Sbordon v. Hunt
Sbordon v. Hunt
Opinion of the Court
This is a will contest. An order' entered in probate court admitting the will to probate. Upon appeal to circuit court a jury found for plaintiff, the contestant, but the court entered a judgment non obstante veredicto for defendants,, who are the proponents. Plaintiff appeals here.
In the court below plaintiff did not urge mental incompetence on the part of testatrix, nor does she here. The sole question is whether there was sufficient evidence of fraud and undue influence to go to-a jury. In determining this, we view the evidence in^ the light most favorable to plaintiff. In re Niem-schack’s Estate, 244 Mich 469; In re Hoffman’s Estate, 300 Mich 406. Accordingly, we disregard testimony concerning relationships and statements indicating why testatrix would have wished to leave her property to defendants and not to plaintiff or other relatives.
The evidence shows that defendants, who were named sole beneficiaries under the will, were not relatives of testatrix; that she died without issue, but was survived by plaintiff, who was a niece, and grandnephews and grandnieces who are excluded by express language of the will; that 11 days before her death defendants took her to a convalescent home without notifying plaintiff, with whom they were-acquainted; that 3 days later testatrix was admitted to a general hospital as a medical patient; that on the next day, 7 days before her death, she executed the will while in a hospital bed. A nurses’ aide and a patient who had occupied a bed near that of testatrix, appeared as witnesses for plaintiff and,
In In re Williams’ Estate, 185 Mich 97, 121, this Court said:
*17 “Mere suspicion is not sufficient, as was said by the supreme court of the United States in Beyer v. LeFevre, 186 US 114, 126 (22 S Ct 765, 46 L ed 1080):
“ ‘The will of a person found to be possessed of sound mind and memory is not to be set aside on evidence tending to show only a possibility or suspicion of undue influence. The expressed intentions of the testator should not be thwarted without clear reason therefor.’ ”
In In re Jennings’ Estate, 335 Mich 241, 247, 248, we said:
“The question of what constitutes undue influence has been considered by this Court on numerous occasions. Attention is directed to such cases as In re Grow’s Estate, 299 Mich 133; In re Hoffman’s Estate, 300 Mich 406; In re Hannan’s Estate, 315 Mich 102; In re Kramer’s Estate, 324 Mich 626; In re Johnson’s Estate, 326 Mich 310. No purpose would be served by lengthy quotations therefrom, but they may be read with profit in this connection. They hold in substance that mere opportunity, as in the instant case, does not suffice to establish undue influence; that influence, to be classified as undue, must place a testator in such a position that his free agency is destroyed, so that the will which results from his intelligent action speaks not the will of the testator himself but of someone else; that neither advice, arguments or persuasion will vitiate a will made freely from conviction even though such will might not have been made but for such advice or persuasion; that undue influence is a species of fraud and that to prevent probate of a will on the grounds of defendant’s fraud it must be shown that defendant misrepresented material facts and that testator relied upon and was influenced thereby in disposing of his property; that influences to induce testamentary disposition may be specific and direct without becoming undue as it is not improper to advise, persuade, solicit, importune, en*18 treat, implore, move hopes, fears, or prejudices or to make appeals to vanity, pride, sense of justice, obligations of duty, ties of friendship, affection, or kindred, sentiment of gratitude or to pity for distress and destitution, although such will would not have been made but for such influence, so long as the testator’s choice is his own and not that of another; that influence, to avoid a will, must be such as prevented testator from doing as he pleased with his property.”
While there is testimony that testatrix said that she did not want to give her money away, there is no proof that testatrix did not wish to make and leave a last will and testament. The only evidence on this subject is that she did wish to do so. There is no proof or evidence from which a reasonable inference may be drawn that the provisions of the will, or any one of them, were not expressive of her free will but that of someone else, or resulted from undue influence or misrepresentation of material facts by which she was influenced so that her free agency was destroyed and her independent will overcome. There is not a shred of evidence to show, or from which it may reasonably be inferred, that any provision of the will was even suggested by defendants or anyone else to the testatrix or resulted from their influencing her to make such provision. It follows that there was no evidence to go to the jury on the question of fraud or undue influence and that the trial court correctly caused judgment non obstante veredicto to be entered for defendants.
Affirmed, with costs to defendants.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- In re SPILLETTE ESTATE. SBORDON v. HUNT
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published