Opinion ID: 1380015
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Effect of the instruments transferring to Mrs. Weber all of plaintiffs' interest in the estate of Mr. Weber.

Text: [8] Defendant next contends that Mrs. Weber, after the death of her husband, for a valuable consideration, acquired from plaintiffs by quitclaim all their interest in the estate of Mr. Weber, that by the transfer plaintiffs released any interest they had or thereafter acquired in Mr. Weber's estate, and that the property thereby became Mrs. Weber's own property. The trial court sustained a demurrer to this defense and refused to permit the filing of a proposed amended answer setting forth two instruments, similar in terms, signed by Mrs. Weber and by plaintiffs and entitled Agreement of Settlement with Heirs of Estate. The instruments both recited that grounds for contest of the will of Mr. Weber existed and that the agreements were executed for the purpose of forever settling and determining the dispute concerning said will, and to prevent the contest thereof, and to forever settle and determine any and all interest of any character or nature whatsoever that [plaintiffs] may now or hereafter have in the estate of Charles F. Weber, deceased. It was provided that plaintiffs hereby ... forever rescind, remise, release, relinquish and quitclaim any and all claims, interests, rights, bequests and/or devises that [plaintiffs] may now, or hereafter, have, or acquire, in and to the estate of Charles F. Weber, deceased. It was also agreed that plaintiffs would file no other or further petition or action against said estate or in any other way hinder or embarrass [Mrs. Weber] in the administration of said estate. The agreements were to bind the heirs of the parties thereto. The record shows, further, that by the settlement plaintiffs received a total consideration of $25,500. During the trial defendant offered these instruments in evidence, but they were rejected upon plaintiffs' objection that they related to the estate of Mrs. Weber's predeceased husband and not to the estate of Mrs. Weber. It is defendant's contention that the instruments constituted a complete release by plaintiffs of any possible interest that they then had or thereafter acquired in the estate of Mrs. Weber and that plaintiffs are now barred from maintaining this action since their claim is based upon the fact that the property involved was a part of the estate of Mr. Weber within the meaning of sections 228 and 229 of the Probate Code. He also argues that since Mrs. Weber acquired plaintiffs' interest by purchase, the continuity of title essential under sections 228 and 229 was broken and she thereafter held the property freed of any possible right of succession by plaintiffs upon her death. We find nothing in these instruments that would constitute a bar to this action. Their purpose was to settle a dispute over the estate of Mr. Weber and to prevent a will contest therein, and they disclose a typical case whereby the contestants relinquished their claims in the particular estate in return for a sum of money. The instruments refer repeatedly to plaintiffs' interest in the estate of Mr. Weber but make no mention whatsoever of plaintiffs' rights in the property of Mrs. Weber after her death. It would be unreasonable to hold that by these instruments plaintiffs purported to surrender not only their claims to the estate of Mr. Weber, but in addition, and by implication alone, their rights to succession in the estate of another person who was still alive at the time. [9] Nor did the instruments make Mrs. Weber a purchaser of the property formerly held by her husband. Rather, they constituted a settlement or compromise of a rival claim against the estate of Mr. Weber which permitted the property to go to Mrs. Weber in the same manner it would have gone if neither the threatened contest nor the settlement had ever existed. In support of his position defendant cites Estate of Wilson, 40 Cal.App.2d 229 [104 P.2d 16]. Plaintiffs contend that this case in not applicable and that it is bad law and contrary to natural justice. In our opinion the decision is not inconsistent with the conclusion we have reached. It was there held that the only purpose of a quitclaim deed and assignment given by the heir of a deceased spouse to the surviving spouse was to surrender any rights which the heir might have upon the death of the surviving spouse under subdivision 8 of section 1386 of the Civil Code (the predecessor of Prob. Code, 228). Whether or not the District Court of Appeal correctly determined the purpose of that document, its conclusion with respect thereto clearly constituted the underlying basis of the decision. In the present case, however, the instruments expressly stated that a different purpose was intended, namely, to accomplish the settlement of a threatened will contest. The possibility of settling a will contest or other dispute over the property of the deceased spouse was not considered in the Wilson case. Accordingly, we need not determine whether it was correctly decided upon the facts before the court.