other than a few dollars for a pair of shoes, etc. The receipts averaged $350 per month, which was all turned over to Mrs. Hildreth and was used by her to pay for the lodginghouse and other properties. Mrs. Bonham did all the work, "sweeping, dusting, being night clerk and day clerk, mopping and polishing floors, putting down carpets and taking them up"; general rooming-house work; collecting rents for the rooms and waiting on her mother, who was sick in bed most of the time. Mrs. Bonham also did the washing. Regarding the making of the deeds, Mrs. Bonham testified as follows:

"Q. I'll ask you if you know how the deeds were to be made that were made, or who was going to get the property, prior to the time the deeds were executed? A. No, sir. Q. When Mr. Wilson came there as notary public prior to the execution of the deeds, did you have any knowledge about how she was going to dispose of her property? A. No, sir. She just said she was going to deed them and have it over with; a thousand dollars would be charged anyhow for probating it, and she said she was through with her property. Q. She was going to make deeds and settle it without probate? A. Yes, sir. Q. To save that expense? A. Yes, sir. Q. I'll ask you, then, whether or not, so far as you know, that the deed she made on the 29th of December, 1919, was made in accordance with her will and wish and without any influence or duress or fraud or anything of that kind. A. Yes, sir."

With reference to the joint bank accounts, Mrs. Bonham testified that her husband's wages went into those accounts, and that she rented her own piano for a year and later sold it for a hundred dollars, and those receipts were also turned into the joint bank accounts; that receipts from sales of chickens and eggs which belonged to her personally went into her private bank account.

Mrs. O'Blenes, who for two years, between 1917 and 1919, lived "right across the alley" from Mrs. Bonham and Mrs. Hildreth, never saw either of them crying or heard them having any dispute over the furniture. G. R. Beasley, a son of Mrs. Bonham, never saw any difficulty between them. and never heard either his mother or his father try to influence Mrs. Hildreth with reference to the disposition of her property. The testimony of Mr. Wilson, attorney at

60 Cal. App. 47

law and notary public, who prepared the deeds and took the acknowledgment of Mrs. Hildreth's signature thereto, is significant. Prior to the time the deeds were drawn he had acted as Mrs. Hildreth's attorney in various matters covering a period of several years. In connection with the drawing of the deeds Mr. Wilson said: "The first time I went to see her it seems to me as far as I can remember I was there five or six times. There was some little matters about her rooming-house which she and Mrs. Bonham had rented to some party, I forget the name now, and she asked me about that contract, and then she brought up the matter of making these deeds, and I told her to give me the description of the property and the parties to whom she wanted the deeds made, and I would look the matter up and prepare the deeds and when I got them prepared I would bring them around to her to sign." Mr. Wilson prepared the deeds at Mrs. Hildreth's request and she read them before they were signed. They were made and executed by her in accordance with her express will at that time. He neither saw nor heard any indications of any persons influencing Mrs. Hildreth in the execution or just prior to the execution of the deeds. The matter of giving the direction to draw the deeds, the actual delivery of them and their execution covered a period of about two weeks. The description of the property covered in some of the deeds was not very good and it was necessary to take time to write to Orange County to get the proper description. Mrs. Bonham was nursing Mrs. Hildreth at the time the deeds were signed, and she was in and out of the room. Mrs. Hildreth was in bed the first time that Mr. Wilson saw her in connection with drawing the deeds, which was about two weeks before the deeds were executed, and he saw her in connection with that matter five or six times. When the deeds were finally executed Mrs. Bonham came into the room and propped Mrs. Hildreth up in her bed. She didn't sign the deeds immediately, but read them and then signed them.

[9] Counsel for appellant concede the rule of law in a case of this kind to be that the mere fact that a conveyance is made by a person to his child "does not render the deed presumptively invalid." In 17 Ann. Cas., at page 989, it is said: "The courts have universally held that no pre

sumption of undue influence in the case of a conveyance inter vivos by a parent to a child arises from the mere relationship of the parties, and that, therefore, the burden is upon the party attacking the conveyance to show undue influence." (Citing many cases.) And it has been held that the circumstances of age and enfeebled condition, together with the added fact of an unequal division among the children of the property of the parent, and that the parent resided with the more fortunate child from a pecuniary standpoint-all of which facts fit this case to a nicety-are not sufficient to create a presumption of undue influence. (Jones v. Thomas, 218 Mo. 508 [117 S. W. 1177].) [10] But the California cases, notably Soberanes v. Soberanes, 97 Cal. 140 [31 Pac. 910], Becker v. Schwerdtle, 6 Cal. App. 462 [92 Pac. 398], and Nobles v. Hutton, 7 Cal. App. 14 [93 Pac. 289], are to the effect that where great age and enfeebled condition in the parent, together with such a division of the parent's property among the children as would in itself suggest great partiality, are shown, the burden is upon the attacked donee to show that the gift was made freely and voluntarily and with full knowledge of the facts and a perfect understanding of the effect of the transfer.

