Haas v. Haas
Haas v. Haas
070rehearing
ON PETITION FOR REHEARING
We are urged to rehear this appeal because (1) we erred in holding that a widow is not estopped to contest the validity of her deceased husband’s will by the single fact that she did not first elect to take under the law as she was privileged to do under Burns’ 1933, §6-2332; and (2) we failed to decide the questions raised by the court’s refusal to give the appellants’ tendered instructions 7 and 21.
The appellants’ brief in support of their petition adds considerable force to the argument originally made in reference to the first proposition above stated. Nevertheless we remain firm in our belief that the election statute is not a part of, nor should
The appellants insist, however, that when a will is probated it is presumed to be valid and such presumption puts a widow to the necessity of renouncing its provisions or suffering an estoppel of her rights to contest its validity. Just what character of estoppel such a situation presents it is difficult for us to understand. The appellants suggest that it is in the nature of the common law estoppel in pais which arose “only in case of those solemn and peculiar acts to which the law gave the power of creating a right or passing estate, and to which the law attached as much efficacy and importance as to matters appearing either by deed or of record.” 19 Am. Jur., Estoppel, § 38, p. 633. In Indiana, however, the doctrine of estoppel in pais has been given a much wider scope and our courts have used the term interchangeably with “equitable estoppel.” As was said in Fletcher v. Holmes
In our initial opinion we failed to decide the questions raised by the court’s refusal to give the appellants' tendered instructions 7 and 21. We did so because cause these instructions were discussed in the appellants’ brief only collaterally in connection with the proposition that the court erred in permitting two medical experts to answer a certain hypothetical question. The burden of these instructions was in explanation of the difference in the legal and medical standards for the determination of a person’s mental soundness. As the jury was fully and accurately informed concerning the legal standard of testamentary capacity it is not to be presumed that they departed therefrom in reaching their verdict simply because it was not explained to them that a man whom doctors of medicine might regard as unsound in mind might nevertheless have sufficient mental capacity to meet the requirements the law demands of a testator in making
Petition denied.
Note. — Reported in 98 N. E. 2d 232.
Opinion of the Court
The appellee Mabel Haas, as the widow and sole heir at law of the late George Haas, brought this action to set aside his last will and testament on the grounds that it was executed through undue influence and that he lacked mental capacity to make it. The appellants are the brothers, sisters and a nephew of the said George Haas to whom he bequeathed substantial sums of money. They answered under Rule 1-3 and a second paragraph of answer wherein it is alleged that Mabel Haas, as the testator’s widow, failed to elect to take under the law within the time prescribed by statute and thereby recognized his will as valid and is now estopped from contesting it. A demurrer to this paragraph of answer was sustained and the case went to trial by jury on the issues of undue influence and the testator’s mental capacity to make a will. The verdict was for the appellee and, over the appellants’ motion for a new trial, it was adjudged that said will is “invalid and of no force and effect.”
Under the heading “Propositions, Points and Authorities” the appellants’ brief sets out 20 propositions and 47 points made thereunder but in the section of said brief devoted to argument the appellants discussed the following alleged errors only: (1) sustaining the demurrer to the second paragraph of their answer; (2) the verdict on the issue of unsoundness of mind is not sustained by sufficient evidence;
Did the court err in sustaining the demurrer to the appellants’ second paragraph of answer which counts on the appellee’s failure to renounce the will and elect to take under the law? The appellants state their position thus: “The failure of a widow to elect to retain the rights in her husband’s estate given her by the law, in the manner and within the time fixed by statute, is an election to accept the provisions of the will and a rejection of the provisions made for her by law, and having elected to accept the provisions of the will she cannot at the same time assail its validity.” The pertinent statute reads as follows: “Whenever any personal or real property be bequeathed to any wife, or a pecuniary or other provision be made for her in the will of her late husband, such wife shall take under such will of her late husband, and she shall receive nothing from her husband’s estate by reason of any law of descent of the state of Indiana, unless otherwise expressly provided in said will, unless she shall make her election to retain the rights in her husband’s estate given to her under the laws of the state of Indiana, which election shall be made in the manner hereinafter provided.” Burns’ 1933, § 6-2332. Such election shall be made by verified writing in six months after said
These statutes have been construed to mean that in all cases where there is a will, the widow is conclusively bound by it unless she renounces its provisions and elects to take under the law in the manner pointed out in the statute. Fosher v. Guilliams, Executor (1889), 120 Ind. 172, 22 N. E. 118; Collins v. Collins (1891), 126 Ind. 559, 25 N. E. 704, 28 N. E. 190. To put it another way, on the death of a husband who made testamentary provisions for his wife, the failure of the surviving widow to make her election to take under the law instead of the will within six months after the probate thereof raises a conclusive presumption that she has accepted the provisions made for her in the will. Easterday v. Easterday (1938), 105 Ind. App. 80, 10 N. E. 2d 764. The purpose and effect of § 6-2332, swpra, is to make it impossible for a married man, by testamentary disposition of his property, to deprive his widow of a full one-third thereof. It has no application in cases of intestacy and therefore the choice a widow has is between the one-third, of which the law says she cannot be deprived, and what she gets under the terms of a valid will. In other words the election statute is predicated upon the existence of a valid will. If a testator makes a will which is of no force and effect the mere failure of his widow to elect to take under the law cannot be considered as raising a presumption of any kind.
