Wiechers v. Pool
| Decision Date | 18 June 1915 |
| Docket Number | No. 30176.,30176. |
| Citation | 172 Iowa 422,153 N.W. 65 |
| Parties | WIECHERS ET AL. v. POOL. |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Appeal from District Court, Jackson County; Wm. Theophilus, Judge.
Action at law for the appointment of a guardian of the property of the defendant upon the ground that he, defendant, is a person of unsound mind. A temporary guardian of his person and property was appointed, and thereafter upon trial to the court without a jury, this guardianship was made permanent, and the defendant appeals. Modified and remanded.Willard H. Palmer, of Maquoketa, for appellant.
F. D. Kelsey, of Maquoketa, for appellees.
[1] Defendant is a widower about 86 years of age, now living with a son, S. W. Pool, upon a farm in Jackson county, Iowa. His wife died in January of the year 1909, leaving the husband and five children surviving. Four of these children, all adults and all married, are the plaintiffs in this action, which was brought to have a guardian appointed for defendant's property, under section 3219 of the Code, it being alleged, that he (defendant) is of unsound mind, and incapable of managing his ordinary affairs and of properly caring for his property. Defendant filed an answer, controverting the allegations of the petition, and upon the issue thus tendered, a judgment was entered, finding the defendant unsound of mind, and appointing a guardian for him and for his property. The appeal is from this judgment.
Before the death of his wife, defendant was the owner of a farm in Jackson county, but shortly after her demise he sold the farm, and his personal property, and went to live with his married daughter Laura J. Blake, and her husband, remaining with them until March 24, 1914, when he took up his residence with his son, S. W. Pool. He received $8,000 for his farm, $2,000 of which was paid in cash, and the remainder represented by a note, secured by mortgage upon the farm, the note drawing 5 per cent. interest, payable annually. This note and mortgage were deposited with a bank in Maquoketa, where the interest was paid annually, and drawn out by the defendant at will. He also received some money from personal property, the exact amount of which is not shown. When he went to live with the Blakes, he agreed to pay them $150 per year for his board, and this afterward was raised to $200 per year. Notwithstanding his wants were few, he expended practically all the cash he received for his farm and personal property and the interest on his note, during the time he lived with the Blakes, and he also borrowed money from the bank and two or three other persons, and failed to pay his board bill for two years. He also signed some notes as surety; and a judgment was rendered against him on some of these notes, for approximately $500. Some other notes were also outstanding at the time this action was commenced; and he owed several bills for merchandise.
On the 24th day of January, 1914, he made an assignment of his $6,000 note and mortgage to his son, S. W. Pool, with the verbal understanding that his said son should pay his honest debts, care for him while he lived, and give him a decent burial. Pursuant to this agreement, S. W. Pool paid his indebtedness to the bank, amounting to something like $198, and gave defendant $10 in cash. Some of the other children heard of this, and, finding that there was no written agreement by S. W. Pool, representing the consideration for the transfer, they took the matter up with S. W. Pool, and as a result, something like a week thereafter, S. W. Pool and the Blakes met with the defendant at a lawyer's office, where a paper was prepared for both defendant and S. W. Pool to sign, which was said to evidence the previous agreement between them. At this time, the Blakes and S. W. Pool had some words over the matter, but finally the agreement was signed by defendant, and at the same time S. W. Pool gave to Laura Blake a note for $410, covering defendant's board to March, 1914, and a note for $210, which had been made by defendant to Mrs. Blake. The children who were present did not, however, come to an agreement regarding the assignment of the note and mortgage, and the agreement between S. W. Pool and the defendant as reproduced in the record does not appear to have been signed by S. W. Pool. As the children who were present could not agree upon the assignment, this action was commenced within five days, that is to say, on February 4, 1914, and a temporary guardian was appointed for the person and property of the defendant. On the 24th day of March, 1914, defendant left the Blakes, where he had previously been living in the town of Maquoketa, and went to live with S. W. Pool.
Prior to the time of the assignment, S. W. Pool had been a hard drinker, had frequently been arrested for intoxication, but had managed to accumulate something like $14,000 in property. The other children were not so well off, and one of them was quite poor, and received frequent aid from defendant. Defendant left the Blake home, without indicating that he intended to leave permanently, and without taking any of his belongings with him. He had been ailing physically for something like 15 years, had bladder or kidney trouble or both, was subject to chills and fever, which at their height affected his mind; gradually he became quite deaf, and could not hear ordinary conversation. He had ceased active business, and his money was well secured, and needed no attention. While a drinking man, he was, during his earlier years, shrewd, careful, and reasonably thrifty; but later in life and after the death of his wife, he became careless in his habits and in his business matters, signed notes as security for his son James, and borrowed small sums of money, as already indicated, for purposes not disclosed by the record. Some of the notes on which he was surety went to judgment, although defendant does not have any clear notion about these notes or about their being any judgment against him. He was apparently well provided for by the Blakes, and was not wanting for a home at the time he made the assignment of all he had to his...
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