Court Opinion

ID: 9724000
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 10:40:43.930256+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:54.151727
License: Public Domain

Grant, J., Retired,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent from that portion of the majority opinion which determines that the November 1980 will of Bessie Pruss was not the product of undue influence and that portion which denies appellees’ requests for fees and costs and remands the cause for consideration whether appellants are entitled to fees and costs under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-2481 (Reissue 1989).
As I view the evidence, it appears to me that the trial court was correct in determining that the November 1980 will was the product of undue influence exerted by Francis Pruss, a son of Albert and Bessie, and a graduate of Michigan Law School.
It appears that Albert and Bessie executed a valid will, drawn by their family attorney, Lawrence Yost, in September 1980. Francis received a copy of this will from his brother Albert. Francis believed there were deficiencies in the will, including the fact that Yost was named as personal representative. Francis called his parents about his concerns and told them that new wills should be drawn. Francis traveled to Fremont, Nebraska, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He arrived late in the evening before *544Thanksgiving Day in 1980, with his typewriter, and with portions of a will already drafted to his satisfaction. He testified that he spent the next 24 hours working with his parents on the terms of the new wills.
I agree completely with the majority opinion that “[t]he evidence conclusively establishes that Francis had the opportunity to exercise undue influence over Bessie.” I cannot agree that “appellees cannot prove that the result was clearly the product of the alleged undue influence ...” I think the evidence is sufficient to establish undue influence, without giving any weight to the fact that Francis is a lawyer and a person affected by the new and old wills.
The majority opinion states that the crucial evidence was the September 1980 will, which, the majority states, “conforms substantially as to the results produced by the instrument contested.” In the most general terms, it can possibly be said that the November 1980 will conforms generally with the September will. It is unnecessary to dissect, analyze, and compare the two wills. In the first place, if the wills are basically the same, what is all the excitement about? Why is Francis touring the countryside to rectify the situation? Second, the November will restores Francis to control of the estate as the personal representative, together with whatever funds flow from that job.
I also do not think it is of much significance that Francis’ share under the September will would have been larger than under the November will. As personal representative, Francis could have requested whatever fee arrangements were necessary to make him whole. In addition, man lives not by bread alone. There are apparently great personal rewards for Francis if he can impose his desires on Bessie and on his siblings.
I would affirm the decision of the trial court, including the trial court’s ruling on requested fees. During his mother’s life, after the execution of the November wills, Francis tried to put her under conservatorship. He failed, both in the county court and on his appeal to the district court. Francis then tried to enjoin his mother from making gifts during her life. He failed. I would not give Francis another bite of this apple. An end should be put to this effort to emulate the legendary Jarndyce *545case in Charles Dickens’ “Bleak House,” referred to in Rosnick v. Dinsmore, 235 Neb. 738, 457 N.W.2d 793 (1990), and Bert Cattle Co. v. Warren, 238 Neb. 638, 471 N.W.2d 764 (1991) (Shanahan, J., dissenting).