There are circumstances, however, which may estop a widow from contesting her late husband’s will. An affirmative election to take under it is binding upon her in the absence of a showing that she was of unsound mind, under legal disability, or that the execution of the election instrument was procured by fraud or other unlawful means. Hammond v.
Is there sufficient evidence in the record to sustain the verdict that the testator lacked mental capacity to make a will? A detailed discussion of the evidence dence bearing on this question would unduly extend this opinion. We think it sufficient to say that the record is replete with instances of conduct on the part of the decedent which permit the jury to infer that he was of unsound mind, to-wit, indecent exposure, incoherence at times, threats of suicide, repetition in conversation, seeing people who weren’t there, vacate staring, forgetfulness, confusion, failure to know friends and the use of narcotics on the very day he made his will. Twenty-three lay witnesses testified that in their opinion, based on what they saw him do and heard him say, all as related to the jury, he was a person of unsound mind when he made his will. There is also the opinion of two doctors of medicine, based on a hypothetical question, reciting the facts in evidence, to the same effect. In our opinion there can be no serious contention that the evidence in this respect is insufficient to sustain the verdict.
Did the court err in giving Instructions Nos. 3, 9, 13, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 35 to the jury on its own motion? All these instructions except Nos. 9, 13 and 14 deal with the law pertaining to undue influence and the only objection to them is that they are inapplicable by reason of a total lack of evidence tending to establish that issue. In view of what we have said, concerning the state of the record in that respect, the instructions were applicable to the evidence and were properly given.
Instruction No. 13 is as follows: “Witnesses have testified before you as to facts concerning the appearance, manner, attitude, conduct, acts, personality, ity, habits and conversations of George Haas. They have testified as to his family relations, his association and relationship with his wife, the manner in which he transacted his business, and the nature of his business, and the character of his property and estate. From such matters as testified to by the various witnesses, such witnesses gave you their opinion as to the soundness or unsoundness of the mind of the testator, George Haas. But each such opinion should be tested by the facts upon which it is based in order to judge of its probable correctness. It is not the opinion of such witnesses alone upon which reliance is to be placed as to whether George Haas was or was not of unsound mind when he executed his alleged will, but from the premises which supplied the con
The appellants challenge Instruction No. 14 because it first tells the jury that a person of sound mind may make such disposition of his property as he chooses no matter how inequitable and unjust such disposition may appear and his will cannot be set aside for that reason. It then informs the jury the fact that a will is inequitable and unjust may be taken into consideration in determining the testator’s mental capacity to make it. They insist that such an instruction is conflicting within itself, confusing and misleading and its giving was reversible error. The instruction combines two principles of law: (1) If a testator is of sound mind the fact that he makes an unnatural and unreasonable disposition of his property is no reason for setting his will aside; and (2) in
The appellants complain of the court’s refusal to give their tendered Instruction No. 26. It reads as follows: “The court instructs you that the fact, if you find it to be a fact, that the testator, George Haas, at the time of the execution of his alleged will, was sick or suffering weakness or pain, this would not of itself necessarily take away his testamentary capacity.” They say pain and suffering were stressed in the trial of the case beyond all other issues and doubtless became a controlling fact in the minds of the jury and that the tendered instruction was necessary to combat that impression. In its Instruction No. 12 the court told the jury in effect that regardless of a testator’s physical condition he could make a valid will if he had sufficient mind to know and understand the business in which he was engaged and sufficient mental capacity to know and understand the extent and value of his estate, the number and names of the persons who were the natural objects of his bounty and their just deserts with reference to their conduct towards him and keep these things in mind long enough to have his will prepared and executed. We think this
The final question in this appeal concerns alleged error in permitting two doctors of medicine to express their opinions as to the testator’s soundness of mind based on the facts recited in a hypothetical question propounded to each in turn. The appellants’ motion for a new trial does not show their objections to this question and we have no way of knowing whether the alleged infirmities, upon which they here rely, were urged upon the trial court. Under these circumstances no question for our consideration is presented. Johnson v. Glassley (1949), 118 Ind. App. 704, 83 N. E. 2d 488; Pennsylvania R. Co. v. Sargent (1949), 119 Ind. App. 195, 83 N. E. 2d 793; Wagner v. Howard Sober, Inc. (1949), 119 Ind. App. 617, 87 N. E. 2d 888.
Judgment affirmed.
Note. — Reported in 96 N. E. 2d 116.
Reference
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