Alexander v. Alexander

561 S.W.2d 59, 262 Ark. 612, 1978 Ark. LEXIS 1789
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedJanuary 9, 1978
Docket77-34
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 561 S.W.2d 59 (Alexander v. Alexander) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Alexander v. Alexander, 561 S.W.2d 59, 262 Ark. 612, 1978 Ark. LEXIS 1789 (Ark. 1978).

Opinion

John A. Fogleman, Justice.

This case involves litigation in the probate and chancery courts of Crawford County between Mrs. J. Fred (Mildred) Alexander, the widow and executrix of the estate of J. Fred Alexander, and Dorothy Helen Alexander, the executrix of the estate of his son, Caruth M. Alexander. The basic conflict is over interpretation of the will of J. Fred Alexander, who died on August 10, 1956. In addition to his widow Mildred, he left one son, Caruth M. Alexander (sometimes referred to as Caruth M. Alexander II) and one daughter, Mary Mildred Alexander. Fred’s will, dated April 16, 1956, was admitted to probate on August 20, 1956. At that time, both of his children were adults and neither of them had any children.

Pertinent paragraphs of his will read as follows:

2. I give, devise and bequeath to my wife, Mildred Alexander, one-half of all the property of my estate, be the same real, personal or mixed, of whatsoever kind and nature wheresoever situated, in lieu of dower, the same to be hers absolutely and in her own right, said one-half not to be charged with any part of the debts, taxes or the expenses of administration of my estate, such debts, taxes and expenses to be chargeable to and payable from the remaining one-half of my estate.
3. All the rest and residue of my estate, be the same real, personal or mixed, of whatsoever kind and nature and wheresoever situated, I give, devise and bequeath to my wife, Mildred Alexander, in trust however for my only son, Carruth M. Alexander, and my only daughter, Mary Mildred Alexander, after the payment of all debts, taxes, including Federal and State estate and/or inheritance taxes, which debts, taxes and expenses are to be charged to this said residue in such manner that one-half of my estate before payment of such debts, taxes and expenses shall go to my wife, Mildred M. Alexander, free of any such charges. I further give, devise and bequeath to my said wife all the income from the trust estate during her lifetime.
4. After the administration of my estate and the payment of all debts and taxes, it is my will and desire that my trustee herein named have full and complete authority to sell and dispose of any portion or all of the personal property of the trust estate and I authorize and empower her to invest and reinvest all personal property of the estate in any manner and at any time she may desire, and request and direct that she not be required to account to the court therefor.
5. It is my will and desire that my wife, the said Mildred M. Alexander, shall have the right to invade, use and enjoy the corpus of the trust estate at any time she may deem necessary.
6. It is my will and desire that all or any part of my real estate, whether a part of the trust estate or otherwise, may be sold and disposed of at any time at private sale or otherwise by and under the agreement of the said Mildred M. Alexander, Caruth M. Alexander and Mary Mildred Alexander and the execution of a deed or other conveyance by them shall be sufficient evidence of such agreement.
7. At the death of my wife the above mentioned trust shall cease and title to all property, real, personal or mixed, shall vest in the said Caruth M. Alexander and Mary Mildred Alexander in equal shares. In the event of the death of my son, Caruth M. Alexander, without issue, prior to the death of my wife, Mildred M. Alexander, then it is my will and desire that the provision hereinbefore made for him shall lapse and the whole of such residue, after the death of my said wife, go to my said daughter, Mary Mildred Alexander, or to her children if she be then deceased.
8. I hereby nominate, constitute and appoint my wife, the said Mildred M. Alexander, as executrix of my estate under this my last will and testament and request the court to permit her to serve as such without bond or other security for the faithful performance of her duties as such.

An inventory was filed on June 25, 1957, listing all property of the estate. Certain personal property was sold by the executrix, with the approval of the probate court. An accounting was filed on October 10, 1959. The next accounting was filed March 1, 1961, stating that stock in the Commercial Bank, owned by the estate, had been distributed and delivered to Caruth M. Alexander, that a note of Caruth payable to the estate had been cancelled and certain cash and two farms conveyed to Mary Mildred Alexander, so that the distribution to the two children was equalized. This annual accounting was approved and confirmed by the probate court on May 1, 1961. In November or December of each of the next four years, an annual account was filed by the executrix, in which she simply stated that “all income received from the estate is the property of Mrs. J. Fred Alexander under the will and there are no changes from the previous account filed herein. ” These accounts were approved by the probate court. Similar accounts were filed in subsequent years and only one of these varied from the pattern of the others. In December, 1968, the account revealed that 76.4 acres of cotton and 105 shares of Sunray D-X Oil stock had been sold. This account was approved by the probate court in December, 1969.

In the meanwhile, Caruth had died on May 29, 1967, leaving a widow, Dorothy G. Alexander (who was appointed executrix of his estate) and one child, Caruth M. Alexander III, who was born January 1, 1960. Caruth’s will was admitted to probate on June 19, 1967. On July 27, 1970, Dorothy, as executrix of the estate of Caruth, filed a petition for an accounting in the estate of J. Fred Alexander, alleging that Caruth had a remainder in one-half of the residuary trust under Fred’s will, and asking that the executrix under that will be required to make a complete accounting for the estate as of May 19, 1967, and on the current date, reflecting all dispositions and distributions of assets remaining in the residuary trust. An order of the probate court was entered on this petition, directing the executrix of Fred’s estate to make such an accounting.

On January 18,1971, appellant filed an accounting, purportedly covering the period beginning January 20,1961 and ending on December 31, 1970, described by her as a “revised annual accounting for years 1961 through 1969 and annual accounting for 1970.” In Schedule A of that account under the heading, charges to accountant, the following statement appeared: “All real estate intact except the following, which was sold by agreement of the three beneficiaries under the agreement attached hereto as Exhibit “A” and the terms of the will. Conveyed property was erroneously omitted from prior accountings.

A. One-half interest in building in Van Burén, Arkansas, sold to Thel Bowlin in 1957, and distributed to beneficiaries.

B. Sec. 7, Twp. 9, Range 29 — 40 acres conveyed July, 1964, to Caruth Alexander.

C. Sec. 16, Twp. 9, Range 29 — 60 acres sold to Paul Alexander in 1965.”

Exhibit A was an agreement dated January 15, 1959, purportedly signed by Mary Mildred Alexander, Caruth M. Alexander and Mrs. J. Fred Alexander. This account was confirmed by the probate court on February 19, 1971.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
561 S.W.2d 59, 262 Ark. 612, 1978 Ark. LEXIS 1789, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alexander-v-alexander-ark-1978.