Skip to main content

Alldridge v. Spell

Opinion Date 1989-06-27
  • Court Line: Texarkana
  • Citation: 774 S.W.2d 707
  • Subcategory: Capacity
  • Ruling: Affirm
  • Appellate Standard: Sufficiency of the evidence
  • Jury: Jury
  • Probate Court: No
  • Death Date: 1987-03-06
  • Death Date from Ancestry.com or Outside Source: :Yes
  • Testator Age at Will Signing: 73
  • Will Age by Days: 86
Details
Contestant(s):
Subsequent Wife
Proponent(s):
Daughter

Wife filed for divorce shortly before testator's death.

  • Testator Divorced or Remarried: Yes
  • Dueling Wills: Yes
  • Executor as Proponent: Yes
  • Testator Male or Female: Male
  • Testator Education Summary: Unknown
  • Testator Sophistication Rating: Unknown

  • Prevailing Party in Trial Court: Contestant
  • Prevailing Party in COA: Appellee
  • Attorney Fees Awarded in Trial Court: N/A
  • Testamentary or Contractual Capacity Case: Testamentary
  • Will Type or Trust: Non-holographic
  • Developmental Disability: N/A
  • Disorientation as to: N/A
  • Parallel Cite: 1989 WL 70848
  • Docket Number: 9658

Outcomes
  • Our Summary:

    Witnesses and drafting attorney all testified to establish mental capacity at the time of the will. Medical records also were offered by Proponent to establish orientation and capacity. A frend / doctor of testator that had spent 20 hours per week with testator while golfing testified that he was mentally in and out and couldn't have made a will. "Dr. Weiner testified that Spell was taking the following medications: valium, two pain medications, a sleeping medication, medication for relaxing his stomach muscle, heart medication, an antidepressant, medication for diarrhea, and an antibiotic. He further testified that when diabetes is not regulated, as in Spell's case during 1986, it can affect a patient's mind." Testator's son testified that his father's mind was completely gone. COA refused to find that the evidence of incapacity was against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence.

Summaries