Title: In Re Estate of Isom

State: kansas

Issuer: Kansas Supreme Court

Document:

193 Kan. 357 (1964)
394 P.2d 21
In the Matter of the Estate of Martha L. Isom, Deceased.
(GEORGE BURROWS, JR., Appellee,
v.
T.A. DUDLEY and FRANK MANTZKE, Co-Administrators of the Estate of Martha L. Isom, Deceased, et al., Appellants.)
No. 43,644

Supreme Court of Kansas.
Opinion filed July 14, 1964.
A.E. Kramer, of Hugoton, argued the cause, and Bernard E. Nordling, *358 of Hugoton, and L.R. Hannen and H.T. Horrell, both of Burlington, were with him on the brief for the appellants.
Paul A. Wolf, of Hugoton, argued the cause, and J.S. Brollier, of Hugoton, was with him on the brief for the appellee.
The opinion of the court was delivered by
SCHROEDER, J.:
This is an action by George Burrows, Jr. (appellee), hereinafter referred to as the claimant, asking specific performance of an alleged oral contract to devise real estate. It is based upon a claim that Martha L. Isom had made an oral contract in April, 1960, to devise two quarter sections of land, if Burrows and his family would move to her homestead and take care of her and look after her as long as she lived. Mrs. Isom died on July 4, 1961, without leaving any will, and Burrows commenced this action by filing his petition in the probate court of Stevens County, Kansas. On motion the action was transferred to the district court of Stevens County pursuant to the provisions of G.S. 1961 Supp., 59-2402a and G.S. 1949, 59-2402b.
Upon joinder of issues the matter was tried to the court and judgment was entered for the claimant granting specific performance as to the Northeast Quarter of Section 3, but denying it as to the Southeast Quarter of Section 3. The co-administrators and heirs at law of the decedent, hereinafter referred to as the appellants, have appealed that portion of the judgment granting specific performance relative to the Northeast Quarter of Section 3. No cross appeal has been filed as to the other quarter section of land involved.
The primary question is whether the evidence was sufficient to establish a contract to devise real estate between the decedent and the claimant and performance on the part of the claimant.
The trial court made findings of fact and conclusions of law which were incorporated in its journal entry. The findings of fact summarize all of the material evidence and establish the facts in this case. They are as follows:
The written memorandum agreement, to which the trial court made reference, dated the 25th day of April, 1960, by and between Martha L. Isom as first party, and George Burrows, Jr. as second party, in material part reads:
All parties concede and plead this memorandum agreement, and the parties further agree that the written memorandum agreement was made subsequent to the alleged oral agreement to devise the real estate in question. In fact, the appellants concede there is little conflict in the testimony. They contend it is the absence of testimony rather than the question of belief or disbelief of it by the trial court that is presented for review.
It is the appellants' contention that there is no evidence in the record to support the following allegations in the petition:
Thereupon the appellants review the testimony of the various witnesses set forth in the findings of the trial court item by item, and argue there is no mention of any contract or agreement between the parties as to the time, nature, terms or the existence of any obligation between the parties.
Conclusions of law made by the trial court are as follows:
After the trial court made its decision and entered judgment, a motion for a new trial was filed, and, after hearing, was overruled.
We shall first consider a preliminary question raised by the appellants. The appellants contend the "trial court erred in admitting improper testimony of witnesses L.C. Langston, Emma B. Lease, and Lena Frances Langston, as to so called `similar acts.'"
The appellants contend the testimony of these witnesses was incompetent, concerned unrelated matters, and was not admissible for any purpose. (Citing, Roberts v. Dixon, 50 Kan. 436, 31 Pac. 1083; and 20 Am. Jur., Evidence, §§ 246, 248, pp. 239, 242.) The trial court admitted this evidence on the ground it was material only for the purpose of showing the state of mind of the decedent subsequent to her husband's death.
This court has said in Prymek v. Herink, 131 Kan. 77, 289 Pac. 412, that other similar acts may be shown when a course of conduct or dealing is in question, or in certain instances when a question of habit or custom is involved.
Dean Slough, in an article entitled "Relevancy Unraveled," 6 Kan. L. Rev. 38, stated:
A leading case on this point is Firlotte v. Jessee, 76 Cal. App. 2d 207, 172 P.2d 710. The controversy involved an oral agreement between *364 the parties wherein the defendant sold to the plaintiff for $600 the feed on two hundred acres of land for the 1944 grazing season. The plaintiff went into possession and put some sheep on the leased ground. After eleven days the feed had been topped and the sheep were temporarily removed. Six weeks later the plaintiff discovered that defendant was grazing his cattle on the leased ground and all of the feed was gone. Suit was brought for refund of some of the lease money.
