Case Name: Olive LORRAINE, a beneficiary under the Last Will and Testament of Cecil Johnson, Appellant, v. GROVER, CIMENT, WEINSTEIN & STAUBER, P.A., Marvin Weinstein, individually, and INA Underwriters Insurance Company of Los Angeles, California (INAPRO), a foreign corporation, Appellees
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1985-02-05
Citations: 467 So. 2d 315
Docket Number: No. 84-975
Parties: Olive LORRAINE, a beneficiary under the Last Will and Testament of Cecil Johnson, Appellant, v. GROVER, CIMENT, WEINSTEIN & STAUBER, P.A., Marvin Weinstein, individually, and INA Underwriters Insurance Company of Los Angeles, California (INAPRO), a foreign corporation, Appellees.
Judges: Before HUBBART, NESBITT and DANIEL S. PEARSON, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 467
Pages: 315–322

Head Matter:
Olive LORRAINE, a beneficiary under the Last Will and Testament of Cecil Johnson, Appellant, v. GROVER, CIMENT, WEINSTEIN & STAUBER, P.A., Marvin Weinstein, individually, and INA Underwriters Insurance Company of Los Angeles, California (INAPRO), a foreign corporation, Appellees.
No. 84-975.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.
Feb. 5, 1985.
Rehearing Denied March 13, 1985.
Fogle & Poole and Lewis H. Fogle, Jr., William Feldman, Miami, for appellant.
Marlow, Shofi, Ortmayer, Smith, Connell & Valerius and Joseph H. Lowe, Miami, for appellees.
Before HUBBART, NESBITT and DANIEL S. PEARSON, JJ.

Opinion:
NESBITT, Judge.
The plaintiff appeals a summary final judgment entered in favor of the defendants on a claim of legal malpractice in drafting a will. We affirm.
The facts relevant to this appeal are undisputed. In March 1981, Johnson, while in the hospital, contacted Weinstein, an attorney, to have a will drawn up. A phone conversation ensued between Johnson, Weinstein and Weinstein's secretary, in which the secretary took notes on Johnson's testamentary wishes. In conformity with these expressed wishes, a will was drawn up and executed. Johnson died of cancer two weeks after the will was executed.
Prior to his death, Johnson shared his residence with his mother (the plaintiff) and his minor son. The will contained a provision which left his mother a life estate in the residence with the remainder going to his sons. In the probate proceedings, however, it was determined that the residence was Johnson's homestead and consequently was not subject to devise. See Art. X, § 4, Fla. Const.; § 732.401-.4015, Fla.Stat. (1981). It therefore passed directly to Johnson's children pursuant to section 732.401, Florida Statutes (1981).
The plaintiff, Johnson's mother, instituted this suit against Weinstein, his law firm, and their insurer. The complaint alleges that due to Weinstein's negligence and lack of skill in drafting the will, the devise of the life estate in the residence to the plaintiff failed. Upon motion, the trial court entered a summary final judgment in favor of the defendants. This appeal followed.
Generally, in a negligence action against an attorney, the plaintiff must prove: (1) the attorney's employment by the plaintiff (privity); (2) the attorney's neglect of a reasonable duty owed to the plaintiff; and (3) that such negligence resulted in and was the proximate cause of loss to the plaintiff. Drawdy v. Sapp, 365 So.2d 461 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978); Weiner v. Moreno, 271 So.2d 217 (Fla. 3d DCA 1973). Florida courts have recognized, however, that an attorney preparing a will has a duty not only to the testator-client, but also to the testator's intended beneficiaries. In limited circumstances, therefore, an intended beneficiary under a will may maintain a legal malpractice action against the attorney who prepared the will, if through the attorney's negligence a devise to that beneficiary fails. DeMaris v. Asti, 426 So.2d 1153 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983); McAbee v. Edwards, 340 So.2d 1167 (Fla. 4th DCA 1976). Although it is generally stated that the action can be grounded in theories of either tort (negligence) or contract (third-party beneficiary), the contractual theory is "conceptually superfluous since the crux of the action must lie in tort in any case; there can be no recovery without negligence." McAbee, 340 So.2d at 1169 (quoting Heyer v. Flaig, 70 Cal.2d 223, 449 P.2d 161, 74 Cal.Rptr. 225 (1969)). In effect, McAbee and DeMaris have established a limited exception in the area of will drafting to the requirement of the first element (the privity requirement) in a legal malpractice action.
