McAndrews v. Krause
McAndrews v. Krause
Opinion of the Court
On February 13, 1954, Maxwell Krause, appellee, and proponent of the will of the deceased, LuRene Lamm, and the principal and residuary beneficiary thereunder, filed said instrument, together with his petition, in the District Court of Winneshiek County, Iowa, alleging that the deceased, late a resident of said County, on or about the fifth day of February, 1954, made and signed said instrument as and for her last will and testament, and praying that it be admitted to probate as provided by law. On the same day the will was duly recorded.
The will recited that LuRene Lamm of Deeorah, Iowa, made, published and declared the instrument as her last will and testament. After revoking all prior wills, and providing for payment of her just debts, she made the following bequests in Paragraph III, to wit: To Boys Town, Nebraska, $1000; to Father O’Toole for himself, $500, and for Requiem Masses for herself, $500; to Wapsipinicon Area Council, Boy Scouts, $500;
“IV. All the rest, residue and remainder of my property, wherever situated, I give, devise and bequeath to my nephew, Maxwell Krause.
“V. I nominate Maxwell Krause as executor of this my Last Will and Testament.
“In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name at Decorah, Iowa, this 5th day of February, 1954, in the presence of the undersigned, whom I have requested to act as attesting witnesses hereto. LuRene Lamm, Testatrix.”
Below a proper attestation clause are the signatures of five witnesses to the execution of the will.
Of the family of the father of the testatrix, three of the eight children survived the testatrix, whose seventy-first natal anniversary was November 24, 1953, preceding her death on February 12, 1954, at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester, Minnesota, where she had been taken by ambulance, accompanied by her physician, Dr. Ralph M. Dahlquist, on February 7, 1954, two days after the execution of the will. Her eldest sister, Armenia Krause, commonly spoken of as Minnie or Minnie May, died September 10, 1955. She was the mother of the proponent, Maxwell Krause. He had two brothers and two sisters. The brothers were Clinton, of Rochester, Minnesota, and Maurice, of
The other two sisters of the testatrix, who survived her, were the contestants, Anne L. Haagensen and Rosalia L. Mc-Andrews. Mrs. Haagensen had lived away from Decorah for quite a few years, but returned in 1950 and continued to live there. The testatrix never married. She owned a home in De-corah at 228 East Water Street. Upon the death of her husband, John MeAndrews, in 1943, Rosalia moved into the Water Street home of her sister LuRene, and the two lived there from that time until the evening of Friday, December 11, 1953, when LuRene was removed by ambulance to the hospital at Decorah, where she remained in Room 121 on the first floor until her dismissal on February 7, 1954, and removal to the Mayo Clinic at Rochester, Minnesota, where she was placed in St. Mary’s Hospital.
The testatrix had made an earlier will which she left for safekeeping with some other papers in the Decorah State Bank. On December 20, 1953, Mr. E. R. Haines, age 82 years, president of said bank, and a former treasurer of Winneshiek County, was in the hospital room of LuRene Lamm, with whom he had a longtime acquaintance. As a witness for proponent, he testified that on this occasion Miss Lamm asked him to bring to her these papers, which he did on the evening of the following day, December 21, 1953. The papers were in two envelopes. At this time she gave to Mr. Haines a written receipt (proponent’s Exhibit V), bearing said date, stating that she had received from him one envelope labeled “Last Will and Testament of LuRene Lamm” and “which has been held in Safekeeping by Decorah State Bank.” To this receipt she signed “LuRene Lamm” in Mr. Haines’ presence. It was retained by him until it was received in evidence, without objection.
Asked what Miss Lamm did with the instrument in the envelope, the witness testified that after stating it was her will “she tore it all up into shreds” in the presence of the witness. The witness further testified:
“Q. Who else was present besides yourself and Miss Lamm? A. Attorney Carroll Cutting. [Mr. Cutting is one of the attorneys for contestants in the proceeding at bar].
“Q. Tell the Court and jury what happened at that time and place when Miss Lamm was about to tear up the other papers. A. When she began to get ready to tear up those or have them torn up, I [witness Haines] asked whether she asked someone else to do it or not — There was a little discussion in looking at the deeds as to just what property each one covered and at that time Mr. Cutting asked if he couldn’t take the deeds and copy the descriptions of them.
■ “Q. What did Miss Lamm say in substance, if anything? A. Well, my recollection is that she said that if I thought it was all right for Mr. Cutting to take the deeds and copy the descriptions that it would be all right.
“Q. Now state whether or not anything further was said by you or Miss Lamm or Mr. Cutting relative to what was to be done with the papers ? A. In substance she said that if they would be delivered back to me for destruction it would be all right for him to take them. As to whether or not those papers were delivered to me again, yes, they were, the next forenoon at my desk in the Decorah State Bank by Carroll Cutting. I tore up those papers immediately afterward.
“Q. State whether you and Miss Lamm had any further conversation regarding those papers? A. On the same day I destroyed the papers Miss Lamm and I did have a conversation regarding them over the phone. She asked me if those papers had been returned and destroyed, and I told her they had been.
