DOROTHEA TEMPLE MASON, AND HER HUSBAND, A. W. MASON, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE BANK OF ORLANDO AND TRUST COMPANY, A CORPORATION HAVING ITS PRINCIPAL PLACE OF BUSINESS AT ORLANDO, FLORIDA, WHO IS NAMED IN THE ALLEGED LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF CARRIE W. TEMPLE, DECEASED, TO BE THE EXECUTOR THEREOF, AND CHARLTON BOURNE, OF ORLANDO, FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Dorothea Temple Mason, the only child of testatrix Carrie W. Temple, appealed the probate court's admission of her mother's will to probate, challenging it on grounds of mental incapacity and undue influence. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the lower courts' decisions upholding the validity of the will.
The will was properly admitted to probate. The record contained no credible evidence of undue influence, and the testimony regarding mental incapacity relied on hypothetical questions to doctors who did not attend the testatrix, which was completely rebutted by the testimony of the doctors and nurses who actually attended her at the time of execution and confirmed her full competency.
“There is a complete dearth of testimony showing that the will was procured by undue influence over the testatrix and the testimony tending to show mental incapacity is predicated largely on hypothetical questions propounded to doctors who did not attend the deceased in her last illness.”
Establishes the weakness of the contestant's evidence regarding undue influence and the problematic nature of the mental incapacity testimony.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceCarrie W. Temple executed her will on June 1, 1924, and died ten days later on June 11, 1924. The will, valued at approximately $250,000, left her onl…
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Per Curiam.
Appellants brought this suit pursuant to Section 3602, Revised General Statutes of Florida, 1920, for the purpose of contesting the probate of the will of Carrie W. Temple, late of Orange County, Florida. The contestant, Dorothea Temple Mason, was the only child of the testatrix, and the State Bank of Orlando and Trust Company, the Executor appointed in the will, and Charlton Bourne, one of the beneficiaries under the will, are named as defendants.
The testatrix executed her will June 1st, 1924, and died June 11th of the same year. The will disposes of an estate valued at approximately $250,000.00, the residue of which, after paying certain legacies, was bequeathed to Sarah Wood, the niece of, and to Dora Miller, a friend of, the testatrix to share equally therein. Under the terms of the will Dorothea Temple Mason received One Thousand Dollars in money together with linens, household and kitchen furniture, silverware, chinaware and jewels. There were numerous other bequests not necessary to mention here. Probate of the will is resisted on the ground of mental incapacity and undue influence.
Upon final hearing on the issues made and testimony duly taken the Probate Judge entered his order denying and dismissing the petition of Dorothea Temple Mason and admitting the will to probate. Pursuant to Section 2923, Revised General Statutes of Florida, 1920, appeal frpm the order of the probate court was prosecuted to the Circuit Court of Orange County, resulting in a final decree affirming the order of the probate court. The cause comes here on appeal from the final decree of the Circuit Court. Sec. 5, Art. V, Constitution.
The record and briefs in this case approximate fifteen hundred pages. The record should not have reached any such proportions. Its analysis by this Court has been rendered unduly tedious and laborious because of the fact that it covers in the aggregate hundreds of pages of immaterial and irrelevant testimony and other matter. There is a complete dearth of testimony showing that the will was procured by undue influence over the testatrix and the testimony tending to show mental incapacity is predicated largely on. hypothetical questions propounded to doctors who did not attend the deceased in her last illness. This testimony is completely rebutted by the evidence of the doctors and nurses who attended the testatrix at the time of the execution of the will, all of whom testified that she was fully competent to make a will.
The decree of the chancellor affirming the order of the Probate Court of Orange County is abundantly supported by the record and the controlling principles of law governing this case are fully discussed in Hamilton et al. v. Morgan et al., decided this term. In this situation a discussion of the law or the evidence would serve no useful purpose so the decree of the chancellor is affirmed on authority of Hamilton et al. v. Morgan et al., supra.
Affirmed.
Whitfield, P. J., and Terrell and Buford, J. J., concur. Ellis, C. J., and Strum and Brown, J. J., concur in the opinion.
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Adams v. Saunders, 139 Fla. 730 (Fla. 1939)…t much of the testimony supporting allegations of his incapacity was based on hypothetical questions, while the doctors who had attended him very generally agreed that he was mentally fit to understand his action. See Mason v. State Bank of Orlando, 94 Fla. 132, 113 South. Rep. 664. That complainant was subject to delusions at times, probably traceable to the effects of the drug hyoscine, was established, but the evidence falls far short of preponderating in support of the theory that at the time of the o…
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City OF Coral Gables v. Brasher, 132 So. 2d 442 (Fla. 3d DCA 1961)…r based on personal knowledge as to a person’s condition is entitled to more weight than that of one without personal knowledge of the individual involved. See Adams v. Saunders, 139 Fla. 730, 191 So. 312; Mason v. State Bank of Orlando & Trust Co., 94 Fla. 132, 113 So. 664. . It is interesting to note in the Keuhm-sted case, supra, that there was a prior adjudication of insanity. The court held, after giving no force and effect to the conflicting testimony of the experts, that the presumption of insanity…
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Parker v. Penny, 95 Fla. 922 (Fla. 1928)…Court in the recent case of Hamilton et al. v. Morgan, 93 Fla. 311, 112 So. Rep. 80, and we think on these questions this case may safely be affirmed on authority of that case. See also Mason et al. v. State Bank of Orlando and Trust Company et al., 94 Fla. 132, 113 So. Rep. 664. The record further shows conclusively that the testator was not at the time of the execution of his will nor at his death the head of a family as contemplated under our Constitution. See Herrin v. Brown, 44 Fla. 782, 33 So. 522,…