Court Opinion

ID: 9644319
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 20:52:58.180586+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:05:20.972666
License: Public Domain

GREENHILL, Chief Justice,
dissenting.
I agree with the able opinion of the court of civil appeals, 576 S.W.2d 691 (1979).
Many friends and relatives are called upon to assist people of advanced years or who face major medical problems. Sometimes the action is one of kindness and at the request of the person in need of help, and is purely for the purpose of accommodation.
Even if this is the type of case not to be tried on issues of lack of capacity or undue influence, or both, — as to which I express no opinion, whether these friends or relatives have entered into a confidential relationship is a question of fact, and is not, as this court holds, a question of law. Schiller v. Elick, 150 Tex. 363, 240 S.W.2d 997 (1951); MacDonald v. Follett, 142 Tex. 616, 180 S.W.2d 334 (1944); Ginther v. Taub, 570 S.W.2d 516 (Tex.Civ.App.—Waco 1978, writ ref’d n. r. e.).
I do not read Stephens County Museum, Inc. v. Swenson, cited by the court, as holding that there was a fiduciary relationship as a matter of law. To the contrary, there were jury findings to support the judgment.
The opinion of the court places a good deal of emphasis on the lack of capacity of Mrs. Littell, and what amounts to undue influence exercised over Mrs. Littell in her weakened state. There were no issues given or requested on either lack of capacity or undue influence. The court has just decided that people in this situation are in a confidential relationship as a matter of law. Having created this status of the parties, they place others similarly situated in an extremely difficult position; i. e., the person assisting the elderly, or others, are *512called upon to explain their transactions with the person helped. If, as in this case, the person assisted is dead, the assister will be met by the Dead Man Statute; i. e., he cannot give testimony as to his transactions with the deceased. So he must, as a matter of law, explain; but he cannot explain.
What this boils down to is that a person, be it a member of the family or a close friend, is presumed to be dishonest and he must explain his actions, — and the court is not disturbed about the Dead Man Statute. The record in this case is such that there is no point on it to sustain or overturn. In the next case, counsel will be in a position of having to offer evidence about transactions with the deceased which he or she knows, or should know, are inadmissible. To say the least, this puts counsel in a delicate position with the court.
I think our position would be much better if we, like the court of civil appeals, left it to the jury to decide whether the assister is in a fiduciary capacity with the person that he or she is attempting to help.
If there is not a fiduciary relationship, the burden is upon the plaintiff to prove that there was a lack of capacity, undue influence, or other allegations to sustain or recover. If there is a confidential relationship, then, as here, the defendant actor has the onerous burden of explaining his or her actions. The burden of proof or persuasion is upon such actions, — made much more difficult where the Dead Man Statute is applicable. In this case, however, the court has held that the fact of blood relationship and opportunity, — with the assumption of incapacity and undue influence, creates a confidential relationship as a matter of law.
The court obviously thinks that the actor here wore a black hat. In my opinion, it is a case of bad facts making bad law. The hat of the next person may be gray or white, — in which case we will have to explain or distinguish this case.
McGEE and DENTON, JJ., join in this dissent.