Court Opinion

ID: 9846480
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 03:42:00.878878+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:19:34.492584
License: Public Domain

NEELY, Chief Justice,
dissenting:
The majority opinion is correct as far as it goes; however, it does not describe in detail the enormously combative nature of the heirs and non-heirs of this estate. The decedent, at the time of his death, was in the process of settling his mother’s estate. Prior to her death, Mrs. Browning had conveyed most of her property to the decedent and at her death the decedent’s siblings, *12especially his brother, expressed their dissatisfaction. In the full expectation of a similar gnashing of teeth and tearing of hair during the administration of his estate, especially because the decedent’s brother was not an heir, the decedent drafted a will with the “in terrorem” provision and appointed his lawyer, Mr. Smith, to serve as administrator.
Although I agree with the majority that what Mr. Smith did was wrong, I believe that the penalty is too high in light of Mr. Smith’s extraordinarily bad health in the last four years (one of his legs was amputated) and the difficulties of eliciting cooperation from these particularly quarrelsome complainants.
Accordingly, I believe the penalty too harsh.