Wilson v. Wilson
| Decision Date | 14 December 1948 |
| Docket Number | 47322. |
| Citation | 34 N.W.2d 911,240 Iowa 26 |
| Parties | WILSON et al. v. WILSON. |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
Miller, Miller & Cousins and E. C. Halbach, all of Clinton, for appellants.
M L. Sutton, of Clinton, and Wayne G. Cook, of Davenport, for appellee.
John L Wilson, of Clinton, died testate August 31, 1946. He left two sons, Charles M. Wilson and John L. Wilson, Jr., both of Clinton County, a married daughter, Vernie Wilson Clarke, of Maquoketa, Jackson County, and four grandchildren: Ione Rickoff, daughter of Charles M. Wilson, Marian Donielson daughter, and John Clarke, son, of Mrs. Clarke, and John L Wilson, III, son of John L. Wilson, Jr.
Decedent owned approximately 420 acres of Clinton County land comprising ten and one-half 40 acre pieces, located in sections 25, 35, and 36, and forming a large irregularly shaped tract, divided, in later years, into two farms, with two sets of buildings. A road ran through the tract easterly and westerly along or near the line between sections 25 and 36. The deed in question here was for the forty acres furthest north. It was executed October 29, 1943, and ran from decedent to his grandson, John L. Wilson, III, defendant herein. It was not recorded however until January 18, 1946, about seven months before Mr. Wilson's death and over two years after its execution.
Decedent's will was dated August 29, 1938. His wife died in 1937. Sometime between these dates he and his two sons had a discussion concerning the occupation, use, and proposed division of decedent's real estate. Charles had been farming four forties (including the one in dispute here) and a twenty (approximately 180 acres in all) on a cash rent basis, and John L., Jr., occupied the rest. Decedent told his sons he expected to make the same division of land in his will and enlisted their assistance in getting the legal descriptions. Each was in the meantime to continue in possession of what he had been farming, pay a certain fixed rent per acre and the taxes on the land he occupied. Plaintiff testified:
The will as subsequently drawn gave John L., Jr., a five acre strip off the west edge of one of Charles' forties. All John L. Jr.'s acreage however was devised to him for life only with remainder 'to my grandson John L. Wilson (defendant herein) for and during his lifetime and upon his death to his lawful living issue, if any, per stirpes and not per capita.' The will then provided that if the grandson left no issue the land was to go as if testator had died intestate. There was a ten acre piece in the devise to John L., Jr., not included in the 420 acres heretofore referred to but the record is otherwise silent as to it. Testator's two sons were named residuary beneficiaries and as executors without bond.
In 1940 (March 8) decedent deeded to each son the forty acres upon which his home buildings were located in order that each could have the benefit of the homestead tax exemption upon the land upon which he was paying taxes. The home deeded to John L., Jr., was the old Wilson homestead where decedent and the family lived before he and his wife moved into the city of Clinton. The Charles Wilson home buildings were newer. The two houses were somewhat less than one half mile apart. In an earlier day, before moving to town, decedent occupied the entire 420 acres as one farm.
The deed to defendant John L. Wilson, III, is attacked here on grounds of grantor's alleged mental incompetence and subjection to undue influence. At the close of plaintiff's evidence the issue of undue influence was dismissed as unsupported by any evidence. At the close of all the evidence the court entered decree for defendant. Charles M. Wilson, personally and as co-executor, appeals. In making up the issues defendant caused to be brought in as parties Alvin Dohrn and wife, tenants under Charles M. Wilson, but apparently they are not concerned in this appeal.
There is impressive evidence of much mental deterioration in the 'Senator' (as decedent was universally called) commencing about or somewhat prior to the date of execution of the deed in question. His condition is described as growing progressively worse from about that time until his death in 1946 at the age of 89 years.
A statement of the evidence in too great detail would be uninteresting and not helpful. It will suffice to indicate its general character. Decedent was originally a farmer but early entered public life. He was state senator from Clinton County for many years. He also became interested in the farm insurance business, became an official of one or more companies and wrote insurance.
According to the testimony his failing mental condition was shown in various ways--by errors in dressing himself, putting dish towels and other cloths around his neck or in his pocket, erratic and dirty table habits, using various parts of the house as a toilet, turning on gas jets, losing interest in reading and in radio programs and other things formerly enjoyed by him, difficulty in using the phone, childishness in trivial matters, getting lost in the neighborhood, failure to recognize people he should know, carelessness in handling money, erratic conduct in attempting to care for the yard, inability to preside at the Old Settler's Reunion and peculiar conduct in many other ways.
The evidence of these matters is furnished by many witnesses, some undoubtedly partisan but most of them impartial and disinterested.
The only expert who testified was Dr. Riggert who at one time lived in decedent's neighborhood but who testified only as to three occasions in 1940, 1941, and 1942, when he was called to treat the Senator for physical ailments--lung or bronchial infection, general disability, arteriosclerosis and restlessness at night.
The doctor expressed the opinion, based upon his own observation and the history he got from Mrs. Grimm (Mr. Wilson's housekeeper), that Mr. Wilson 'was becoming senile' which term he defined as 'unsoundness of mind.' In answer to the one hypothetical question asked him he answered: 'Well, it is an indication of * * * cerebral degeneration, typical of the arteriosclerotic' which in a person of that age 'becomes progressive.'
On cross-examination he said that a person suffering from senile dementia would have 'varying degree of symptoms at different times during the course of the disease' and that even though the disease was progressive 'such a person may be quite irrational one day, and to all intents and purposes and from all observations perfectly alert mentally and perfectly normal the next day or a week later.'
There was considerable testimony of witnesses who apparently saw the Senator in his brighter moments and deemed him normal. He visited one friend, attorney Burke, in 1944, soliciting his aid or influence with officials in getting a road 'fixed up.' This witness, who had known Mr. Wilson well for 39 years, said positively that his mental condition 'was exactly as it had always been.' Mr. Burke in 1944 also assisted him with an absent voter's ballot and after it was sealed visited for twenty minutes. He expressed the same opinion as to Mr. Wilson's alertness on that occasion.
There was other testimony of similar import. Attorney Martinsen, who drew the deed in question and also the earlier deeds, testified as to both occasions; also as to another in between when a deed of forty acres to John L., Jr., was prepared and executed covering the forty acres where some of the buildings were situated across the road from the homestead. When the deed in controversy here was drawn both defendant and his father came with Mr. Wilson to the law office. Both son and grandson say the trip was of decedent's arrangement entirely and that they did not know its purpose until they arrived.
Attorney Martinsen and his wife who worked in his office at the time are very definite and positive as to the Senator's clear and normal mental condition. He stated his wish to convey a forty to his grandson: 'Johnnie has been a good boy, and I want to keep him interested in farming.' 'After all, young Johnnie is the only namesake, carrying down the name of Wilson.' The attorney, who had known the Senator for 25 years, says 'he appeared to me normal in every respect, the same as always.'
The description of the particular forty decedent wished to convey was looked up in the plat book. When the deed was signed and acknowledged it was handed to the Senator who in turn delivered it to his grandson laughingly saying, 'Now you are a property owner.' John L., Jr., suggested that his son should pay the one dollar consideration named in the deed. When the dollar was paid the Senator smiled and put it in his pocket.
Attorney Martinsen made out Mr....
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