Brunoni v. Brunoni

PEEK, J.

This action was instituted by certain of the heirs of Mary Brunoni, deceased, to cancel and set aside a deed executed by her conveying certain real property to her

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son, Antonio Brunoni. The complaint alleged that the decedent lacked the requisite capacity to execute the deed; that she was incapacitated from properly attending to her business by reason of old age and ill health; that the deed was obtained by the fraud and undue influence of the grantee and that the deed was not delivered to the grantee during the lifetime of the grantor. The foregoing allegations were denied by the answer, and the issues so raised were tried by the court sitting without a jury. The court adopted findings generally in accordance with the allegations of the complaint except that it found the deed was not obtained by the fraud and undue influence of the grantee. The grantee’s motion for a new trial was denied and judgment accordingly was entered directing him to convey the property to the executor of the estate of Mary Brunoni, deceased. The present appeal is taken from the judgment so entered.

Appellants contend that there is not sufficient evidence to sustain the findings adopted by the trial court and that the finding that the decedent was incapacitated from properly attending to her business does not support the judgment.

The evidence disclosed by the record herein reveals that Mary Brunoni died on June 23, 1946, at which time she was approximately 80 years old. In 1944 she was afflicted with a disease diagnosed as cancer for which she underwent treatment, but the immediate cause of death according to the death certificate was a coronary occlusion. She resided on a 40-acre ranch near Patterson with her son Antonio, one of the appellants herein, who had purchased the adjoining 40 acres from his father’s estate and operated the combined ranches as a single unit. Said appellant paid the taxes upon both properties and the maintenance and other costs in connection with the upkeep of decedent’s property and residence.

According to the testimony of her other children, the respondents herein, she suffered intense pain for several year preceding her death, experienced difficulty in breathing and had lapses of memory. While said witnesses testified as to her state of health and memory on various occasions, none of them testified that she was mentally incompetent. As to her mental capacity none of them were more specific in their testimony than to state that she was forgetful. At the time the deed in question was executed the decedent was residing in San Jose with her daughter Mabel, one of the appellants herein. The physician who attended