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In re the Application for the Probate of the Will of Palmateer

60 N.Y. St. Rep. 501 Court N.Y. Gen. Term Decision date 1894-05-08 English

Delivered by Mayham, P. J.

Contents

Majority

p. 501
In the Matter of the Application for the Probate of the Will of Gilbert Palmateer, Deceased.
(Supreme Court, General Term, Third Department,
Filed May 8, 1894)

Headnote

1. Evidence—Declarations—Wills—Undue influence.
The declarations of a testator before execution are not admissible to show undue influence.
2. Same.
The mere fact that the testator resided with or near the beneficiaries does not establish undue influence on their part.
3. Witness—Section 829.
A person, interested in the contest of a will, cannot testify as to the conversations between the testator and another party, though he takes no pan therein.
Appeal from a decree refusing probate of a will.
S. G. Carpenter (A. T. Clearwater, of counsel), for app’lts; Mclorns Dayton {D. W. Ostrander, of counsel), for resp’ts.

This is an appeal by the appellants, as executors and legatees named in an instrument purporting to he the last will and testament of Gilbert Palmateer, deceased, from a decree of the surrogate of Ulster county refusing to admit such instrument to probate as the will of said deceased, and directing the payment of costs of said contestants out of the estate of the deceased on the ground that Gilbert Palmateer was unduly influenced in making said will. The surrogate found and decided that the alleged testator was, at the time of making the instrument propounded as his last will, of sound mind, rational, and competent to make a will; so that the only question presented by this appeal is whether such instrument was made and procured by undue influence. The will was dated June 15, 1889, and the deceased died January 25, 1892, at the age of about 79 years. The deceased had been twice married; liis first wife dying about the year 1850, leaving four children, the fruit of such marriage, three of whom survived the testator, and one of whom died before the testator, leaving two sons, both of whom survived him. In his wall the testator bequeathed to his wife $100, the use of two rooms in his house, and of any furniture she may wish for; the same for life, in lieu of dower. To his two unmarried daughters he gave the furniture, the use of which was given to his wife for life. To two of his daughters by his first marriage and the three daughters by his second marriage lie bequeathed $100 each. To his two grandsons,

p. 502
sons of the deceased daughter by his first marriage, he devised two farms, to be divided between them at the majority of the youngest, and also bequeathed $100 each to said grandsons. All of the residue of his estate, real and personal, he devises and bequeaths to his two unmarried, childien'of his last wife. The testator, in his lifetime, conveyed by deed, for nominal consideration, real estate valued at $20,000 to his daughters, the larger share of whfch was conveyed to the children of his second marriage; but one of the farms, valued at about $2,000, was. conveyed to a daughter by his first marriage at about the same time he assigned securities valued at about $12,000 to his last wife and her daughters. One of the testator’s daughters by his first wife, with her husband, had had bitter and protracted litigation with the testator, and to that daughter the testator seems not to have made any advances by deed or assignment of securities, nor is she a beneficiary named in his will, and she appears as one of the contestants id the proceedings before the surrogate on the application to prove the same. The surrogate, in the examination of the question of undue influence, allowed a wide range of investigation by the evidence, showing the relations between the testator and his second wife, and her government and treatment of 'the children of the first wife, who, by the second marriage, were committed to her government and care; and that evidence disclosed in some instances treatment of severity, if not cruelty, exercised by this stepmother of these children by the former marriage. But these daughters were all married, and had left the paternal home many years before the malcing.of this will; and while such might bear in a very remote degree upon the question of undue influence, it fell far short of establishing any such control over the mind and will of the testator as to interfere with the testamentary disposition of his property, even if this evidence stood unchallenged or u ndisputed. But the proponents introduced evidence tending to show that the conduct of this stepmother was kind, affectionate, and humane towards these children. There was also evidence offered on the part of the contestants tending to show that the second wife and her children attempted by arguments, persuasions, and even threats to coerce and control the testator in the disposition of his property by his will; and, as evidence bearing upon that subject, the contestants introduced evidence of the declarations of the testator, which it is claimed tended to show that he yielded to the dictation and control of his wife and daughters, or was so far influenced by their conduct in that regard that lie did no! follow liis previously expressed wish or determination to make an equal distribution of his property between all of his children. But it is insisted on the part of the appellants that, as the testator at the time of making this will was of sound and disposing mind, and competent to make a will, as found by the surrogate, and as none of these declarations were made at the time of making of the will, and are not, therefore, a part of the res gestae, they were incompetent, and cannot be considered and treated as evidence to affect that instrument. . The declarations relied upon by the contestants cover a period of several years before the execution of the will, and, standing alone, are not enough, we
p. 503
think, to prove undue influence or fraud at the time of its execution. In Waterman v. Whitney, 11 N. Y. 157 , Judge Sellon, after a very exhaustive review of this subject, in which he examines the authorities in England, in other states of the Union, and in this state, sums up the result of his reseaich, in this language: “These cases must, I think, be sufficient to establish the position that declarations of the testator, made cither before-or after the execution of the will, are not competent evidence to impeach its validity on the ground of fraud, duress, imposition, or other like cases.”

