Miller v. Hall (In re Estate of Walker)

331 So.3d 553

In the MATTER OF the ESTATE OF Charles WALKER, Deceased:

Cris Miller, Appellant

v.Christopher Hall and Linda Hall, Appellees

NO. 2020-CA-01288-COA

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

November 9, 2021

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: CHAKA DENISE SMITH

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEES: BOYD P. ATKINSON, Cleveland

EN BANC.

WILSON, P.J., FOR THE COURT:

¶1. Cris Miller, executrix of the estate of Charles Walker, deceased, filed a petition to set aside a deed that Walker had executed conveying real property to Christopher and Linda Hall. Miller alleged that the Halls had a confidential relationship with Walker and that the deed was void because it was the product of undue influence. The Halls conceded they had a confidential relationship with Walker, but they denied that they obtained the deed by undue influence. Following a trial, the chancellor found in favor of the Halls and denied Miller's petition to set aside the deed. The chancellor's ruling was based on the deposition testimony of the attorney who drafted the deed, which was admitted into evidence over Miller's objection.

¶2. On appeal, Miller argues that the chancellor erred by admitting the attorney's deposition. Miller also argues that the remaining admissible evidence was insufficient to meet the Halls’ burden of proof—i.e., their burden to rebut the presumption of undue influence by clear and convincing evidence. For the reasons discussed below, we agree that the admission of the deposition over Miller's objection was an abuse of discretion and reversible error. We reverse and remand the case for a new trial consistent with this opinion.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶3. In January 2014, Charles Walker executed a quitclaim deed conveying his home in Pace, Mississippi, to his "caretakers," Christopher and Linda Hall, as joint tenants with rights of survivorship. Walker reserved a life estate in the property. The deed stated that it was in consideration for the "love and care that the [Halls] ha[d] provided [Walker] over the years."

¶4. In 2018, Walker executed a last will and testament that named Cris Miller, Walker's "beloved god-daughter," as his executrix. The will devised and bequeathed all of Walker's real and personal property to Miller.

¶5. In 2020, Walker passed away at the age of ninety-one. Miller filed a petition to probate Walker's will in the Bolivar County Chancery Court. The court admitted the will to probate and appointed Miller to serve as Walker's executrix. Miller then filed a petition to set aside the deed from Walker to the Halls. The petition alleged that the Halls had a confidential relationship with Walker, who was eighty-five years old when the deed was executed, and that the deed was the product of the Halls’ undue influence on Walker.

¶6. The Halls filed a response denying that the deed was the obtained by undue influence. The response stated that Walker had asked the Halls to take him to the office of attorney Kenneth Thomas. The response further stated that outside the Halls’ presence, Thomas "took great care to explain to [Walker] the legal import of a deed that he wanted to sign to reserve a life estate with a remainder to [the Halls]." In addition, the response stated that Thomas called Walker's son, Wilbert Gillespie, who lived in Tennessee. According to the response, Gillespie told Thomas that the Halls "had been a ‘God send’ to his father because he was unable to physically travel to Pace ... to look after his father," and "Gillespie was in complete agreement with his father's wishes to deed the subject property to [the Halls]." Thomas subsequently prepared the deed at issue and met Walker in the chancery clerk's office, where the deed was witnessed and notarized by a deputy chancery clerk.

¶7. In July 2020, the Halls took Thomas's deposition at their attorney's office in Cleveland. Thomas testified that the Halls brought Walker to his office on January 30, 2014. Thomas had met Walker while "campaigning"¹ years earlier, but he had not done any legal work for Walker previously. The Halls were not "regular clients" of Thomas's either, although he thought he might have prepared "a will or something like that" for them.²

¶8. Consistent with his "customary practice," Thomas asked the Halls to leave the room so that he could speak to Walker in private. Thomas asked Walker about the proposed deed and its effect and whether he was conveying the property of his own free will. Walker told Thomas that he wanted to give the property to the Halls. Thomas also asked Walker about his health and whether he had a wife or any children. Walker said that he was generally in good health, that his wife had passed away, and that he had one son, Gillespie, who lived in Tennessee. Thomas then had Walker call Gillespie and put him on speakerphone. Walker said that he wanted to convey his property to the Halls but also wanted to continue living there. Thomas explained that Walker could deed the property to the Halls but reserve a life estate, and Walker "was very excited" and "said that was exactly what he wanted." Gillespie was also "pleased" with the idea because he knew that the Halls had been taking care of his father. Gillespie was not in good health and was not able to travel to Pace to care for his father. Thomas understood that Gillespie's death "was somewhat imminent," and Gillespie passed away later that year. After talking to Walker and Gillespie, Thomas was satisfied that Walker was acting of his own free will and understood the effect of a quitclaim deed with a reservation of a life estate. The Halls did not return to the room until after Thomas had finished speaking with Walker and Gillespie.

