Wright v. Trask

• Decision Date: 05 November 1997
• Docket Number: No. 2761,2761
• Citation: 329 S.C. 170,495 S.E.2d 222
• Court: South Carolina Court of Appeals
• Parties: James W. WRIGHT, Jr., Respondent, v. Neil W. TRASK, Appellant. . Heard

Page 222

495 S.E.2d 222

329 S.C. 170

James W. WRIGHT, Jr., Respondent, v. Neil W. TRASK, Appellant.

No. 2761.

Court of Appeals of South Carolina.

Heard Nov. 5, 1997

Decided Dec. 8, 1997.

Harold P. Threlkeld, Anderson, for appellant.

Joseph G. Wright, III, of Wright & Trammell Law Firm, Anderson, for respondent.

HOWELL, Chief Judge:

James W. Wright, Jr. brought this action for breach of an oral contract to make a will and for damages against his grandfather, Neil W. Trask. Trask counterclaimed, seeking pendente lite relief for the return of business records, a declaratory judgment over ownership of cattle, an accounting for sale of cattle, an order requiring Wright to return or share all farm equipment, and an injunction prohibiting parties from selling cattle, property, machinery and equipment during the pendency of the action. By agreement of the parties, the matter was referred to a master-in-equity with the issues at the hearing limited to breach of contract to make a will or, in the alternative, for quantum meruit. The master ordered Trask to specifically perform the contract to will by executing and not revoking a will devising the cattle ranch, all of the equipment, and all livestock to Wright and enjoined Trask from alienating, encumbering or disposing of any of the real estate. The master further ordered that Wright return as ranch manager and that he place all proceeds of the ranch into an account for payment of Trask's and the ranch's expenses. Trask appeals the master's order. We affirm.

I.

In 1938, Trask bought a large ranching operation in Abbeville County, on which he began breeding registered Polled Hereford cattle. Trask bought the ranch with the long-range goal of producing three generations of improvement in breeding the cattle. According to everyone close to him, Trask was passionately consumed with finding someone to continue his work.

In 1983, when Trask was eighty-three, he approached his grandson, Wright, who had helped on the ranch since he was young, about continuing his legacy on the ranch. At the time, Wright was working at his father and uncle's meat packing business with his stepbrother, George Rodgers. Wright and Rodgers planned to buy into the thriving business and to eventually take it over. Although the initial pay for managing Trask's ranch was meager at first, Wright felt such a strong affection for Trask's ranch that he quit his job with his father's business and moved his family to the ranch.

In 1983, when Wright took over, the ranch covered 3,200 acres and had approximately 700 cattle, most of which were registered Polled Herefords. The ranch was beginning to show its age. In fact, the Polled Hereford Association had threatened to invalidate the registration of Trask's ranch because of a possible tainted pedigree among the cows, due to bulls breaking through fences during the mating season. Managing the ranch became more than a full time job for Wright, and he sometimes labored from sunup to sundown, seven days a week. ¹ Wright worked to replace eleven to twelve miles of the perimeter fence and five to six more miles of cross fencing. In addition, Wright built a ranch house and hay barn and tore down decrepit buildings. Wright also worked with his grandfather to learn from experience what it took to enhance the herd.

As Wright demonstrated his proficiency at managing the ranch, Trask began plans to leave the ranch to Wright. On November 27, 1985, Trask executed a will leaving his share in the ranch to his wife Amie Trask. If Trask's wife predeceased him, 60% of his stock in the ranch was to go to Amie Trask Wright, who is Wright's mother and Trask's daughter, and the remaining 40% to Wright. According to the terms of the will, Wright was to take the ranch machinery and the cattle, except for up to 25% of the herd that was to be used to pay estate taxes if Trask survived his wife. Amie Trask executed a will with reciprocal provisions to Trask's will. Amie Trask died in August 1989. On December 1, 1989, Trask executed a new will leaving Wright his interest in the ranch, which consisted of all of his real estate in Abbeville County and all of the vehicles, machinery, and equipment used in the ranching operations. Trask's new will also gave Wright the right to choose 200 cattle. On December 28, 1989, Trask revised his will again by increasing the devise of cattle to Wright's selection of 300 cows, 80 heifers and 60 bulls from the ranch. On May 2, 1991, Trask made another revision to his will in which he left all of the cattle to Wright, in addition to all of the land and equipment.

In 1994 Trask suffered a stroke. With Trask weakened by his age and his stroke, the demands on Wright and his wife, Susan, dramatically increased. Susan, a registered nurse, felt obligated to attend to Trask's every need. Attempts to hire sitters to take care of Trask were often rebuffed by Trask, resulting in Wright and Susan having to stay with Trask on nights and weekends.

