First National Bank v. White

²⁹² Marbxjry, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. We are presented with two appeals in one record. The original appeal was filed by the First National Bank of Maryland, appellant and cross-appellee, from the action of the Orphans’ Court of Harford County in revoking letters testamentary granted to it in the estate of Mary Maulsby Addicks. A cross-appeal was filed by Madeleine Addicks White, appellee and ■cross-appellant, from so much of the ruling of the court as may purport to be or be construed to be a denial of appellee’s petition for revocation of probate and a denial of her petition for letters of administration pendente lite.

Mary Maulsby Addicks died on January 14, 1964, survived hy her husband, Lawrence, who died two days later. Under her purported last will and testament dated June 30, 1954, which for the purpose of this opinion will be hereafter referred to as “will”, she left her entire estate to her husband. Other items of her will provided: “Third: I give no portion of my Estate, either real or personal, to my adopted daughter, Madeleine Early [appellee], who was legally adopted as my daughter by Order of the Circuit Court of Frederick County, Maryland, on July 13, 1925, in view of my previous expenditures on her behalf. “Fourth: I nominate, constitute and appoint my said husband, Lawrence Addicks, to be the Executor of this my last Will and Testament, and I direct that he be not required to give bond for the faithful performance of his duties as such Executor and I confer upon him the power to nominate a personal or corporate Executor to act in his place and stead in the Administration of my Estate. “Fifth: In the event that my said husband, Lawrence Addicks, be not living at the time of my death, then md in that event only, I nominate, constitute and appoint the First National Bank of Baltimore, Maryland, to be the Executor of this my Last Will and Testament, * * (Emphasis added.) ²⁹³ The husband executed a reciprocal will bearing the same date, and on July 9, 1954, addressed a letter to the First National Bank, Baltimore, Maryland, which stated in part: “I enclose copies of reciprocal wills of my wife, Mary Maulsby Addicks, and myself from which you will note that after the death of both of us (we are both in our 76th year) the Bank is appointed Executor. “The signed originals are in our safety deposit box at the First National Bank of Bel Air, Maryland. Mr. Albert P. Close, attorney of Bel Air and a successor to the late Frank H. Jacobs, Jr., long our local legal adviser, has been authorized to arrange for probate and your notification when the time arrives.” A copy of this letter was sent to Mr. Close.

On July 21, 1954, Mr. and Mrs. Addicks sent a letter to Mrs. Lloyd Richardson, an old friend and a distant cousin of Mrs. Addicks, giving her authority to conduct matters in the interim between their deaths and the executor taking over their estates. Following the deaths of Mr. and Mrs. Addicks, Mr. Close notified Mr. Ronald D. Ball, appellant’s vice president, who is a member of the Bar and had served in its trust department since 1941, and discussed the question of the probate of their wills. Mr. Ball, Mr. Close, and Mrs. Richardson met on January 21, 1964, and prepared a petition for letters testamentary in the matter of the estate of Mrs. Addicks which indicated that the decedent was survived by her husband, and a daughter, Madeleine Early, the latter’s address being given as a nonresident. Both Mr. Close and Mrs. Richardson knew that the Addicks had an adopted daughter who left home years before.

The printed form of petition used in Harford County contains the allegation “that the said will has been read to the near relations”. Mr. Close made no inquiries at this time as to the whereabouts of appellee, and later advised the Orphans’ Court that such notice was not required by law, and the deputy register of -wills agreed that this was so. The court, after reading the wills of both Mr. and Mrs. Addicks, granted probate and ²⁹⁴ indicated that appellant should be granted letters testamentary in each estate. On the following day, Mrs. Richardson telephoned Mr. Close and told him for the first time of a resident in Bel Air who might have the address of the adopted daughter.

Mr. Close obtained the address which he gave to Mr. Ball. The latter testified that he was at that time in the process of writing to notify all of the legatees mentioned in the reciprocal wills that Mr. and Mrs. Addicks had died and that later that afternoon he wrote a similar letter to Mrs. White- The letter written to all of the legatees by Mr. Ball was as follows: “We wish to advise that Mary Maulsby Addicks died on January 14, 1964 and was survived by her husband, Lawrence Addicks, who died on January 16, 1964. “This bank has qualified as Executor of the estates of both Mr. and Mrs. Addicks, and the same will be administered in the Orphans’ Court of Harford County, Bel Air, Maryland. For your information we are enclosing herewith a photocopy of the Last Will and Testament of Lawrence Addicks. “If there is any information you desire relative to the administration of the said estate, we shall be pleased if you will get in touch with us at your convenience.” (Emphasis added.) The letter written to appellee by Mr. Ball was as follows: “We have been advised that you are the adopted daughter of Mr. and1 Mrs. Lawrence Addicks, and as Executor of Mr. Addicks’ estate we enclose a photocopy of his Last Will and Testament. Mr. Addicks died on January 16th, he having survived his wife who died on January 14th. “Administration of his estate is being made under the jurisdiction of the Orphans’ Court of Harford County at Bel Air, Maryland.” (Emphasis added.) Upon receipt of the appellant’s letter, appellee consulted her New York counsel, Mr. Michael C. Gray.