The learned judge, in the further discussion of this question, conceded the admissibility of the declarations of a testator where the will is attacked upon the ground of want to testamentary capacity, and shows that their admissibility on such inquiry stands upon an entirely different principle from the one sought to be applied here; and he adds: “The difference is certainly very obvious between receiving the declarations of the testator to prove a distinct external fact, such a duress or fraud, for instance, and as evidence merely of the mental condition of the testator. . In the former case it is mere hearsay, and liable to the objection to which mere declarations of a third party'are subject; while in the latter it is .the most direct and appropriate species of evidence.”

Considered, therefore, as evidence upon the question of mental competency, this evidence was proper. But, after hearing this evidence, the learned surrogate held that the testator was of sound and disposing mind and memory, and competent to make a will. Within the light of these authorities, we cannot consider the declarations of the testator upon the question of fraud, duress, imposition, or other like causes; and, with this evidence excluded from consideration, the finding of the learned surrogate in his fourth and fifth findings, of fraud, circumvention, deceit, and evil practices, by which the natural affections of the testator for the contestants were alienated, and the will was procured to be executed by Hannah Palmateer, Martha Palmateer, Maggie E. Palmateer, Mary T. Koons, and Alphonzo J. Koons, is not sustained. Úor do we think the fact that the testator resided with, or in close proximity to, the .persons last named, some of whom were the principal beneficiaries in his will, a circumstance sufficient in itself, under the evidence in this case, to justify the conclusion that the will was the result of undue influence. The will was not drawn by either of the beneficiaries. Nor docs the evidence disclose that they, or either of them gave any instruction or direction to the draughtsman of the same. On the contrary, the draughtsman testified that no one talked with him about the will, except the testator, who alone was with him when the instructions were given, and the will was drawn. This evidence is not contradicted or questioned. The testimony of the draughtsman, who is a reputable lawyer, on the subject of the drawing and execution of this will, is as follows: “Q. State, when you went to draw the will of Mr. Palmateer, just what took place. A. I went in the sitting room, and he told me how he wanted the will, and I got it up. He told me himself. We were alone in the room,

p. 504
and the other witnesses did not come in until it was completed. He told me what to write, and what he wanted. I drew it in that manner, and when it was complete called in the other witnesses. No one else gave me any directions in addition to him. There was no one in the room at the time it was drawn, except perhaps members of the family, who came in and went right out, but did not say anything to us. He signed his name opposite the seal at the end of the will. I asked him, in the presence of this other witness, if he acknowledged this to be his signature,—I always do this,—if he declared this to be his last will and testament;" and he said, ‘Yes;’ if he requested Mr. Edward L. Tompkins and myself to sign as witnesses, and he said, ‘Yes.’ After lie signed his name, we signed our names, in the presence of him, and in the presence of each other, as witnesses to the will. I saw him sign the will, and I saw the other witnesses sign the will. I read the will over to him after I drew it. He said it was all right after I read it over. I do not remember whether I drew more than one copy, but he knew the contents of it, and he urns satisfied. Before the witness came in he knew all the provisions. He was over twenty-one years of age. I have known him for about thirty-two or thirty-three years.”

