Williams v. Estate of Cheeks
| Docket Number: | 2006-CA-01055-COA | |
| Court of Appeals: |
Opinion Link Opinion Date: 07-24-2007 Opinion Author: LEE, P.J. Holding: Affirmed |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Wills & estates - Undue influence Judge(s) Concurring: KING, C.J., MYERS, P.J., IRVING, CHANDLER, GRIFFIS, BARNES, ISHEE, ROBERTS AND CARLTON, JJ. Procedural History: Bench Trial Nature of the Case: CIVIL - WILLS, TRUSTS AND ESTATES |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 05-22-2006 Appealed from: Hinds County Chancery Court Judge: Denise Owens Disposition: PETITION OBJECTING TO WILL DENIED. Case Number: 2003-574 0/3 |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | |||
| Appellant: | NANCY WILLIAMS AND LAURA WILLIAMS |
JOHNNIE MCDANIELS |
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| Appellee: | THE ESTATE OF JANETTE WILLIAMS CHEEKS, DECEASED, LINDA HARPER, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS EXECUTRIX OF THE ESTATE OF JANETTE CHEEKS, DECEASED | JON HEATH POWELL CHRISTOPHER LEE STOKES |
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Synopsis provided by:  If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
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| Topic: | Wills & estates - Undue influence |
| Summary of the Facts: | When Janette Williams Cheeks died, Linda Harper, one of Cheeks’s nieces, was named executrix in her will. The will provided that her twenty-seven nieces and nephews were to each receive one percent, and Harper was to receive the remaining seventy-three percent of the total trust property. Another niece, Jannette Jackson, was to receive one dollar. During the probate of the will, Nancy Smith, petitioner in objection, and about twenty-five other nieces and nephews of Cheeks filed a petition in objection to the will alleging that Cheeks was unduly influenced by Harper in the making of her will. The chancellor found the will to be valid. Nancy Williams and Laura Williams, nieces of Cheeks, appeal. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | Nancy and Laura Williams argue that the chancellor erred in finding that Harper overcame the presumption of undue influence. To overcome a presumption of undue influence, the beneficiary must show by clear and convincing evidence that the beneficiaries acted in good faith; the testator had full knowledge and deliberation in the execution; and the testator must have exhibited independent consent and action. Cheeks and Harper called all Cheeks’s nieces and nephews to obtain their names, addresses, and Social Security numbers for the purpose of completing the will. Harper testified that when the nieces and nephews were called they were told that the purpose of obtaining the information was to complete Cheeks’s will. While Harper had a confidential relationship with Cheeks and helped in the procurement of the will, Harper has shown by clear and convincing evidence that she did not abuse the relationship. Witnesses, including the contestants, testified that Cheeks was strong-willed and independent. No one testified that she was not in control of her mental faculties. No evidence was presented that she was not aware of the value of her assets or that she did not understand who her natural inheritors were or the consequences of her distribution. No evidence exists in the record that it was anyone other than Cheeks’s idea to prepare a will. Sufficient evidence was presented that Cheeks acted with knowledge and deliberation. The record supports the chancellor’s finding that Harper overcame the presumption of undue influence. |
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