Opinion ID: 1254218
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Role of Circumstantial Evidence

Text: The daughter and her husband next contend the jury should have been instructed, as they requested, that circumstantial evidence which is consistent with any hypothesis other than that the will was the result of undue influence, standing alone, is insufficient to vitiate a will. This contention was rejected in In re Estate of Farr, supra. Therein, the proponent of the will requested an instruction, the relevant portions of which read: You are further instructed that if you can reasonably draw contrary or opposing inferences from the facts as you find them on the evidence, one inference which might lead to a supposition of undue influence and a contrary inference that no undue influence was exerted by Clifford Farr, your verdict should be in favor of the proponent   . 150 Neb. at 620, 35 N.W.2d at 492. Recognizing that the law recited in the requested instruction was in accord with its prior decisions, the Farr court nonetheless determined the trial court had not erred in refusing the tendered instruction and overruled its prior decisions to the contrary. In doing so the court reasoned: To hold that a hypothesis or inference that there was no undue influence    is sufficient to defeat a contest of a will on the ground of undue influence would be to deny to a contestant the right to have his evidence weighed in its own light and in the light of reasonable inferences to be drawn from it. This ought not to be true especially in the light of what usually confronts the court in a case of this kind as pointed out in In re Estate of Noren, supra, [119 Neb. 653, 230 N.W. 495 (1930)] as follows: Undue influence is usually surrounded by all possible secrecy. It is almost always difficult to prove by direct and positive proof. It is largely a matter of inferences from facts and circumstances surrounding the testator, his life, character, and mental condition, as shown by the evidence, and the opportunity afforded designing persons for the exercise of improper control. 150 Neb. at 622-23, 35 N.W.2d at 493-94. However, in Gaeth v. Newman, 188 Neb. 756, 764, 199 N.W.2d 396, 402 (1972), an action to set aside a deed because of undue influence, we said: While circumstantial evidence may be sufficient, the circumstances must not be equally consistent with some other rational theory deducible from the facts proved.... In order to establish undue influence invalidating a deed, there must be proof that the circumstances of its execution were inconsistent with any hypothesis but undue influence, which must be proved in connection with the conveyance in suit, and not with other things. A recent pronouncement on the role of circumstantial evidence in civil cases appears in Anderson v. Farm Bureau Ins. Co., 219 Neb. 1, 360 N.W.2d 488 (1985), a suit on a policy of insurance. We said therein: [C]ircumstantial evidence is not sufficient to sustain a verdict depending solely thereon for support, unless the circumstances proved by the evidence are of such nature and so related to each other that the conclusion reached by the jury is the only one that can fairly and reasonably be drawn therefrom. Id. at 4-5, 360 N.W.2d at 491. This pronouncement is consistent with a long line of earlier decisions. Fritz v. Marten, 193 Neb. 83, 225 N.W.2d 418 (1975) (negligence action); Wilgro, Inc. v. Vowers & Burback, 190 Neb. 369, 208 N.W.2d 698 (1973) (negligence action); Vietz v. Texaco, Inc., 189 Neb. 514, 203 N.W.2d 513 (1973) (negligence action); Haynes v. County of Custer, 186 Neb. 740, 186 N.W.2d 483 (1971) (negligence action); Norcross v. Gingery, 181 Neb. 783, 150 N.W.2d 919 (1967) (suit to establish interest in real estate, for partition, and for accounting); Popken v. Farmers Mutual Home Ins. Co., 180 Neb. 250, 142 N.W.2d 309 (1966) (suit on insurance policy); Mills v. Bauer, 180 Neb. 411, 143 N.W.2d 270 (1966) (negligence action); Baer v. Schaap, 171 Neb. 347, 106 N.W.2d 468 (1960), appeal dismissed 172 Neb. 414, 109 N.W.2d 724 (1961) (negligence action); Shamblen v. Great Lakes Pipe Line Co., 158 Neb. 752, 64 N.W.2d 728 (1954) (suit on contract). For more recent statements to the same effect see ServiceMaster Indus. v. J.R.L. Enterprises, 223 Neb. 39, 388 N.W.2d 83 (1986). It is obvious, therefore, that In re Estate of Farr, 150 Neb. 67, 33 N.W.2d 454 (1948), on rehearing 150 Neb. 615, 35 N.W.2d 489 (1949), does not view the role of circumstantial evidence in the same manner as do our other decisions in cases both at law and in equity. It is true, as In re Estate of Farr, supra, Andersen v. Andersen, 177 Neb. 374, 128 N.W.2d 843 (1964), and Cook v. Ketchmark, 174 Neb. 222, 117 N.W.2d 375 (1962), observe, that the exercise of undue influence is usually surrounded by all possible secrecy, rendering it difficult to prove. The fact that the exercise of undue influence is difficult to prove, however, does not mean that the party seeking to establish such influence has met his or her burden by proving circumstances from which it may be inferred equally that such took place or that such did not take place. Certainly, a party seeking to prove the exercise of undue influence is entitled to an evaluation of all the circumstances proved, together with all the reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom, Andersen v. Andersen, supra , Cook v. Ketchmark, supra, and In re Estate of Farr, supra; but if all the evidence is circumstantial and the inferences to be drawn therefrom are as equally consistent with the hypothesis that undue influence was not exercised as they are with the hypothesis that such influence was exercised, the burden of proving the exercise of undue influence by a preponderance of the evidence has not been met. To the extent In re Estate of Farr, supra, is inconsistent with this holding, it is disapproved.