“Q. Did she or did she not say she wanted her property left to her legal heirs? A. She asked me after she had torn up the will what would happen to her property in case something happened to her before she had a will made.
“Q. After you said that what response did Miss Lamm make, if any? A. She said that is just where I do not want it to go.
“Q. Now, Mr. Haines, she asked you that before or after she tore it up ? A. My recollection is shortly after she had torn it up.”
The witness testified that he did not see Miss Lamm at any time subsequent to December 21, 1953, and prior to February 5, 1954. Early in the afternoon of the latter date he was requested by Mr. Frank Miller to come to Miss Lamm’s hospital room in connection with her will. When he reached the room there were present, Miss Lamm, Mr. Miller and Marjorie Anderson, the nurse. At this time Miss Lamm asked Mr. Haines if he would witness the signing of her will. She then directed Mr. Miller as to what disposition she wished to make of her property. Marjorie Anderson took written notes of these directions.
These directions were embodied in the will drawn by Mr. Miller and later in the afternoon after the witnesses were called to the hospital room of Miss Lamm, Mrs. Frances Houdek, the secretary of Attorneys Miller & Pearson, took the will of Miss Lamm, and a duplicate copy of it to her hospital room. Mrs. Houdek was a law secretary of long experience, who had attended the execution of many wills. Neither Mr. Miller nor Mr. Pearson was present at the execution of the will. The will is designated Exhibit “A” in the record. It consisted of two pages of typewriting.
The witnesses to signing and execution of the will by the testatrix were Dr. Balph M. Dahlquist, her attending physician; Dr. E. N. Svendsen, who attended her when Doctor Dahlquist was not available; Mr. E. E. Haines, her banker; Marjorie E. Anderson, E.N., her attending nurse, and Mrs. Frances Houdek. All were present at the signing of the will by LuEene Lamm in her room, No. 121 in the Decorah Hospital, in the late afternoon of February 5, 1954. They surrounded her bed, the mattress of which had been raised so that she was in a semisitting posture,
The time for the proof of the will was fixed by the court for January 21,1955. On May 2, 1955, amended and substituted objections to the probate of the will were filed by Bosalia L.
The issues in this litigation are not complicated. They are those usually pertinent to will contests, but the printed record and arguments of the appellants are of extreme length. Appellee refers to appellants’ opening brief and argument of 564 pages as “prolix.” The same adjective is applicable to appellants’ three-volume, 1045-page printed record. In addition there are several voluminous exhibits in nowise abstracted, including almost hourly reports in the Clinical Records for the fifty-eight days the testatrix was in the Decorah Hospital and from February 7 to February 12, 1954, the day of her death in St. Mary’s Hospital at Rochester, Minnesota.
Because of the great length of the printed matter presented to the court on this appeal and the volume of exhibits it is very difficult to make a concise statement of the proceedings. Briefly stated, the objections of the appealing contestants are (1) lack of testamentary capacity (2) undue influence (3) fraud (4) forgery of the testatrix’s signature to the will, and (5) that the will was not duly executed.
At the close of proponent’s evidence of due execution, the contestants moved for a directed verdict on this issue. The motion was overruled. After contestants rested their case on the
The trial was begun on December 5, 1955, and was submitted to the jury on December 19 following at 4:25 p.m., and at 9:08 that evening the jury returned its verdict: “We, the jury, find for the proponent. Find that the Will of LuBene Lamm, deceased, which will is in evidence as Exhibit ‘A’ is her valid will.”
Contestants’ Motion for New Trial and Motion for Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict were each denied.
In support of the two issues alleged in their objections and submitted, contestants-appellants introduced the daily Clinical
On January 6, 1954, testatrix wrote to her niece, Madeline Wells, a sister of proponent, complaining of her mistreatment by her sisters, and stating therein “Maxwell is here now taking care of my affairs so Ann and Rael [Rosalia] cannot do any more dirty work.” The contestants testified that when they were denied entrance to LuRene’s hospital room they would hear her say to the nurse: “I don’t want them in here.”
The testatrix had extensive property interests, consisting of real estate in Iowa, North Dakota, Nebraska, California and elsewhere, and much personal property, consisting of stocks, bonds, notes, cash and bank deposits and other assets, the estimated value of the aggregate being $264,756.17, as shown in the incomplete inventory of the coexecutors of her estate. Being physically unable to attend to her property, on January 4, 1954, she filed her voluntary petition in the court for the appointment of Julian Moe, of the Decorah State Bank, as guardian of her property. He qualified as such guardian.
Because of the persistence of contestants in coming into the hospital room of LuRene Lamm and annoying her and interfering with her recovery, on the petition of herself and her guardian, filed on January 7, 1954, the contestants were enjoined by temporary writ of injunction from entering her hospital room or having other personal contacts with her.
On January 7, 1954, replevin proceedings were instituted by the guardian against contestant Rosalia McAndrews for the possession of two bank-deposit boxes and their contents. On the same day the guardian and Miss Lamm had notice served on Rosalia to vacate Miss Lamm’s home.
