Curran v. Sullivan
Curran v. Sullivan
Opinion of the Court
In this action of contract against the administrator of the estate of Thomas F. Mahoney the judge directed a verdict for the defendant, and the correctness of this ruling presents the only question for decision.
The testimony of the plaintiff, which is the only evidence material here, may be summarized as follows: The plaintiff was a sister of Elizabeth Mahoney, who was the wife of the defendant’s intestate, hereinafter called Mahoney. In 1915 the plaintiff, because of crowded conditions in the home of her brother with whom she had been living, came to live with the Mahoneys and continued to live with them for the next thirty years. The plaintiff and her
In 1935 the plaintiff and the Mahoneys had a conversation in the course of Which Mahoney stated that if any one of them died his or her property would go to those who survived and “the one that is last gets all.” The plaintiff said that this arrangement was satisfactory to her; Mahoney talked about making a will but his wife objected and no will was ever made. Thereafter this matter was discussed several times “and it was always the same arrangement.”
Some time later as a result of a conversation with her sister the plaintiff, from 1935 to July 5, 1945, paid the rent of the tenement in which they lived “to help out her sister.” The “weekly rent was $8 the first of it and $7 the last of it.”
In 1939 Mrs. Mahoney was in a hospital for seven weeks' and the plaintiff paid the bills. At that time the plaintiff talked with Mahoney about it and he said “it was all right, and that she would get the money back later.”
Following the death of Mrs. Mahoney in 1941 “the management of the household continued the same as before her death.” Shortly after her sister’s death the plaintiff had a conversation with Mahoney in which he asked her what she intended to do and she replied that she did not know. She said in substance that “she wanted to remain . . . [there] as before.” She then asked Mahoney what he wanted her to do and he replied, “I want you to remain just the same as your sister said to me. And the same promise will go, just the same as it did when Elizabeth was alive. That promise is still good. If you die ahead of me, I will have what is left; and if I die ahead of you, you will
About a year before Mahoney died he told the plaintiff that he was going “downtown” to have a will drawn and asked the plaintiff to accompany him. He said “i want to make a will so as to make everything all right. I want no trouble for you when I am passed away.” But “the day was hot and they did not go.” Mahoney died on July 5, 1945.
The judge rightly ordered a verdict for the defendant. The declaration, which is in four counts, need not be analyzed in detail. It is enough for present purposes to state that in various ways of declaring the plaintiff seeks to recover (1) for services in caring for Mahoney and his wife under an agreement in which Mahoney promised that she would be well paid, (2) for $3,644 for rent paid by the plaintiff for Mahoney at the latter’s request, and (3) for hospital expenses paid by the plaintiff in 1939 for the care of Mrs. Mahoney.
The evidence fails to show that Mahoney ever entered into a contract express or implied to pay the plaintiff for services rendered to him or his wife. Down to 1941 there is no evidence that faintly resembles such an agreement. Throughout that period the plaintiff was living with the Mahoneys under an arrangement whereby she was to make weekly payments of $7 and to help out in the housework in return for her room and board. The conversation in 1935 in which it was agreed that whoever died first was to leave his or her property to the survivor or survivors cannot be treated as a contract to pay the plaintiff for services performed for Mahoney or his wife at Mahoney’s request. It was in no way related to services. Nor does the conversation in 1941 between the plaintiff and Mahoney after the death of his wife amount to an agreement to pay the plain
If we assume that the payments of rent from 1935 to 1945 were in addition to and not in lieu of the weekly payments for board, the evidence does not establish liability as against Mahoney’s estate. According to the plaintiff’s testimony this was done "to help out her sister.” The evidence would not warrant a finding that the payments were made at Mahoney’s request or in circumstances in which a promise on his part to repay them could be implied.
The payments of hospital bills by the plaintiff for the care of her sister were made in 1939. If we assume that there was an obligation on the part of Mahoney to repay this money because of his statement that “it was all right, and that she would get the money back later, ” the plaintiff could not prevail. Recovery would be barred by the statute of limitations, which was pleaded by the defendant. . G. L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 260, § 2. There was no evidence introduced which would take the case out of the statute.
Exceptions overruled.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Margaret M. Curran v. Henry E. Sullivan, administrator
- Status
- Published