more than ten thousand ($10,000) dollars. It shall be the duty of said trustee, and each and every trustee for the time being under this will, to keep my burial vault and cemetery lots in good repair and order, the grounds in blue grass and suitable flowers at the proper seasons.

‘3. I authorize and direct the said trustee, his successor or successors in trust, to pay annually to my daughter-in-law, Hannah A. Snell, the sum of one thousand ($1,000) dollars on the first day of January of each and every year, so long as she shall live, in accordance with contract with her dated on or about the 25th day of July, A. D. 1899.

‘4. I authorize and direct the said trustee, his successor or successors in trust, to pay annually in the month of March in each and every year after the year of my decease, the following annuities to the persons named below, as follows: To my brother, Joseph Snell, annually, so long as he may live, the sum of four hundred ($400) dollars; to Mrs. Clara Belle De Land, annually, so long as she may live, the sum of four hundred ($400) dollars; to my great-niece, Mabelle Snell, the daughter of my nephew, Thomas Snell, annually, so long as she may live, the sum of four hundred ($400) dollars.

‘5. I authorize and direct the said trustee, his successor or successors in trust, to pay annually to my son, Richard Snell, the sum of one thousand ($1,000) dollars in the month of March of each and every year after the year of my decease, so long as he shall live; provided that no such annual payment shall be made prior to 1905.

‘6. I authorize and direct the said trustee, his successor or successors in trust, to pay annually the sum of one thousand ($1,000) dollars to each of my three grandchildren, Lena E. Dinsmore, Thomas Thornton Snell and Harry C. Snell, in the month of March in each and every year after my decease, until improvements in East Fort Dodge, Iowa, to the amount of one hundred and fifty thousand ($150,000) dollars, as hereinafter directed, have been made and paid for.

‘7. I authorize and direct the said trustee, his successor or successors in trust, to pay annually the sum of three thousand ($3,000) dollars to each of my three grandchildren, Lena E. Dinsmore, Thomas Thornton Snell and Harry C. Snell, in the month of March in each and every year, for the period of five (5) years next after said improvements in East Fort Dodge, Iowa, to the amount of one hundred and fifty thousand ($150,000) dollars have been made and paid for; provided that in case any business house or houses of considerable value should during said period of five (5) years be destroyed by fire, it shall be the duty of said trustee, his successor or successors, to rebuild the same, and the annual this is done and the same paid for, the annual payments to each of said three grandchildren shall be reduced to the sum of one thousand ($1,000) dollars.

‘8. It shall be the duty of said trustee, his successor or successors in trust, to pay promptly all taxes and assessments on said property, to keep all business houses reasonablyinsured, and to keep all the real property belonging to said trust estate (except vacant lots) well rented for cash, but not for more than five (5) years in any one term, except property used for hotel or bank business, which may be rented for not exceeding ten (10) years in any one term.

‘9. I hereby authorize, empower and direct said trustee, his successor or successors in trust, from time to time within four (4) years from my decease, to expend from my personal property, from the rents and profits of my lands and tenements, and from the proceeds of the sales of such of my real property as hereinafter authorized to be sold, moneys to the amount of one hundred and fifty thousand ($150,000) dollars in erecting business houses and making improvements in blocks nine (9), ten (10) and eleven (11) in East Fort Dodge, Iowa, on my lots fronting on Central avenue, once called Market street. The business houses must be of stone or brick, or partly of each, and in other respects the character and style of the buildings and improvements are to be determined by the trustee and my said three grandchildren, or, if they do not all agree, by the trustee with the written consent of any of my said grandchildren. I direct that these buildings and improvements shall be erected and made as soon as is reasonably practical after my decease, due regard and care being had and taken for the regular payment of the special sums of money and legacies provided for and directed to be paid by this will. But should I, myself, erect buildings and make improvements on said lots in East Fort Dodge, Iowa, the said trustee shall be required to erect buildings and make improvements on said lots only to the amount of the difference between the...