At the trial the plaintiff testified that he had the right to the use of the land for the entire season, exclusive of any interest of the defendant, while the defendant testified that he had reserved the right to pasture his cattle on the land. The testimony of another witness was offered to the effect that the defendant had previously offered the ground to him to pasture for 1944 and had said nothing to him about reserving the right to pasture defendant's cattle on the two hundred acres. The trial court admitted such testimony. On appellate review such ruling was affirmed, the court in its opinion stating:
(See, also, Moody v. Peirano, 4 Cal. App. 411, 88 Pac. 380.)
In 20 Am. Jur., Evidence, § 248, the rule is stated as follows:
Wigmore, in speaking of evidence to prove a contract, says:
The California court in Bone v. Hayes, 154 Cal. 759, 99 Pac. 172, citing the above section of Wigmore said:
Under the foregoing rules we hold evidence of Mrs. Isom's prior dealings with the Langstons and with Emma B. Lease was relevant and thus admissible. Such evidence made the inference, that an oral contract was entered into between Mrs. Isom and George Burrows, more probable than it would be without the admission of such transactions. The trial court was well within its discretionary power to accept such evidence at the trial and give it such probative value in proof of the making of an oral contract to devise real estate as it felt the evidence warranted.
As a general rule direct evidence of oral contracts to devise real estate is unavailable because the decedent's lips are sealed by death, and the one who personally entered into the transaction with a deceased person has his lips sealed by the statute. (G.S. 1949, 60-2804.) The law in Kansas has recognized this fact.
In Anderson v. Anderson, 75 Kan. 117, 88 Pac. 743, the appellants' contention was similar to the appellants' contention here. The court there held that a decree of specific performance can be rendered if the contract is established by such facts and circumstances as will raise an implication that it was made, and may have reinforcement from the evidence of the conduct of the parties, at the time of making the contract and subsequently.
It was held in Bichel v. Oliver, 77 Kan. 696, 95 Pac. 396:
Another statement of the rule is found in the case of In re Estate of Wert, 165 Kan. 49, 193 P.2d 253, as follows:
One of the more recent cases on the subject is In re Estate of Dull, 184 Kan. 233, 336 P.2d 435, where the court stated the rule as follows:
The appellants rely on general law which is discussed in Andrews v. Aikens, 44 Ida. 797, 260 Pac. 423, 69 A.L.R. 8; and Holsz v. Stephen, 362 Ill. 527, 200 N.E. 601, 106 A.L.R. 737. They also rely on Woltz v. First Trust Co., 135 Kan. 253, 9 P.2d 665, 106 A.L.R. 748; Trackwell v. Walker, 142 Kan. 367, 46 P.2d 603, 106 A.L.R. 748; In re Estate of Towne, 172 Kan. 245, 239 P.2d 824; and Brown v. Slusser, 130 Kan. 834, 288 Pac. 743.
These cases hold that in matters of this character the first question to be determined is whether there was a contract such as is claimed. In Woltz v. First Trust Co., supra, cases where the contract was established are cited, also those where the contract was not established are cited, and the court recognized that no good purpose would be served in analyzing each of these cases. To cite them was deemed sufficient. Each case must be analyzed and stand or fall upon its own facts.
We think the claimant produced sufficient evidence at the trial to raise a convincing implication that an oral contract to devise real estate was made. The decedent was an elderly person, living alone on a farm twelve miles from Hugoton, in ill health, and in need of aid and assistance from someone. From the time claimant and his family moved onto the decedent's farm, they were her only source of aid and assistance. Prior to her contract with the claimant, the decedent had made promises and entered into separate transactions with T.C. Langston and Emma Lease to the effect that if these people would look after her and care for her, she would leave some or all of her property to them. The claimant performed *367 all of his obligations under the contract, and this performance should be considered as corroborative evidence of the fact that such a contract was in fact made.
The services rendered by the claimant and his wife were not the type of services which a tenant would ordinarily perform for his landlord. Besides farming the land, claimant and his wife looked after and cared for the decedent in numerous respects as found by the trial court. For these and other services the claimant and his wife received no compensation.