On February 13, 1954, contestant Anne L. Haagensen filed petition in the Probate Court of Olmstead County, Minnesota, alleging that her sister LuRene Lamm died a resident of Rochester in said county and state, leaving personal property of the value of $50,100 therein which it was necessary to secure and conserve, and praying that the Olmstead County Bank and Trust Company be appointed special administrator thereof. The prayer of the petition was granted on February 15, 1954, and the inventory of the appointee as of February 27, 1954, stated
The special nurses who attended Miss Lamm in the Decorah hospital testified that she was very much disturbed and angered about the insanity charge made against her and referred to it as an attempt “to take her civil rights away from her.” On the day of her death in the hospital at Rochester the Nurses’ Record states that one of the contestants “burst” into her room and attempted to discuss property matters until sent away, and shortly thereafter, Miss Lamm died in a convulsion in the arms of her nurse.
On the other hand, her relations with her nephew, Maxwell Krause, the proponent, were very close and friendly at all times. She visited with him by telephone from her hospital bed. His home- was in Minnesota but he came often to her hospital room to cheer her and to discuss her property and business affairs with her. Witnesses testified to her reference to him as a “fine and upright young man.” How different and to the contrary was the attitude of the contestants? They protested when she ordered the manager of the telephone company to disconnect the telephone in her home, and to put a telephone in her hospital room. The manager told them she was well enough to have a telephone and she should have it. They protested to the postmaster that her mail should be sent to her home, where they were living at her expense, and insisted that it be delivered to them, and they would take it to her.
I. There is no evidence in the record sustaining contestants’ objections of undue influence, conspiracy, or fraud on the part of the proponent, or of anybody, in the execution of the will. These objections were rightly stricken by the court.
The five witnesses who signed the attestation clause, testified to the signing of the will by the testatrix on the first and last
Contestants offered two witnesses as handwriting experts. One, from Chicago, testified that the signatures on the will were made by someone other than the writer of the standard signatures offered by proponent, and made by LuRene. The other witness, giving like testimony for contestants, was a deputy sheriff of Polk County, Iowa.
In addition to the five witnesses who testified for proponent that they saw LuRene sign the will, were others, who were familiar with her signature and often saw her write her name. They were Alvin Renaas of the Deeorah State Bant; Julian Moe, the guardian of her property; Wm. Ronan, vice-president of the Decorah State Bank, who each expressed his opinion that the signatures on the will were those of LuRene Lamm. Donald Doud, a full-time examiner of questioned documents, testified: “It is my positive opinion that the LuRene Lamm who wrote the known specimens also wrote her name on pages one and two of Exhibit ‘A’ ”, the will.
Julian Moe testified that prior to and during her hospitalization he attended to the making of her bank deposits and the paying of her accounts, and also discussed her property interests in connection with preparing his inventory as guardian of her property, concerning which she gave him much information. Introduced in evidence were five checks of December 12, 1953, and eight checks of January 2, 1954, on her account in the Decorah State Bank. Moe had written the body of the checks and Miss Lamm had signed “LuRene Lamm” on each check. These were received in evidence as standards of comparison, and show remarkable similarity to the same signatures on the will. All the checks show payment by the bank on which they were drawn.
The contestants produced no witnesses that the will was not duly executed, and none that its execution was brought about by undue influence or fraud.
Dr. Arthur F. Fritcben was called by contestants. He testified that be cared for LuBene Lamm from February 15, 1949, until August 7, 1949, and from January 31, 1950, until August 19, 1950. Contestants asked him no question as to her mental capacity.
Dr. Charles C. Inman, a chiropractor, testified for contestants that be treated LuBene Lamm from November 1951 to August 26,1953. He was not asked about her mental capacity.
Dr. Warren Bennett, a pathologist with tbe Mayo Clinic, testified that be did not see LuBene Lamm while she was living. After receiving permission from contestant Haagensen he conducted a post-mortem examination of tbe body of LuBene Lamm, which showed a minimal hardening or sclerosis of tbe arteries, and that sucb part of the brain that was affected had to do principally with motor sensations control of tbe body, and only in a limited way with tbe mental processes of the frontal lobe or reasoning portion of tbe brain.
Those testifying to the mental soundness and testamentary capacity of the testatrix were: Dr. B. M. Dahlquist, her attending physician, who on referring to his patient’s progress report of February 5, 1954, said: “I have a notation of February 5, 1954, ‘mentally clear and alert’ ”; Dr. B. N. Svendsen, who attended her when Doctor Dahlquist was away, stated: “She impressed me as being of sound mind”; Hazel Heuser, whom contestant Haagensen was instrumental in securing as a nurse, stated that she was on duty from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. on February 5, 1954, said the patient “was of sound mind”;
Appellants assign forty-two errors, covering many pages, upon which they rely for reversal. We are not going to further extend this too-long opinion with a discussion of these numerous and extended assignments. We have examined all of them and find no reversible errors.
The principles of law and procedure relating to the issues and the subject matter of this particular litigation and to testamentary dispositions in general have been too many times discussed by this court to justify further discussion of them. The verdict of the jury is amply sustained by the record and the judgment of the district court is therefore affirmed. — Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- In re Estate of LuRene Lamm, Rosalia L. McAndrews v. Maxwell Krause
- Status
- Published