On this appeal, the plaintiff argues that Weinstein was negligent in not advising Johnson of the prohibition against devising homestead property and of possible alternatives. As the plaintiff suggests, it may have been possible to structure a conveyance to avoid the constitutional provision by having Johnson make an inter vivos transfer of a vested interest in the residence to her. It is also possible that Johnson might have wanted to devise some other comparable property interest to his mother if he had known of the constitutional prohibition or that the devise might fail. Perhaps it could even be said that Wein-stein's failure to advise Johnson of these possibilities was a breach of duty owed to Johnson. These possibilities, however, do not aid the plaintiff's cause here.
With regard to the first possibility, there is no indication in the record of any desire on the part of Johnson to make a transfer of any interest in the residence prior to his death. Even if such a desire did exist, however, any alleged negligence attributable to Weinstein's failure to advise Johnson concerning the possibility of an inter vivos transfer falls outside the limited exception established in McAbee to the privity requirement in legal malpractice actions. Generally, an attorney is not liable to third parties for negligence or misadvice given to a client concerning an inter vivos transfer of property. See Southworth v. Crevier, 438 So.2d 1011 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983); Drawdy. Since no privity existed between the plaintiff and Weinstein and no duty was owed to the plaintiff, this action cannot be maintained by the plaintiff on an alleged breach of duty owed solely to Johnson.
Under the limited exception to the privity requirement, this court has held that an attorney's
liability to the testamentary beneficiary can arise only if, due to the attorney's professional negligence, the testamenta ry intent, as expressed in the will, is frustrated, and the beneficiary's legacy is lost or diminished as a direct result of that negligence.
DeMaris, 426 So.2d at 1154. The holding in DeMaris encompasses two concepts. First, for an action to fall within the exception, the testamentary intent that has allegedly been frustrated must be "expressed in the will." Second, the beneficiary's loss must be a "direct result of," or proximately caused by the attorney's alleged negligence.
In the present case, there is no indication that Johnson wished or intended any alternative property interest to pass to his mother under the will if the devise of the life estate in the residence failed. An intent to devise a comparable interest in other property upon the failure of the primary devise cannot reasonably be extrapolated from any of the provisions in Johnson's will. Furthermore, a disappointed beneficiary may not prove, by evidence extrinsic to the will, that the testator's testamentary intent was other than that expressed in the will. DeMaris. In the instant case, Johnson's only testamentary intent expressed in the will that has been frustrated is his wish that his mother, the plaintiff, receive a life estate in his residence upon his death.
An attorney will be liable to an intended beneficiary under a will only if the attorney's negligence in drafting the will or having it properly executed directly results in the plaintiff-beneficiary's loss. DeMar-is, 426 So.2d at 1154. In the case at bar, the plaintiff alleges in her complaint, as she must to fit within the exception to the privity requirement, that the devise of the life estate failed and, thus, Johnson's testamentary intent was frustrated, due to Weinstein's negligence in drafting the will. The probate court, however, determined that the residence was Johnson's homestead within the meaning of article X, section 4 of the Florida Constitution. Since Johnson was survived by a minor child, the homestead was not subject to devise. Art. X, § 4(c), Fla. Const.; § 732.4015, Fla.Stat. (1981). Accordingly, there was no means by which a will could have been drafted so that Johnson's testamentary intent, that a life estate in the homestead pass to his mother on his death, could have been accomplished. Cf. Johns v. Bowden, 68 Fla. 32, 66 So. 155 (1914) and Estate of Johnson, 397 So.2d 970 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981) (declaring invalid attempts (by means of trusts) to contravene the constitutional prohibition against testamentary disposition of homestead property). Johnson's testamentary intent was not frustrated by Wein-stein's professional negligence, but rather by Florida's constitution and statutes. Summary judgment for the defendants was therefore proper since any alleged negligence on the part of Weinstein in drafting the will could not have been the cause of the plaintiff's claimed loss.
Upon the foregoing analysis, the summary final judgment is affirmed.
. There is no dispute over the determination that the residence was Johnson's homestead within the meaning of the Florida Constitution, and that it was not subject to devise because Johnson was survived by a minor child. Art. X, § 4(c), Fla. Const.; § 732.4015, Fla.Stat. (1981).
. It is apparent that either Johnson's spouse predeceased him or their marriage had been dissolved. Therefore, in accordance with the Florida Statutes, the homestead passed directly to Johnson's children. See § 732.401(1); § 732.103(1).
. Proof of this first element generally establishes that the attorney owes a duty to the plaintiff. The two principal justifications relied upon for the retention of the privity requirement in legal malpractice actions are: (1) to allow such liability without privity would deprive the parties to the contract of control of their own agreement; and (2) a duty to the general public would impose a huge potential burden of liability on the contracting parties. See generally Annot., 45 A.L.R.3d 1181.