Upon his advice, ²⁹⁵ Mr. Franklin S. Tyng of Bel Air was retained on March 7, 1964, to represent her with respect to Mr. Addicks’ estate. Shortly thereafter Mr. Tyng went to see Mr. Close, the then local counsel for the appellant, to find out whether any of the legatees under Mr. Addicks’ will had died, thereby causing their legacies to lapse and, as a result, whether appellee could have any possible interest. He testified that another purpose of his visit was to try to find out why Mr. Addicks disinherited his only daughter. Mr. Close testified that he had the impression that Mr. Tyng did not know of Mrs. Addicks’ estate when he first came to his office, but he knew of her estate at the time he left.

This impression was based on his recollection that he had told Mr. Tyng that Mrs. Addicks had left her entire estate to her husband, but Mr. Tyng testified that he did not hear Mr. Close say anything to that effect. Furthermore, Mr. Tyng stated that Mr. Close asked him on several occasions thereafter whether he intended to file a caveat in the “Addicks’ estate”, and that he finally responded to these verbal inquiries by letter to Mr. Close on May 7, 1964, in which he stated that he did plan to file a caveat in the estate of Lawrence Addicks. After his conversation with Mr. Close, Mr. Tyng sent Mr. Lawrence S. Lanahan, Jr., an associate in his law firm, to the office of the register of wills to find the date of probate of Mr. Addicks’ will so as to make sure that the period would not expire for filing a caveat. The deputy register of wills testified that he gave both wills to Mr. Lanahan at this time for inspection.

However, Mr. Lanahan’s notes admitted in evidence refer only to Mr. Addicks’ will. Upon: being advised by Mr. Lanahan that the date of probate of Mr. Addicks’ will was January 21, 1964, and thus realizing that the time for filing a caveat would not expire until July 21, 1964, six months from the date of probate, Mr. Tyng wrote the May 7 letter to Mr. Close. During this time, Mr. Tyng was engaged in the preparation for and trial of a murder case. Following the termination of that trial he went to the register of wills’ office on May 27 to check the file in the estate of Lawrence Addicks.

On inspecting the index, he discovered for the first time that there were two Addicks estates, that the First National Bank was not named executor under Mrs. Addicks’ will, and that her estate ²⁹⁶ was substantially larger than her husband’s. He immediately called Mr. Gray in New York, who testified that Mr. Tyng was greatly excited about this new discovery. Mr. Gray told him that he should proceed to draw any necessary papers with respect to Mrs. Addicks’ estate and forward them to New York for Mrs. White’s signature. A petition for revocation of letters testamentary granted in Mrs. Addicks’ estate was prepared and sent to Mr. Gray.

He asked appellee to come to his office on June 3 without telling her of her mother’s will. At that time he revealed the new discovery to her and she signed the petition. Mr. Gray stated that he had absolutely no knowledge of Mrs. Addicks’ will until he received Mr. Tyng’s telephone call, and that he had assumed up to then that she had no property, or that it was held as tenants by the entirety with her husband. Mr. Carroll Brown, Mr. -Tyng’s law partner, testified that Mr. Tyng had spoken to him on various occasions' about specific matters pertaining to the estate of Mr. Addicks, but it was not until after the murder trial, that Mrs. Addicks’ estate was ever mentioned.

On June 5, 1964, the appellee filed a petition to revoke the grant of letters to the First National Bank of Maryland in Mrs. Addicks’ estate. On the same date the petition and caveat was filed in the estate of Lawrence Addicks. On June 25, 1964, appellee filed a petition for the revocation of the probate of the will of Mrs. Addicks. Subsequently, on July 14, 1964, appellee filed a petition and caveat to the will of Mrs. Addicks.

Answers to the several petitions of the appellee were timely filed by appellant. On July 21, 1964, Mr. Close filed a petition setting forth that it was determined that his testimony would be required as a witness in the proceedings relating to the revocation of letters, probate, and the caveat; and that he could not properly represent the estate as counsel and also as a witness. The court allowed Mr. Close to strike his appearance. The matter then proceeded to a hearing, and on August 25, 1964, two of the three members of the Orphans’ Court advised counsel by letter that it had ruled that appellee be appointed administratrix c.t.a. of her mother’s estate because the First National Bank was “lax in not trying to locate” appellee and that ²⁹⁷ it was not named as executor in the will since Mr. Addicks was living at the time of her death.

Appellant first contends on its appeal that the Orphans’ Court erred in its ruling that appellee be appointed administratrix c.t.a. of her mother’s estate since it was not misled by either the allegations in appellant’s petition for letters testamentary or by any representations made by it at the time the will was presented for probate. The appellee on the other hand concedes that the Orphans’ Court erred in appointing her administratrix c.t.a., but contends that the court was misled by the allegations and representations made to it; that the order admitting the will to probate