Shearer v. Healy

Barnes, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. This appeal involves the caveat to the will of Charles Byrne Finn who died, a resident of Queen Anne’s County, on March ¹⁵ 30, 1964, at the age of 60. The will, dated June 18, 1963, recited that all other wills were revoked and left the entire estate of the testator to “my good friend of long standing, Norbert I. Healy, 619 A Street, N. E., Washington, D. C. absolutely and in fee simple.” Mr. Healy was made executor of the will. The caveator, Lois Ellen Shearer, is the legatee of the testator’s entire estate under an earlier will dated March 9, 1962.

Mr. Healy, as administrator pendente lite, is the caveatee. At the conclusion of all of the evidence, the trial court (Keating, J.) reserved its rulings on the caveatee’s motion to direct the verdict of the jury in his favor on the issues involving the execution of the will, the knowledge of its contents, mental capacity and of undue influence allegedly practiced on the testator by Mr. Healy. The jury found for the caveatee on the issues of execution of the will and knowledge of its contents; failed to reach a verdict on the issue of mental capacity; and found that the will of June 18, 1963, had been procured by Mr. Healy’s undue influence. The trial court thereafter directed a verdict for the caveatee on the issue of mental capacity and also granted the caveatee’s motion for a judgment, notwithstanding the verdict, upon the issue of undue influence, and ordered that the appropriate answer to that issue (“No”) be entered.

An appeal was timely taken from this action by the trial court. The only issue raised in this Court is in regard to undue influence, the caveator contending that there was sufficient evidence to justify the submission of this issue to the jury and to support the jury’s verdict in her favor on this issue. In our consideration of the facts in this case, we must resolve all conflicts in the evidence in favor of the caveator and must assume the truth of the evidence produced on her behalf, as well as all reasonable inferences which may be drawn from the evidence. Ingalls v. Trustees of Mt.

Oak Methodist Church Cemetery, 244 Md. 243, 247 , 223 A. 2d 778, 779 (1966). Much of the testimony is undisputed, and establishes the following : The testator was born in Washington, D. C. and lived there until he was about 12 years old when his mother died. After his family divided, he went to live with a Mrs. Martina R. Haynes near Lanham in Prince George’s County. He made his home with Mrs. Haynes, who was not a blood relative, for ¹⁶ approximately 40 years until her death, becoming her foster son.

In the latter part of 1961, Mrs. Haynes and the testator moved from the home in Lanham to a farm Mrs. Haynes had purchased in Queen Anne’s County near Grasonville. Six weeks after moving, Mrs. Haynes died. Her will left the bulk of her property, including her real estate, to the testator absolutely, subject to the payment of various legacies. The testator sold the Lanham property for approximately $100,000 net after paying expenses and various legacies.

He continued to live on the Queen Anne’s County farm, worth approximately $35,000, until his death on March 30,1964. On March 9, 1962 the testator executed a will, prepared by Duckett, Orem, Christie and Beckett, by which he devised and bequeathed his entire estate to Mrs. Shearer, the caveator, of Landover Hills, Prince George’s County, if she survived him,, otherwise to her descendants. These provisions were preceded by the following statement: “In compliance with the express-wish of Martina R. Haynes that I provide for Mrs. Lois Ellen Shearer, in greatful [sic] appreciation * * Most of the assets of the testator were received under the will of Mrs. Haynes. The caveator, her husband and four sons, had moved to Land-over Hills about the year 1943.

Their home was approximately three miles from that of Mrs. Haynes. The Shearer family, Mrs. Haynes and the testator had become close friends by 1950. The Shearers referred to Mrs. Haynes as “Aunt Tina” and Mrs. Haynes often introduced Mrs. Shearer to strangers as “her daughter.” Mrs. Haynes often said that she would like Mrs. Shearer “to be my daughter” and that “If I ever had a daughter I would like her to be just like Lois. [Mrs. Shearer].” Both Mrs. Haynes and the testator were fond of the Shearer children and made a habit of stopping in to see the Shearers when they went to town or otherwise passed the Shearer home. Mrs. Haynes- and the testator often had dinner with the Shearers and spent many holidays with them.