. We make no determination as to whether Weinstein's action in the present case amounted to a breach of duty owed to his client. Such a determination is to be left to the finder of fact in an appropriate case.
. Declarations made by the testator concerning the disposition of his property are not admissible to show that he intended to dispose of his property in a particular manner not evidenced by the will.
While parol evidence is admissible for the purpose of interpreting something actually written in the will, it cannot be admitted for the purpose of adding to the will something which does not appear on the face of the instrument.
It is not the rule of evidence which excludes extrinsic facts in contradiction to a will, but rather the Statute of Wills. The statute of wills requires all testamentary conveyances to be in writing and executed with certain prescribed formalities, [footnote omitted]
1 T.A. Thomas & D.T. Smith, Florida Estates Practice Guide ch. 16, § 38 (1984). See § 732.-502, Fla.Stat. (1981). The danger of perjury is the reason behind the statutory provisions which regulate wills and is also generally considered the reason for the rule which prohibits the use of evidence extrinsic to the will to prove a testator's intent. See 4 Bowe-Parker: Page on Wills § 32.9, at 271 (4th ed. 1961).
. The dissent would have us overrule a recent decision of this court which holds that in an action of this nature, the testamentary intent that has allegedly been frustrated must be expressed in the will. See DeMaris. The law is now established here and in most jurisdictions that an attorney becomes liable to a testamentary beneficiary only if the testamentary intent, as expressed in the will, is frustrated by the attorney's negligence and the beneficiary's legacy is lost or diminished as a direct result of that negligence. DeMaris. Accord Ventura County Humane Soc'y for Prevention of Cruelty to Children & Animals v. Holloway, 40 Cal.App.3d 897, 115 Cal.Rptr. 464 (Ct.App.1974). See also supra note 5. While we recognize that the plaintiff was in fact an intended beneficiary of the decedent's will, she may recover under this theory only the deficit that results from a frustrated testamentary intent expressed in the will. To permit the plaintiff to prove that the testamentary intent was other than that expressed in the will not only would run contrary to the avowed purpose of the statute of wills to guard against fraud, but also would open the door to "the fabled triplets of conjecture, speculation and surmise," Pena v. Allstate Ins. Co., 463 So.2d 1256 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985) (Schwartz, C.J., dissenting), which have never entitled a litigant to affirmative relief.
While the court in Ogle v. Fuiten, 102 Ill.2d 356, 80 Ill.Dec. 772, 466 N.E.2d 224 (1984), relied upon by the dissent, rejected the rule that only the testator's intent, as expressed in the will, is relevant in a legal malpractice action brought by an intended beneficiary, the court's decision was premised on its failure to find any authority supporting such a rule. In the present case, we have not only found authority for the rule, but that authority is a prior decision of this very court. See DeMaris. Accord Holloway. See supra note 5. In addition, we note that it was conceded in Ogle that under Illinois law privity is not a prerequisite to an action by a nonclient against an attorney. 80 Ill.Dec. at 774, 466 N.E.2d at 226. See Pelham v. Griesheimer, 92 Ill.2d 13, 64 Ill.Dec. 544, 440 N.E.2d 96 (1982). Florida law, however, is to the contrary. In fact, this court has specifically held that in a legal malpractice action, the plaintiff must prove the attorney's employment (privity). Weiner, 271 So.2d at 219. Accord Drawdy.
. In this regard, McAbee is distinguishable. In McAbee a daughter sued her mother's attorney for the negligent preparation of the mother's will. The mother's testamentary intent, as expressed in the will, was that her entire estate go to the daughter. This intent was frustrated because the mother married after the execution of the will and on her death her husband claimed an interest in the estate as a pretermitted spouse. The mother had requested the attorney to redraft her will after her marriage so that the daughter would remain the sole beneficiary. The attorney advised her, however, that redrafting the will was not necessary. The court in McAbee held that the daughter could state a cause of action against the attorney. The attorney in McAbee could have drafted the will to avoid the husband's claim under the pretermit-ted spouse statute by inserting a provision in the will reflecting the testator's intent that the husband take nothing. This means of avoiding the pretermitted spouse's claim against the estate was provided for in the statute itself. See § 731.10, Fla.Stat. (1973). In contradistinction, there was no means by which Weinstein, the attorney in the present case, could have drafted the will to avoid the effect of Florida's statutes and constitutional provisions prohibiting the devise of homestead property.