Opinion ID: 735004
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Presumption of undue influence?

Text: 34 With respect to the first prong of Maheras, there is no dispute that Father and Ms. Goss were in a confidential relationship. Moreover, there is abundant evidence in the record to support that conclusion. See Estate of Gerard, 911 P.2d at 271 (defining a confidential relationship as one that exists whenever trust and confidence are placed by one person in the integrity and fidelity of another); In re Estate of Beal, 769 P.2d 150,155 (Okla.1989) (providing examples). 35 We next turn to the second prong and determine whether Mr. Johnston has presented evidence that raises a triable issue as to whether the stronger party in the relationship assisted in the preparation or procurement of the weaker person's testamentary instrument. In doing so, we consider each of the five factors enumerated above. 36 Natural object of the maker's bounty? It is undisputed that as his daughter, Ms. Goss was a natural object of Father's bounty. See Maheras, 897 P.2d at 273 n. 22 (The natural object of a will-maker's bounty is one related to him/her by consanguinity.) (emphasis omitted). This fact tends to lessen our suspicion of her beneficial treatment under the trust and, as the district court correctly noted, distinguishes this case in that regard from Maheras, 897 P.2d at 273 (beneficiary was unrelated to decedent), and Anderson v. Davis, 256 P.2d 1099, 1105 (Okla.1952) (same). However, while this informs our inquiry it is not dispositive. See In re Estate of Seegers, 733 P.2d 418, 423 (Okla.Ct.App.1986) (holding that the testator's nephew had obtained his uncle's will through undue influence). Cf. In re Estate of Lacy, 431 P.2d 366, 371 (Okla.1967) (holding that a testator lacked testamentary capacity, based in part on the conclusion that a will which left the bulk of the estate to one of eight children was an unnatural will). We therefore proceed to consider the other Maheras factors. 37 Confidential relationship? As to the second factor, which is repetitive of the first prong, there is no dispute that Father trusted Ms. Goss and, as the district court observed, they had a confidential relationship. That Father gave Ms. Goss access to his checking account is direct evidence of his trust and confidence. 38 Advanced age or impaired faculties? Jumping ahead, for the moment, to the fourth factor, while it is undisputed that Father was ninety-three years old when the Trust was made, there is conflicting evidence as to his health and the degree to which he may have been subject to influence. Viewing the matter as we must in the light most favorable to Mr. Johnston, see Multistate Legal Studies, 63 F.3d at 1545, the record provides support, though weak support, for the claim that Father was in a vulnerable state. Mr. Johnston testified that Father would get confused about names and dates, that he sometimes referred to Dortha Goss by their mother's name, that his eyesight was poor, that he walked with two canes or a walker, and that Mr. Johnston was concerned about Father's ability to drive. While there is little independent evidence to support these claims, Ms. Goss's testimony confirms that Father had had a series of health problems in the years immediately preceding the execution of the Trust and that he sometimes relied on Ms. Goss to help him with daily activities, and there is evidence that he did not write his own checks or drive far by himself. 39 No medical testimony was presented as to Father's health or fitness. We note that Mr. Johnston's burden in asserting undue influence is not the same as it would be were he asserting a claim of lack of testamentary capacity. See In re Estate of Carano, 868 P.2d 699, 703 (Okla.1994) (explaining that to have testamentary capacity a person must know in a general way the character and extent of his property and understand his relationship to the beneficiary of his gift as well as his relationship to those who 'ought to be in his mind,' and he must understand the nature and the effect of his act). Of course, Ms. Goss does not bear the burden of producing evidence of Father's health. But in the absence of any independent rebuttal evidence, apart from her own testimony and that of others who have an interest in the validity of the trust, we conclude that Father's advanced age and health history creates a triable issue as to his susceptibility to undue influence. However, this issue is not material unless there is evidence of the third Maheras factor, that Ms. Goss was present and/or active in the procurement or preparation of the will. See In re Estate of Beal, 769 P.2d at 156 (Only when [a confidential] relationship is coupled with active participation in procurement or preparation of the will does the presumption [of undue influence] arise.). 40 Present and/or active? Ms. Goss was present during both of Father's meetings with Murphy and throughout the Trust closing. Mr. Johnston argues that this, coupled with her confidential relationship with Father, was sufficient to raise a presumption of undue influence under Maheras. We disagree because we conclude that the formulation in Maheras must be read in the context of prior cases which the Maheras court distilled. Those cases cannot be read to say that the mere presence of a confidential advisor during the preparation of the instrument raises a presumption of undue influence. See Hubbell v. Houston, 441 P.2d 1010, 1016 (Okla.1967) (finding no undue influence where the evidence showed a totally non-participating presence during the signing of the subject will); accord King v. Gibson, 249 P.2d 84, 86-87 (Okla.1952). However, as we discuss below, Mr. Johnston's ability to defeat summary judgment does not depend on our accepting his mere presence theory. 