The written severance agreement between the claimant and the decedent was the only evidence that the relationship of landlord and tenant existed between the parties. All of the other evidence produced at the trial shows that the decedent never recognized the claimant as an ordinary farm tenant. The evidence shows that the decedent never had the records in the Stevens County ASC office changed to show that the claimant was the tenant on her land. Consequently, during this time, the claimant received none of the benefits of the ASC farm program on this land. If he were a farm tenant, that relationship is not inconsistent with the oral agreement to devise real estate.
The decedent requested the claimant and his wife to maintain, care for and not destroy the lilacs and other shrubbery in her yard after her death. This statement by the decedent shows that she intended for the claimant and his wife to live on this farm after her death. She also requested them to take care of her cemetery lot after her death. This is not a request which a landlord would make of a tenant.
The fact that the claimant purchased a new five-room house and went to the expense of moving it to the homestead of the decedent does not justify the conclusion that the claimant was a mere year to year tenant. It is hardly logical to assume that a year to year tenant would go to such expense where the landlord was quite elderly and whose death would necessitate the removal of the house at additional expense, in the absence of a contract of the kind propounded by the claimant and found to exist by the trial court.
The evidence disclosed that the decedent and her relatives were not on good terms. The relatives were not allowed on the place, and they did nothing for her in recent years. From June, 1960, until her death, the decedent's only aid and assistance came from the claimant and his wife.
There was an abundance of evidence to show that the appellee *368 had fully performed his obligations under the contract. Full performance by one of the parties to an oral contract is sufficient to take the case out of the statute of frauds.
The facts and circumstances brought out in the evidence  statements and admissions made by the decedent to third parties coupled with other evidence adduced in the case, including the acts of the parties  were sufficient to raise a convincing implication that the contract was actually made and to satisfy the court of its terms and performance. Nothing in the record indicates that enforcement of the contract would be inequitable. The terms of the contract to devise the real estate, described in the evidence as the home place, to the claimant were reasonably certain.
The variance between the petition which sought two quarter sections of land and the finding by the trial court, that the home place consisted of only one quarter section where the buildings were located, is of no consequence on the facts in this case. On the evidence the land in question was the home place. What land this included was a matter for the trial court to determine from the evidence. Whether the trial court was correct in such finding is a matter which has not been challenged by the claimant.
The written severance agreement (memorandum agreement) between the decedent and the claimant did not prevent the claimant from proving the existence of a collateral oral agreement which is enforceable. Here the claimant was farming some of the decedent's land under an oral year to year tenancy. When the decedent proposed that the claimant and his family move to the farm so that the claimant and his wife could look after and care for her, it became necessary for the claimant to provide a place on the farm for his family to live. He purchased a new five-room shell house, paid for the foundation, plumbing, heating, wiring, etc., and paid for having it moved to the farm. In the absence of a written severance agreement this house would have become a part of the decedent's real estate. Even though the claimant was to acquire this land by devise from the decedent, by agreement it was necessary that he and his wife look after and care for the decedent during the remainder of her life. If, for some reason, the claimant failed to perform his obligation under the contract and the decedent terminated the contract and his tenancy, the claimant would lose his investment in the house. Consequently, the severance agreement was necessary to protect the claimant, and it related only to the year to year farm *369 tenancy and the claimant's right to remove his property if the oral contract was not performed by him. The severance agreement itself states: "An oral agreement and understanding has been reached about the matters set out herein," but nowhere does it state that it covers all of the oral agreements between the parties.
A similar situation was presented in the case of In re Estate of Boller, 173 Kan. 30, 244 P.2d 678. There the executor contended the claimant could not recover on an alleged oral agreement because the parties had executed a written contract into which were merged all prior negotiations. The court said:
The foregoing rule has subsequently been approved in the cases of In re Estate of Hupp, 177 Kan. 202, 277 P.2d 618; and In Re Estate of Goff, 191 Kan. 17, 379 P.2d 225.
In our opinion there was sufficient competent evidence to support the findings of the trial court and the judgment.
The judgment of the lower court is affirmed.