They would see the Shearers weekly. Mr. Shearer died in 1959 by which time three of the four sons-had married. Mrs. Shearer continued to live at the home in Landover Hills with her fourth son, then 12 years of age. Both Mrs. Haynes and the testator were great lovers of ani ¹⁷ mals, especially horses and dogs.

They had both horses and dogs at their home in Lanham and later at the Grasonville farm. The testator had a routine job sorting mail at the Washington, D. C. post office where he obtained night duty so that he could spend the day at home taking care of his many pets. Taking care of the animals and working out of doors were his principal diversions. The testator had only about a sixth-grade education.

He was straightforward and honest, was friendly but shy and prone to. embarrassment. He was very close to his foster mother, Mrs. Haynes and depended on her to a great extent. He did not know how to cook and was not used to keeping the house inside, although, as indicated, he did outside work. Mrs. Haynes drove the testator from their Lanham home to his work.

He disliked paper work and never handled any business matters-of his own, Mrs. Haynes doing it all for him. The testator had married an employee of the Post Office Department in Washington, D. C. This marriage was not successful and resulted in a mutually agreeable separation. There was. no issue of the marriage. The wife predeceased the testator by a number of years, the date of her death not appearing in the record.

The testator retired from the Government service on disability around 1960. He had suffered a heart attack and was a diabetic. Because of his diabetic condition, he had been ordered by his physician not to consume alcohol in any form. Before Mrs. Llaynes’ death he had gone on drinking bouts from time to time.

Mrs. Haynes disapproved of this conduct. After her death he stated that he would drink no more “until he got ail this settled,” and expressed concern over taking care of business matters relating to her estate. He visited Mrs. Shearer even more frequently and often spoke to her over the telephone when he did not see her. Approximately iwo months after the death of Mrs. Haynes on December 14, 1961, the testator went to Mrs. Shearer’s home and left a will with her which had been drawn at his request by his counsel, Duckett, Orem, Christie and Beckett.

He told her that this will revoked an earlier will which left all of his estate to his sister. The sister, however, remained the sole bene ¹⁸ ficiary of his insurance policies, amounting to $16,000, and was the joint owner of his personal bank account, which, at the time of his death, had a balance of between $2500 and $3000. The testator told Mrs. Shearer that he had made the new will because it disposed of the property which came to him from Mrs. Haynes who had expressly requested him to make Mrs. Shearer his beneficiary. Not long after this visit, the testator, on March 9, 1962, made a new will which again named Mrs. Shearer as sole beneficiary if she survived him, .and, as indicated, expressly stated that this was done in accordance with the wishes of Mrs. Haynes.

The descendants of Mrs. Shearer were named as beneficiaries if she predeceased the testator. The testator left the will of March 9, 1962, with Mrs. Shearer and took back the previous will. He never asked Mrs. Shearer to return the March 9, 1962 will and spoke about it as late as eight days before he died. The friendship between the Shearers and the testator continued until his death.

He frequently consulted Mrs. Shearer about signing documents relating to the property he had received from Mrs. Haynes. Until the spring of 1963 it was customary for Mrs. Shearer and Mr. and Mrs. Earl Wagner (Mrs. Wagner, a nurse, had cared for the testator when he was seriously ill, and she and her husband were friends of the testator), to drive down to Queen Anne’s County on Sunday, pick up the testator at his home and take him out to a meal at a restaurant or at the home of friends. In early 1963, Mrs. Shearer observed certain changes in the testator’s life. He saw his old friends less frequently.