41 In contrast to Mr. Johnston's mere presence argument, the district court relied on Hubbell, in which the Oklahoma Supreme Court held that the mere presence of the beneficiary at conferences or at the signing of the will [did not] constitute[ ] 'active participation' in the preparation of such instrument so that when coupled with a confidential relationship might give rise to a presumption of undue influence. Id. at 1018. We note, however, that more recent cases appear not to require active participation. See Estate of Gerard, 911 P.2d at 270 (holding that the stronger party ... must have assisted in the preparation and restating the third Maheras factor as present and/or active in the procurement or preparation (emphasis added)); Maheras, 897 P.2d at 272 (same). But see Maheras, 897 P.2d at 274 (using the phrase actively participated in summarizing the standard). The district court also noted that Mr. Johnston had presented no evidence that would directly tend to show the influence. Aplt's App. vol. II, at 612. We agree, but where an allegation of undue influence is concerned, direct evidence of active procurement or participation may not be necessary if there is sufficient circumstantial evidence of procurement or participation. As the Oklahoma Supreme Court explained in In re Estate of Beal: 42 Due in large part to the fact that the person claimed to have been the victim of undue influence is dead and cannot testify, we recognize that ordinarily the issue is capable of proof only circumstantially. The contestant is not confined to the facts he is able to present, but is entitled to the normal inferences which may be derived therefrom.... 43 To establish undue influence it is not necessary that there be direct testimony that threats were made or even persistent entreaty or persuasion was brought to bear upon the mind of the testatrix. It is sufficient that, if from all the surrounding circumstances connected with the making of the will it appears that any undue influence has been exercised, the court should not admit the will to probate. 44 769 P.2d at 154 (citations omitted) (quoting McCarty v. Weatherly, 204 P. 632, 638 (Okla.1922)); accord In re Estate of Seegers, 733 P.2d 418, 420 (Okla.Ct.App.1986) (citing In re Cook's Estate, 175 P. 507, 509 (Okla.1918)). 45 In this case, there is considerable circumstantial evidence relating to Ms. Goss's participation in obtaining the trust. She knew Murphy while Father did not; she made the initial contact with Murphy; she drove Father to all of the meetings relating to the trust, and she attended all of the meetings; there is evidence that she was the contact for both Murphy and Boring; and she paid Murphy. And while we do not weigh the evidence, we may note that all of the testimony for the defendants comes from those who have an interest in maintaining the validity of the trust. While there is no direct evidence that Ms. Goss was active in preparing the trust, there is much evidence that she procured it. Procurement is defined as [t]he action of causing, compassing, accomplishing or bringing about, esp[ecially] through the instrumentality of an agent; management, arrangement; authorization, instigation; prompting, contrivance. 12 Oxford English Dictionary 559 (2d ed.1989). To procure is to bring about. Webster's II New Riverside Univ. Dictionary 938 (1988). Mr. Johnston has presented unrebutted evidence that Ms. Goss contacted the necessary advisors, made the appointments, transported Father to the meetings and wrote one of the checks. Hence, regardless of whether Ms. Goss was active during the meetings, there is a triable question as to whether her conduct constitutes actively procuring the trust. 46 Mr. Johnston also presented circumstantial evidence suggesting that witnesses for Ms. Goss could not adequately explain Father's apparent decision to supersede his 1983 will. While a testator ordinarily need not convince a court of his reasons for the chosen manner of disposition of his estate, when there is significant independent evidence that the instrument was obtained as a result of undue influence, the rationality of the disposition may be considered as evidence. See In re Estate of Seegers, 733 P.2d at 423 (relying in part on the lack of a rational explanation for the departure from an earlier will in finding a prima facie showing of undue influence). None of the witnesses who testified that Father wanted to prevent his son from selling the family farm could explain why Father had apparently come to that decision between 1983 and 1992, or how that desire was served by eliminating Mr. Johnston's inheritance of the mineral rights or by-passing him as a trustee. The only witness with no interest in the validity of the trust, the parties' uncle, testified that he did not believe that Father would have knowingly treated one of his three children significantly different from the others in their inheritance. Aplt's App., vol. I, at 257 (Affidavit of Robert R. Johnston). Nor does the explanation that Father wanted to reward Ms. Goss for her kindness answer questions about why the Trust benefited both Ms. Goss and Ms. McPherson to the detriment of Mr. Johnston and his heirs. 47 We recognize the authorities that state that undue influence involves wrongful action. See In re Estate of Webb, 863 P.2d 1116, 1121 (Okla.1993) ( '[U]ndue influence' means a wrongful influence ....) (citations omitted). While gifts made out of affection certainly are not wrongful, see King, 249 P.2d at 88, the evidence as a whole raises a question as to whether Father's testamentary disposition reflects nothing more than a desire to express affection or gratitude to Ms. Goss. We further recognize that the  'opportunity for undue influence, standing alone, is not sufficient to establish undue influence.'  Matter of Estate of Beal, 769 P.2d at 154 (quoting McCarty, 204 P. at 638) (emphasis added). However, we cannot presume that a reasonable jury could not have concluded from the circumstantial evidence presented by Mr. Johnston that Ms. Goss actually exerted undue influence. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248 (1986) (summary judgment may be defeated if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party). 48