Thomas Paskvan v. Pete Mesich, an Incompetent Person, by His Guardian, Blazo N. Bigovich

Pete Mesich was adjudged incompetent by the Probate Court of Alaska April 9, 1951. By his appointed guardian, Blazo N. Bigovich, he then brought suit against Thomas Paskvan. The basis of the claim was that plaintiff became incompetent as a result of injury, and defendant Paskvan, by undue influence and fraud, had obtained property and other advantages from plaintiff. Plaintiff prayed for various types of relief which, however, were all connected with the transactions above mentioned. Included therein were vacation of a satisfaction of judgment, cancellation of a deed and partnership agreement, recon-veyance of certain property, declaration of trust as to other realty, that plaintiff be held not to be obligated on certain notes and mortgages, that plaintiff have judgment for certain sums, and that defendant account.

Defendant pleaded generally that, although Mesich was found incompetent in 1951, for all the years prior to April of that year, the latter was in possession of his faculties and competent; that, while he did not understand English completely, he could understand Croatian, in which language he often conversed with defendant; that the transactions were in good faith, for…