Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/3d/209/1424.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 08:05:36+00:00

Document:
Breidenbach, Swainston, Crispo & Way and Veronica L. Sanchez for Contestant and Appellant.
Stephenson and Stephenson and George M. Stephenson for Petitioner, Claimants and Respondents.
Warren H. Haughey appeals from a judgment of dismissal for lack of standing entered after the probate court sustained without leave to amend the demurrer of Richard Billinghurst, Mary Jane Billinghurst and George M. Stephenson to the second amended contest to probate of the purported will of decedent Margaret H. Lind.
Appellant is the "brother" of the decedent. He was the "foster child" of Robert Lincoln and Henrietta Haughey (Haugheys), the decedent's parents. Appellant resided with the Haugheys from shortly after his birth until he entered military service in 1942, at the age of 22. The Haugheys provided appellant with all the necessities of life and treated him as their natural child. Appellant's relationship with the Haugheys continued throughout their joint lifetimes, with the Haugheys always referring to him as their son.
Appellant would have been adopted by the Haugheys but for a legal barrier. As set forth in a 1982 affidavit by the decedent, the Haugheys "had some adoption papers made out" around the time appellant was drafted into the Army.
On or about May 12, 1942, the Haugheys attempted to change appellant's birth certificate to read "Warren Harding Haughey." Without supplying a reason, the State Registrar of Vital Statistics refused to make the change. In that appellant was always known by that name and as the son of the Haugheys, there was no reason to press the issue.
Appellant always believed himself to have been adopted, and, when he discovered in 1980 that adoption proceedings had never been completed, it was too late to take any legal action. The Haugheys were both deceased.
The decedent left as her surviving heir or possible heir, in addition to appellant, Jerry Haughey, the 62-year-old stepson of her deceased brother Robert P. Haughey. However, the purported will of September 14, 1984, named as devisees and legatees only Richard and Mary Jane Billinghurst, identified in the purported will as "my friends," and Attorney George M. Stephenson (respondents).
This purported will was the direct result of undue influence exercised over the decedent by Attorney Stephenson. When the decedent signed the purported will, she was 88 years old and suffering from multiple ailments, which gradually deteriorated both her mind and body. She was under the constant care of a physician. Her mental and physical condition caused her freedom of will to be easily subverted by those in whom she had confidence.
[1a] Appellant contends the second amended contest alleges sufficient ultimate facts to establish, prima facie, his standing to contest probate of decedent's purported will and the probate court thus erred in sustaining respondents' demurrer without leave to amend, rather than conducting an evidentiary hearing on the disputed issue of standing. For the reasons set forth below, we agree.
The Legislature enacted Probate Code section 6408 in 1983 and then amended it in each of the next two years. It applies to estates of persons dying after January 1, 1985. Here, the decedent died on June 3, 1987. Section 6408 defines the relationship of parent and child "for the purpose of determining intestate succession." Subdivision (a)(2) declares "[t]he relationship of parent and child exists between an adopted person and his or her adopting parent or parents."
Appellant claims to have been adopted, but can show no official documentary evidence to support his claim. Indeed, he concedes that the State Registrar of Vital Statistics refused to issue a birth certificate showing his adopted surname. In the alternative, he claims a parent-child relationship with the decedent's parents under section 6408, subdivision (b).
As the evidence offered in support of appellant's adoption also goes to the crucial question of whether his foster parents, the Haugheys, decedent's natural parents, "would have adopted [him] but for a legal barrier," we can review the two asserted bases for standing together.
We are left with the questions of whether the Haugheys would have adopted appellant but for a legal barrier and, more particularly, whether the second amended contest alleges sufficient ultimate facts necessary to plead the fulfillment of that requirement. The resolution of these questions turns on both the contents of the pleading and additional facts appellant presented to the probate court.
We turn first to whether appellant would have been adopted but for a legal barrier. Appellant specifically alleges (1) he "would have been adopted but for a legal barrier"; (2) about the time he was drafted into the United States Army, "the Haugheys had some adoption papers made out"; and (3) he "always believed himself to have been adopted."
Appellant offered evidence to support these allegations in his opposition to respondent's demurrer and motion to strike. Three pieces of evidence merit discussion. The first is a letter from the decedent's sister, Isabel, to her brother, Robert, dated January 15, 1942. The letter reads in pertinent part: "Warren is now deferred to Apr. 15 -- Teeth -- Then I have completed with the aid and interference of our various friends his birth and citizenship papers and he is now really Warren Harding Haughey. Never do I want that to do over. It has been 4 months but it is only a matter of record now -- settled by Judge Falk. He really did not have a name untill [sic] now. [209 Cal. App. 3d 1433] Father's name is Myron Forbes, a salesman -- 49 years old -- Mother's name Thompson."
In the opposition to respondents' demurrer and motion to strike, appellant's attorney explained, "The contestant, with the aid of an investigator, has made a thorough search through the records and archives of Judge Falk's files in Eureka and has been unable to turn up anything more definite as to what proceedings were actually started."
The second item is a letter of February 16, 1943, again from Isabel to her brother. She refers to one rare trip away from her home in Eureka of "just eight days to Salt Lake City to see one of the finest men I know that is your adopted brother Warren H. Haughey to you and a Pvt. as was your grandfather in the Civil War." The word "adopted" is underlined on the copy of the letter in the record, but it is unclear from that copy whether the underlining was made by the writer or added later.