This evidence, it seems to us, falls far short of establishing undue influence. If we assume that the evidence in this case was such as to shift the burden of proving the absence of undue influence upon the proponents, instead of requiring the contestants who assert undue influence to prove it, still the evidence of the circumstances of its preparation and execution would establish such absence. But in this case we see nothing in the evidence calculated to shift the burden from the contestants to the proponents.

In Re Martin, 98 N. Y. 196 , Danforth, J., after stating the circumstances attending the execution of the will of the testator, uses this language: “The case, then, is one where the testatrix had testamentary capacity, a present knowledge of the contents of the. will, and where at its execution she was surrounded by all the guards which the statute has prescribed to prevent fraud and imposition. A will executed under these circumstances can be avoided only by influence amounting to force or coercion. The burden of proving it is on the party who makes the allegation. These principles are well settled.” Citing Tyler v. Gardiner, 35 N. Y. 559 ; Cudney v. Cudney, 68 N. Y. 148 .

Such undue influence or restraint must be a present restraint, operating upon the testator at the time of making the will, dominating the will and judgment of the testator, and coercing and controlling his action. McMahon v. Ryan, 20 Pa. St. 329 ; Eckert v. Flowry, 43 Pa. St. 46 -51.

In re Snelling, 136 N. Y. 517 ; 49 St. Rep. 695 ; O’Brien, J„ says: “ So long as her mental powers enabled her to understand and appreciate the amount and condition of her property, and to comprehend the nature and consequences of her act in executing the will, she was at liberty to dispose of her own in such manner as seemed best to her, providing the disposition was her own free act.

p. 505
What the law terms ‘ undue influence ’ is not established by proof tending to show that the testator acted from motives of affection or gratitude, though the objects of her bounty were strangers to her blood. The influence or moral coercion, or by whatever other term designated, must be such as to overpower the will of the testator, and subject it to the will of and control of another, in which case it assumes a character of fraud.

Horn v. Pullman, 72 N. Y. 276 ; Clapp v. Fullerton, 84 N. Y. 190 ; Hollis v. Drew Theo. Seminary, 95 N. Y. 166 ; Marx v. Mc Glynn, 88 N. Y. 370 .

Starting, therefore, as we do, with the fact established that the testator was, at the time of the execution of this will, of sound and disposing mind, and competent to make a testamentary disposition of his property, we think that the learned surrogate erred in finding apd deciding that the will was the result of fraud "or undue influence, and in refusing to admit the same to probate. We think that the surrogate erred also in the admission of evidence of a conversation between the testator and his wife, in the presence of one of the daughters, who was interested in the event of this contest, given by the daughter under proponents’ objection that it was not admissible, under § 829 of the Code of Civil Procedure. The daughter, who was interested in the event, was permitted to give statements made by her father to her mother, bearing upon the questions involved in this controversy. Sucli evidence has been held inadmissible. In re Will of Eysaman, 113 N. Y. 62 ; 22 St. Rep. 136 , it was held that a person interested in the estate could not testify to a conversation between the testator and another, in which the witness took no part. It is true that the court will not review for such error unless the court can see that the party was injured by its reception. Code, § 2545. But, if the evidence offered was illegal, it seems to have been upon the relations between the testator and'his second wife, bearing upon the question of undue influence, and was therefore, material, and its erroneous reception injurious to the appellants. The decree of the surrogate must be reversed, with costs to the appellants of this appeal, to be paid out of the estate; and, as the determination involves questions of fact, and the «appeal was taken from a decree made oh a petition to prove a will, an order must be made directing a trial by jury of the material questions of fact arising upon the issue between the parties, under § 2588 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

Putnam, J., concurs; Herrick, J., concurs in result.

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