Court Opinion

ID: 9627774
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 08:53:51.7949+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:06:49.907221
License: Public Domain

Smith, J.
(dissenting): I find myself unable to concur in the opinion of the majority. Briefly my reasons are, I think the opinion in the Grattan case is not entitled to quite the persuasive force given it by the majority opinion under the circumstances of this case. In the Grattan case there was a full hearing; in this case, a motion for judgment on the pleadings was sustained. I think had there been a hearing on the charges made in the answer to the petition to probate the will there might well have been such a showing of antagonism as would have made it clear James should not be appointed. I doubt the wisdom or justice of denying to the heirs a hearing on such serious charges. The position of executor is one of trust. If the charges leveled at James should have been proven, it seems a shame to place James in such a position.
Throughout the Grattan opinion this court uses the term “legally competent” both in the opinion and in the syllabus. Actually I think the Supreme Court of Nebraska dealt more realistically with the situation in the Blochowitz case than we did in the Grattan *259.case. The author of the opinion in the Grattan case realized there might be “peculiar and abnormal facts” which would show a person nominated to be an unsuitable person. Such facts can never be shown if an answer making such serious charges, as are made here, cannot withstand a motion for judgment on the pleadings. I think these facts are both peculiar and abnormal. It seems to me the Grattan opinion was written with a situation such as this in mind.