The third piece of evidence is a sworn affidavit executed by the decedent herself, dated March 23, 1982, and notarized by Attorney Stephenson. fn. 3 In the affidavit, the decedent recounts appellant's relationship with her parents. The fourth paragraph reads, "I am aware of the fact that when Warren H. Haughey was drafted by the United States Army in 1940 or thereabouts that my mother and father had some adoption papers made out -- however, I do not know whether that was anything other than an affidavit or a court adoption."
We now turn to the ultimate question. Is the evidence presented above enough for the probate court to have inferred sufficient ultimate facts to carry the contestant beyond the pleading stage and into court?
Inasmuch as this is a case of first impression regarding a statute, we deem it appropriate to offer guidance to the probate court in this case and for other such courts in the future. We touch upon the questions of what must be pleaded in a will contest to allege standing under section 6408, subdivision (b), how the court should resolve disputes as to such standing, and what meaning should be given to the phrases "would have adopted" and "but for a legal barrier."
 It is well established that a contestant should plead ultimate facts, rather than evidentiary facts or conclusions of law. (3 Koontz, op. cit. supra, § 22.125, pp. 22-77-22-78; 7 Witkin, Summary of Cal. Law (8th ed. 1974) Wills and Probate, § 396, p. 5854;4 Witkin, Cal. Procedure (3d ed. 1985) Pleading, §§ 332, 346-347, pp. 382-383, 398-400.) However, the distinctions among ultimate facts, evidentiary facts, and conclusions of law are, at best, blurred. (4 Witkin, Cal. Procedure, op. cit. supra, § 332, pp. 382-383; see Estate of Bixler (1924) 194 Cal. 585 [lengthy discussion on pleading ultimate facts in a will contest, showing just how unclear the distinctions are].)  As California code pleading has moved toward federal notice pleading, the important thing is that the proponent be informed of the contestant's claim to standing. (Cf. 4 Witkin, Cal. Procedure, op. cit. supra, § 333, p. 384.) To allege that "contestant's foster parents would have adopted him but for a legal barrier" is sufficient for purposes of information. That is an allegation of ultimate fact. To allege how it is known would be to plead evidentiary facts.
[7b] Contestants must allege the basis of their standing in their contests.  Frivolous claims to standing are unlikely to be frequently made, and the court is empowered to deal with "bad-faith actions or tactics that are frivolous or solely intended to cause unnecessary delay" under Code of Civil Procedure section 128.5.
 This procedure would be in keeping with the words of Justice Traynor, who wrote in Estate of Plaut, supra: "Although the right to ask the court for an adjudication of his claim to the estate should be denied a person whose interest 'has not even the appearance of validity or substance' [citation], it should not be denied a person who, even though he may ultimately not receive any part of the estate, has at least established a prima facie interest in that estate. Since a proceeding to probate or contest a will is a proceeding in rem [citation], and at the end of the six-month period [now 120 days] during which it may be contested the probate of the will is conclusive [citations], all persons whose interests may be adversely affected should be given an opportunity to be heard." (27 Cal.2d at pp. 428-429.) In that same opinion, Justice Traynor recognized with approval that the probate court could hold a hearing on the standing question before proceeding with the trial of the contest (id., at p. 426) and the contest should be dismissed if the contestant cannot make a prima facie showing of standing (id., at p. 429).
 The doctrine of the liberal construction of pleadings should be employed here to aid the contestant. (4 Witkin, Cal. Procedure, supra, § 396, pp. 446-447.) Liberal allowances for pleading are especially appropriate where upholding a weak pleading will "avoid a possible gross miscarriage of justice." (Id., § 401, p. 450.) Allowing an attorney without challenge to write himself into an elderly client's will as a major beneficiary and executor is a possible gross miscarriage of justice.
[15a] If an attempt to legally adopt was made, it can be inferred it failed because of a legal barrier, absent evidence the attempt was aborted for nonlegal reasons (such as a change of heart, lack of funds, or mere lethargy), provided a definite legal barrier can be shown to have existed at the time of the attempted adoption. [1c] If appellant is able to demonstrate to the court by clear and convincing evidence that the elder Haugheys would have adopted him in 1942, the state's prohibition of adult adoptions at that time would constitute a sufficient legal barrier to the adoption.
The judgment of dismissal is reversed, and the probate court is ordered to vacate its order sustaining the demurrer and instead to enter an order overruling the demurrer, thereby entitling appellant to an evidentiary hearing on the question of his standing to contest probate of the purported will. Appellant is to recover costs on appeal.
FN 1. All statutory references hereafter are to the Probate Code, unless otherwise indicated.
FN 2. No challenge has been raised to the bequest of the other half of the estate to "my friends" Richard and Mary Jane Billinghurst.
FN 3. The record does not reveal the purpose of the affidavit, but, as the decedent executed it just three weeks before appellant's 62nd birthday and as the record contains references to appellant's inability to obtain a birth certificate from the State Registrar of Vital Statistics showing his name as Haughey, appellant might well have sought the affidavit as proof of age in applying for Social Security benefits.
FN 4. See Estate of Claffey, supra, 209 Cal. App. 3d 254, for discussion of the requirements of section 6408, subdivision (b)(2).
FN 5. Appellant also attempts to invoke the judicial doctrine of equitable adoption. Suffice it to say the question is inappropriate here, for, even if appellant could show the Haugheys had equitably adopted him, he would, by that doctrine, have been entitled only to inherit from his equitable parents on the contract theory underlying the doctrine, not through them from the decedent. On equitable adoption and its limitations, see Estate of Wilson (1980) 111 Cal. App. 3d 242 [168 Cal. Rptr. 533].

References: § 22
 § 396
 § 332
 § 333
 § 396
 § 401