Court Opinion

ID: 9569415
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 20:13:38.259735+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:57:23.966829
License: Public Domain

Hamilton, J.
(concurring in dissent)—I concur in the views expressed by Judge Finley in his dissent relative to the burden of proof. In my opinion the evidence, circumstantial though it be, amply supports the trial court’s findings as to the existence of a contract between the parties. The majority, using Jennings v. D’Hooghe, 25 Wn. (2d) 702, 172 P. (2d) 189 (1946), blithely vault over Thorndike v. Hesperian Orchards, Inc., 54 Wn. (2d) 570, 343 P. (2d) 183 (1959) and Bland v. Mentor, 63 Wn. (2d) 150, 385 P. (2d) 727 (1963), and proceed to retry the case. The end result is to render it impossible to establish a contract to devise or bequeath property short of producing a formal written document.
I would affirm the judgment.
May -27, 1965. Petition for rehearing denied.