[11] General influence, however strong, is not undue influence. The opportunity may be present and the grantee may suggest or advise or give good reasons, such as appeal to the affections, or sentiments of gratitude for past services, or even argue with the grantor and thus persuade him to deed his property to him, and in the absence of any showing or any presumption that the importunity was such that it could not be resisted by the grantor, and that the very act of the grantor in executing the deed was the result of force or coercion or something of that nature, which broke down his will or destroyed his free agency at the time the deed was executed-undue influence cannot be said to exist. Undue influence in the execution of a deed must arise from a confidence reposed by the grantor in the grantee, with the added feeling on the part of the grantor that the grantee has some power or authority over him; and it must appear that such power or authority was used by the grantee on the will of the grantor for the purpose of obtaining an unfair advantage of his weakness of mind or

body, or of his necessities or his distress, and that such feeling of power and authority on the part of the grantor was actually present and operating upon his mind with such pressure as to overpower the mind and overcome the volition of the grantor at the very time the deed was executed.

There is nothing here that indicates with any clearness that Mrs. Hildreth was in the least affected by anything or by any act or conduct emanating from the daughter. True, she returned the furniture to her daughter, but the furniture already belonged to her. True, she made a deed to Mr. Bonham of the lot regarding which the two women had their quarrel, but the evidence showed that she owed it to him for "labor performed" and that she was simply paying her debt in the manner in which she had theretofore agreed to pay it. The furniture was returned shortly after the quarrel, and the deed to Mr. Bonham was made within six weeks thereafter. The will was executed within two months, while all the other deeds were not executed until after the expiration of four months from the date of the quarrel. If the execution of these deeds was brought about through the exercise of undue influence, it would seem reasonable and probable that they should all have been executed at the time the deed was made to Mr. Bonham, or, failing in that, that the will, which was practically identical with the deeds as far as plaintiff is concerned, with the exception of this particular piece of property, should have disposed of the matter completely at that time, subjugating the will of Mrs. Hildreth to that of Mrs. Bonham and to the entire satisfaction of Mrs. Bonham.

[12] In this case, while the opportunity for the exercise of undue influence undoubtedly existed, and while the law of this state appears to be that in circumstances such as the evidence shows were here present, the burden is cast upon the grantee to show that the gift was made freely and voluntarily and with perfect understanding of the effect of the transfer, the findings of the court based upon the testimony of many apparently credible witnesses preclude any conclusion other than that at all times, including the act of the execution of the deeds, the grantor was acting with the utmost freedom, of her own volition and with the greatest clarity of her mental perceptions, which, according to all the witnesses, was far above the average of ordinary

attainment. If the evidence can be said to show any one thing clearly in this case, it is that at no time before the execution of the deeds was Mrs. Hildreth's mind in anywise affected. Her body was weak and she was suffering from the effects of disease, but her mind retained its full vigor. Her act in giving the bulk of her property to her daughter, rather than to her son, was most natural. The evidence shows years of continuous devotion, solicitude, and kindly care by the daughter for her mother, to say nothing of the labor, sacrifice, and hardship expended and suffered by the daughter on the mother's account. The mother's gift to the daughter was but a recognition, and in no sense a full compensation, for the daughter's service to her. On the other hand, while friendly relations existed between the mother and the son, nothing appears in the record to show that any particular interest or attention was ever shown by the son in his mother's welfare. Perhaps he was unable, either from his nature or from his financial condition, to respond in great volume to his mother's necessities. The deeds to him of a portion of his mother's property amply cover any pecuniary or parental obligation arising out of the condi. tions as shown by the record herein.

The findings of the court on all issues of fact were against plaintiff's contentions. A careful review of the evidence contained within the reporter's transcript on file in this appeal convinces this court that such findings are supported by a preponderance of the evidence and are therefore legally unassailable. As to some of the issues the evidence is overwhelmingly in favor of the findings, and as to each and all of the others there is at least a substantial conflict in the evidence upon which each of them is based. California cases so numerous as to require no citation and for reasons so thoroughly understood as to require no elucidation are practically unanimous in holding that in such circumstances the findings are conclusive.

The judgment is affirmed.

Conrey, P. J., and James, J., concurred.