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trialwilldeclaratory judgment
contractdefendantjurisdictionappealtrialwill

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Elkader Production Credit Ass’n v. Eulberg, 251 N.W.2d 234

Facts

Cyril C. Berns executed a will on January 14, 1955, and a codicil on March 7, 1958. He died on June 28, 1964, survived by his wife Mary and their children. The will provided a conditional life estate to Mary, with the remainder going to the children, but the codicil explicitly disinherited the children. After Mary's remarriage, she and her new husband executed a mortgage on the farm, leading to the declaratory judgment proceeding initiated by the mortgagee, Elkader Production Credit Association.

January 14, 1955, Cyril C. Berns executed a will. March 7, 1958, he effectuated a codicil to said will. Defendant Christopher Berns was thereafter born. June 28, 1964, Cyril C. Berns died, survived by his wife (Mary) and children.

Issue

The main legal issues were whether the testator intended for the surviving spouse to receive one-third of the estate and the children two-thirds, and whether the children's interest in the property was subject to a mortgage executed by their mother.

As stated by the appealing defendants these are the issues here raised: (1) The intent of the testator was that, in event the testator's surviving spouse should remarry, the testator's real property should pass one-third to his surviving spouse and two-thirds to his children. (2) Two-thirds of the real property in question has been decreed to the children through the process of probating the estate of the deceased, and their interest in said real property is not subject to a mortgage executed by their mother, the wife of the deceased, in her individual capacity.

Rule

The court applied the principle that a testator's intent is paramount and must be determined from the entire will and codicil, with the codicil governing in case of conflict.

It is well settled, in cases such as this, (1) testator's intent is the polestar and if expressed shall control; (2) it must be gleaned from a consideration of all language contained in the will, the scheme of distribution, and facts and circumstances surrounding the making of the will; and (3) technical rules of construction should be resorted to only if the will is clearly ambiguous, conflicting, or testator's intent is for any reason uncertain.

Analysis

The court analyzed the will and codicil together, concluding that the codicil's explicit disinheritance of the children superseded the provisions of the will. The court found that the testator's intent was clear in that he did not wish for his children to inherit any part of his estate, and thus the fee simple title in the farm vested in Mary Berns as the sole residuary devisee.

Unquestionably the codicil is in conflict with and repugnant to the involved will because the codicil, by necessary implication if not expressly, repudiates, rescinds, and excises the Article III bequest to testator's children. More specifically, the children are unmistakably disinherited by the codicil.

Conclusion

The court affirmed the trial court's decision, holding that the mortgage executed by Mary and her husband was valid and that the children were effectively disinherited.

Our holding does not, however, rest upon the above pronouncement alone. In this jurisdiction no question attends the right of a competent person, absent a binding contract to the contrary, undue influence, fraud or coercion, to disinherit his children.

Who won?

The prevailing party was Elkader Production Credit Association, as the court upheld the validity of the mortgage executed by Mary and her husband.

The court affirmed the trial court's decision, holding that the mortgage executed by Mary and her husband was valid and that the children were effectively disinherited.

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