Andrews v. Andrews

A.D. Andrews (plaintiff) was the son of Joshua Andrews and Harriet Andrews. When Harriet Andrews became ill, she and Joshua lived with A.D. and his wife, who together cared for Harriet until Harriet's death. Harriet made a will bequeathing all of her property to her husband Joshua, then to A.D. at Joshua's death. A.D. alleged that he and Joshua had agreed that, in exchange for continuing to care for Joshua for the rest of his life, Joshua would leave A.D. all of Joshua's property at the time of Joshua's death. Joshua continued to live with and be cared for by A.D. and his wife for three more years. When A.D. and his wife moved to Nome, Alaska, they made provisions for Joshua to live with and be cared for by them, but Joshua refused to move to their new home. Joshua subsequently remarried the second Mrs. Andrews (defendant) and executed a will and codicil that provided A.D. with substantially all of Joshua’s estate, but those documents were deemed invalid because of faulty execution. A.D. sued to establish that, pursuant to his agreement with Joshua, A.D. was entitled to all of Joshua's estate under a valid, fully performed oral contract. The trial court determined that A.D.'s wife was an interested party, because any property that Joshua was entitled to under any oral contract was community property. A.D.'s wife’s testimony regarding the existence of the agreement with the decedent was excluded by the trial court on account of her status as an interested party. The trial court subsequently dismissed the matter, and A.D. appealed.