¶9. Thomas told Walker to meet him the next day at the chancery clerk's office to sign the deed. Thomas signed the deed at the chancery clerk's office on January 31, 2014, in the presence of a deputy chancery clerk, who witnessed and notarized the deed. Thomas testified that if he had thought that Walker "was under any kind of undue influence, [he] would not have ... prepared the deed."³ At his deposition, Thomas produced his contemporaneous notes from his meeting with Walker, which corroborated his deposition testimony. Miller's attorney was present at Thomas's deposition and cross-examined him. The Halls filed a copy of Thomas's deposition in the chancery court on September 28, 2020.

¶10. On October 5, 2020, the case proceeded to a trial on Miller's petition to set aside the quitclaim deed. The Halls stipulated that they had a confidential relationship with Walker at the time he executed the deed, which gave rise to a presumption that the deed was procured by undue influence. See Mullins v. Ratcliff , 515 So. 2d 1183, 1192 (Miss. 1987). The Halls also agreed that they bore the burden of rebutting that presumption by clear and convincing evidence. See id. at 1193.

¶11. Miller testified that Walker moved in with her in 2017 because he could no longer live by himself. Previously, Walker lived with a woman, Mamie Clark, who was about twenty-five years younger than him. Walker was not married to Clark, though "he called her his wife." Clark had to move out because she could no longer care for herself. After Walker moved into Miller's house, Miller's daughter moved into Walker's house. Miller's daughter was still living in the house at the time of trial and had never paid rent. Miller testified that she had been appointed as Walker's conservator in 2018.

¶12. Miller claimed that Walker told her that the Halls "were trying to take his house" and "had taken him somewhere to sign ... a blank piece of paper." Miller opined that Walker "really didn't know what he was signing" when he executed the deed to the Halls in 2014. Miller testified that Walker told her that he did not want the Halls to have his house. She said that Walker became very angry at the suggestion that the Halls would get his house. Miller opined that Walker was "easily influenced" by others.

¶13. However, Miller also testified that Walker "wasn't influenced to" sign the 2018 will in which he left his entire estate to her. Miller said that the chancellor in Walker's conservatorship case told Walker that he could execute a new will. Miller further testified that she (Miller) "had to explain everything to Walker" about the new will.

¶14. Linda Hall testified that she was sixty-nine years old and had known Walker since she was six or seven years old. Linda grew up in Pace and attended the same church as Walker. She testified that beginning sometime between 2006 and 2008, she helped Walker by taking him to buy groceries and to doctor appointments, picking up his prescription medicines, paying bills, and washing clothes.⁴ After Gillespie died in 2014, Linda became the representative payee for Walker's Social Security benefits. Linda also checked in on Walker once or twice a day, although she had to check on him less frequently when he had a "girlfriend" living with him.

¶15. Linda testified that at the time Walker executed the subject deed, he was eighty-five years old and in good health, although he walked slowly and was hard of hearing. Linda testified that neither Walker nor Miller ever attempted to discuss the quitclaim deed with her or her husband prior to this lawsuit. Linda testified that if Walker had ever asked her to undo the deed, she would have given him the property back.

¶16. Linda testified that she took Walker to Thomas's office at Walker's request.⁵ Linda thought that someone had recommended Thomas to Gillespie, and she assumed that Gillespie had scheduled Walker's appointment with Thomas. Linda testified that she did not know the purpose of the visit until after she and Walker arrived at Thomas's office. When Walker said that he wanted "to put the house in [Linda's] name," Thomas asked her to leave the room. Walker and Thomas then met in private. After Linda and Walker left Thomas's office, Walker did not tell her what he had decided to do. The next day, she took Walker to the chancery clerk's...