318 Mass. 605 | Mass. | 1945
This is an action of contract to recover for services rendered by the plaintiff to a Miss Dudley, the defendant’s testate, late of Worcester, from 1912 to 1942. The answer was a general denial. The jury returned a verdict for .the plaintiff for $335. No exception was taken to the instructions given as to the measure of damages, but the defendant excepted to the refusal of a request for a. ruling that damages in excess of nominal damages could not be awarded because there was no evidence of the value of the plaintiff’s services.
The plaintiff testified in considerable detail as to the kind and nature of the various services that she performed, the time expended in rendering many of these services, the condition of the decedent’s health over the years, and the promise of the decedent to will all her property to the plaintiff. It would have been competent for the plaintiff to testify to the value of her services, but she did not. Copithorne v. Hardy, 173 Mass. 400. Rizzo v. Cunningham, 303 Mass. 16.
Although there was no opinion evidence evaluating the plaintiff’s services, much of her services was the performance of household duties and the remainder was the services ordinarily performed for an ailing or aged person. It would be difficult to imagine a more common kind of services or one with which the ordinary individual is more familiar. Even if an opinion of the value of the plaintiff’s services were introduced in evidence, the jury were not bound to accept any such opinion as true; and if they rejected such testimony, they would not thereby be prevented from determining for themselves upon all the other evidence what would be the fair and reasonable compensation for such services. Manilla v. Houghton, 154 Mass. 465, 468. Walker v. Russell, 240 Mass. 386, 393. Humes v. Barron, 263 Mass. 583, 584. Byam v. Carlisle-Ayer Co. 272 Mass. 176, 179.
Exceptions overruled.