Lynch v. Lynch

LANGDON, J.

Plaintiff has appealed from judgments against him in two actions in which he sought to have set aside certain deeds made by his father, Peter Lynch, now deceased, conveying certain property to his brother, defendant herein.

The record consists of four volumes of typewritten matter, comprising over eighteen hundred pages, and the briefs contain lengthy arguments as to the purport of this evidence. The testimony is conflicting upon every matter of importance to the inquiry here and the trial court has made elaborate findings against plaintiff and, as stated in his opinion, the trial judge made such findings most reluctantly, with his sympathies enlisted for the plaintiff. Under such circumstances, the findings are conclusive here, as we have repeatedly held.

Two separate pieces of property are involved here, one at Twenty-third and Mission Streets, San Francisco, and the other at Tenth and Howard Streets, San Francisco. They will be referred to hereinafter as the Mission and Howard Street properties, respectively. In December, 1913, Margaret Lynch, the mother of plaintiff and the record owner

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of the properties in question, executed two deeds, conveying to Peter Lynch, her husband, and Kathryn C. Lynch, her daughter, respectively, an undivided one-half interest in the Mission Street property. In June, 1916, Margaret Lynch conveyed to Peter Lynch the property referred to as the Howard Street property.

On June 20, 1916, Peter Lynch executed and delivered to his sons, Francis I. Lynch and Joseph H. Lynch deeds conveying to each of them a one-quarter interest in the Mission Street property. "On June 24, 1916, Peter Lynch executed a deed conveying to his eldest son, Thomas B. Lynch, the Ploward Street property, which he, after the death of his mother in 1920, conveyed to his sister, the defendant Kathryn C. Lynch, without valuable consideration.

According to the findings of the trial court, the last illness of Peter Lynch continued intermittently from the eighteenth day of June, 1916, to the date of his death on July 2, 1916, but during that period Peter Lynch was not at all mentally incapacitated from transacting any business or entering into any contracts or unable to understand or comprehend the. nature, purpose or effect of any of his business acts. During the period from the nineteenth day of June, 1916, to the date of his death, Peter J. Lynch was up and about his home in his usual and customary manner, and while he left his home and was out of doors on or about the twenty-fourth day of June, 1916, he did not leave the premises whereon his house was situated during said time. During this period, Peter Lynch did not suffer physical or mental pain and was not either physically or mentally incapacitated from entering into any contracts, or from executing any deeds disposing of his property. The findings negative all the allegations of the complaint respecting the weakened mental and physical condition of Peter Lynch shortly prior to his death, and they also determine, adversely to plaintiff, the allegations of his complaint to the effect that the deceased directed deeds of the property to be prepared in a manner to transfer a portion thereof to plaintiff and that an older brother, defendant Thomas B. Lynch, prepared the deeds contrary to instructions and contrary to the intention of the grantor, and that the said Thomas B. Lynch presented said deeds to the grantor and requested that he sign them. On the contrary, it is found that on the twentieth day of June, 1916,