He began to drink again and his health deteriorated. In May, 1963, the testator began calling the Shearers and Wagners on Sunday mornings to ask them not to come down. He stated that the caveatee, Mr. Healy, was there; they had been drinking heavily; and, that women were there with whom he did not want Mrs. Shearer and Mrs. Wagner to associate. The testator had known Healy when they were small boys living next door to each other in Washington, D. C. When they were in their teens, they did some camping with friends during the summer.

The caveatee was also employed in the Washington general post office building and when he and the testator were ¹⁹ on the day shift, they sometimes had lunch together. However, they usually worked in different departments and on different shifts. The caveatee visited the testator from time to time in Lanham, but the transportation was difficult and the caveatee had to walk three miles after taking the train. The caveatee retired during the latter part of August, 1962, at the age 58, losing 2% of his retirement annuity by reason of his early retirement.

The caveatee testified that shortly after that he began spending at least four days a week with the testator at the Grasonville farm, usually from Wednesday noon until Sunday noon. When he was at the Grasonville farm, he did the cooking and kept the house. The testator did the yard work and took care of the animals. The testator told the caveatee that his sister, Margaret, had taken over the G. I. insurance policy ($10,000) and would pay the premiums due on it, and that his sister was the beneficiary of that policy and of the government insurance ($6,000).

The testator discussed with the caveatee his attempts to sell the Lanham property, a few incidental things about the farm and the joint bank account with his sister. In March, 1963, the caveatee drove the testator to Centreville to consult with Harry C. Butler, an attorney in general practice there, to obtain professional help on an income tax matter. This was the first time the testator had met Mr. Butler. On a number of occasions between March 1 and June 17, 1963, the testator stopped in to see Mr. Butler to chat.

Mr. Butler was called by the caveator, and testified that his day book indicated that the testator called at his office on June 17, 1963, and gave instructions for the preparation of the will contested in this case. The testator was alone when he gave Mr. Butler his instructions. Mr. Butler testified that the instructions were: “He told me he wanted to leave it [his property] to his friend, Mr. Healy, whom he had known all his life and had been very closely connected, and I asked him in reference to the executor of the Will and he had me name Mr. Healy, so it was a very short Will and a very simple Will and a very easily understood Will.” ²⁰ Mr. Butler recalled that the testator told him that he wanted to leave Mr. Healy “all his property, both personal and real estate.” The testator paid Mr. Butler on June 17 for his services. The testator did not discuss his family, or who his heirs at law would be if he died intestate, and did not mention anything about a prior will.

Mr. Butler did not inquire about these matters. Mr. Butler further testified that at the time of the conference on June 17, the testator’s “physical condition was quite normal,” he spoke intelligently and that at no time had he seen the testator take a drink or detected the odor of alcohol on the testator’s breath. The testator did not act unusually at all. Mr. Butler indicated that the testator “had a mind of his own” and, in his opinion, “he certainly could not be easily influenced.” Mr. Healy never discussed the testator’s will with Mr. Butler prior to the testator’s death.

The testator, about noon on June 18, came to Mr. Butler’s office to execute the will which the attorney had prepared. There had been no prior arrangements made for the execution of the will and Mr. Butler was not in his office. Mrs. Marcy Collier, who had formerly been Mr. Butler’s secretary, was employed at that time by another attorney having an adjoining law office. The testator told Mrs. Collier that he was there to sign a will Mr. Butler had prepared for him.

Mrs. Collier had seen the testator before, but could not remember whether she had taken the notes in regard to the will. She found the draft of the proposed will on Mr. Butler’s desk. Leaving the draft in the testator’s hands, she went to an adjoining office to get Mrs. Lillian B. Swann, a secretary, to come to Mr. Butler’s office to act as the other witness to the will. Mrs. Swann testified that the testator was reading the draft of the will when she came in.

She signed first and then Mrs. Collier. The testator thanked Mrs. Swann for “coming in and witnessing his signature to his will.” Both Mrs. Collier and Mrs. Swann were called as witnesses by the caveator. Mrs. Collier testified that there was no