As Trask's health declined, Wright assumed almost complete control of the ranch. Some of Wright's decision did not sit well with his fiercely independent grandfather, and the disputes which lead to this controversy arose. First, to help defray some of Trask's increased living expenses and the low price on cattle, Wright began leasing hunting rights on some of the wooded areas of the ranch to deer hunters. Trask decided he did not like leasing the hunting rights and accused Wright of not sharing the hunting proceeds. Next, Trask complained of Wright leaving him out of the decision-making process when Wright stopped leasing a 200 acre tract of land from the Simpsons, Trask's other daughter's family. Finally, Trask became angered when Wright sold a cow and calf which Trask considered to be among his best.

Relations between grandfather and grandson became so strained that in early 1996, the ninety-six year old Trask fired Wright and changed his will to completely disinherit Wright. Sadly, Trask and Wright could not overcome their differences and Wright sought judicial relief in March 1996. The master found in favor of Wright, and Trask appeals the decision to this court. Trask alleges the master erred by (1) finding the existence of an oral contract to make a will, (2) holding that the oral contract to make a will was not statutorily void, (3) granting specific performance, and (4) ruling on the ownership of cattle and equipment.

II.

Trask argues that Wright did not prove the existence of an oral contract to make a will by definite, cogent, clear, and convincing evidence. We disagree.

An action for specific performance of a contract to make a will is an action in equity. Wright v. Patrick, 262 S.C. 434, 205 S.E.2d 175 (1974); Kerr v. Kennedy, 105 S.C. 496, 90 S.E. 177 (1916). "Because this is a proceeding in equity, we have the authority to find the facts based on our own view of the preponderance of the evidence. However, we are not required to disregard the findings of the trial judge who saw and heard the witnesses and was in a position to judge their credibility." Alala v. Peachtree Plantations, Inc., 292 S.C. 160, 162, 355 S.E.2d 286, 287 (Ct.App.1987) (citations omitted).

A pre-Probate Code contract to make a will ² may be written or oral, but must have the essential elements of any contract, which are: a contractual intent, an actual meeting of the minds of the parties, and valid mutual consideration. Caulder v. Knox, 251 S.C. 337, 344, 162 S.E.2d 262, 266 (1968). Because a contract to make a will is irrevocable, a person attempting to enforce a contract to make a will faces a heightened burden of proof. Kerr, 105 S.C. at 501, 90 S.E. at 178. Contracts to make a will "are regarded with suspicion and will not be sustained unless established by definite, clear, cogent and convincing evidence." Brown v. Graham, 242 S.C. 491, 493, 131 S.E.2d 421, 422 (1963).

Wright introduced a host of witnesses who testified about his agreement with Trask. In Hayes v. Israel, 242 S.C. 497, 131 S.E.2d 506 (1963), the South Carolina Supreme Court held:

Absent an express provision in the will that it was executed pursuant to contract, proof of testamentary contract may be supplied by competent witnesses who testify to admissions of the testators or such proof may result as an implication from the circumstances and relations of the parties and what they have actually provided in the instrument.

Id. at 500, 131 S.E.2d at 507. Wright's family stated Trask clearly told Wright that he would leave him the ranch if Wright worked as the manager. Amie Trask Wright testified her father told the family he was going to give Wright the land and the cattle, if Wright devoted all of his energy and time to carrying on the cattle. George Rodgers stated that at many family gatherings he heard Trask express that he looked forward to Wright managing the ranch and he was leaving the ranch, cattle, and equipment to Wright in return for Wright's service at the ranch. Leith Wright Fitzpatrick, who is Trask's granddaughter and Wright's sister, testified she was at her parents' house when Trask offered Wright the ranch, land, and equipment in exchange for Wright leaving the meat packing plant and coming to run the ranch. Susan Wright, Wright's wife, testified Trask told Wright "that if [Wright] would quit [his job], sell his cows, and come down and devote himself to [Trask's] cows and learning the cattle and learning how to register and carry them on that [Trask] would see to it that [Wright] got the cattle and the land to run them on and the machinery to do it with."

More convincing, however, were the non-interested witnesses who confirmed Trask told them of his agreement with Wright. See McLauchlin v. Gressette, 224 S.C. 296, 79 S.E.2d 149 (1953) (giving strong consideration to disinterested witness who testified about an oral contract to make a will). Trask's business colleagues testified Trask told them he was going to leave the ranch...