Amonson v. Amonson

37 P.2d 228, 55 Idaho 42, 1934 Ida. LEXIS 76
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 25, 1934
DocketNo. 6136.
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 37 P.2d 228 (Amonson v. Amonson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Amonson v. Amonson, 37 P.2d 228, 55 Idaho 42, 1934 Ida. LEXIS 76 (Idaho 1934).

Opinion

MORGAN, J.

January 28, 1921, Peter Amonson died testate. He provided in his will:

“1. I give, devise and bequeath unto my beloved wife, Christina Amonson, the use, improvement and income of all the property and estate which I may own or to which I may be entitled at the time of my decease, real, personal and mixed, and of every kind and description, and wherever situated; and I further authorize and empower her, without the intervention of any Probate or other court, to sell, mortgage, lease or otherwise dispose of all of said property, or any part thereof, at such prices and at such times as she may judge expedient, and to re-invest the proceeds of such sales in manner as she may judge proper *45 and expedient, or to spend the whole or such part thereof as she may judge to be necessary for her proper comfort and support; TO HAVE AND TO HOLD, All of the said property to my said wife, for the itses and purposes aforesaid, and with the said control and authority over the same, for and during her natural life.

“2. I give, devise and bequeath to my children, Oscar C. Amonson, Anker Amonson, Albert C. Amonson, Clara Diggles and Esther Amonson Pyeatt, and to the issue, by right of representation, of any of my said children being deceased at the time of the death of my said wife, the reversion and remainder of all my said estate, and all profit, income and advantage therefrom, from and after the decease of my said wife, Christina Amonson; TO HAVE AND TO HOLD, The same to them my said children, share and share alike, and to the issue of any one of them being deceased by right of representation, their heirs and assigns, from and after the decease of my said wife, for their use and behoof forever.”

His widow was named executrix. She filed a petition to have the will probated, and alleged the property therein described constituted the community property of decedent and herself and, as a part of such property, included therein Lot 3 in Block 18 in Salmon City Townsite, involved in this suit. She qualified as executrix and procured said property to be appraised as belonging to the estate of her deceased husband. Subsequently she filed a petition in the probate court wherein she recited, among other things, that certain of the property described in the inventory and appraisement, including said lot, was her sole and separate property, and procured an order of the probate court that the inventory and appraisement theretofore made be stricken from the files and held for naught, and that an inventory ■ and appraisement of the property belonging to the estate be returned and filed, to the same effect as if no inventory and appraisement thereof had ever been made. Pursuant to said order she filed an inventory and appraisement of the property of *46 said estate from which, among other items, said lot was omitted. March 15, 1924, there was made and entered in the probate court a decree of final discharge of the executrix, and the trust was settled and closed.

November 26, 1924, Christina Amonson executed and delivered to Oscar C. Amonson and Jane Amonson, his wife, for the expressed consideration of one dollar and love and affection, a deed conveying to them the lot in question, together with the appurtenances thereunto belonging. It was orally agreed between the parties to the deed that it should not bo recorded until after the grantor’s death, and that she should remain in possession and occupancy of the property as long as she lived. In the deed it was recited:

“It is the express intention of the party of the first part that this grant shall be exclusive of and that neither the lands nor their value be subtracted nor deducted from the full share of the said Oscar Amonson of the estate of the grantor herein or of the estate of bis deceased father, Peter Amonson, and that he, the said Oscar Amonson, shall have his full share of said estates the same as if this grant had not been made.”

December 28, 1927, Christina Amonson died intestate, and Albert C. Amonson was appointed, qualified as, and assumed the duties of, administrator of her estate. January 12, 1928, the deed was filed for record and on that day Albert C. Amonson, Oscar C. Amonson, Anker E. Amonson, Esther Amonson Pyeatt and Clara Amonson Diggles, the sons and daughters of Peter Amonson and Christina Amonson, executed a contract wherein it was recited that they were desirous of having the estates of their father and mother administered according to law and finally distributed among them equally, share and share alike, and that Oscar C. Amonson, in consideration that the contract be made, agreed to give a good and valid deed conveying to each of the other parties a one-fifth interest, in common and undivided, in and to the *47 property in controversy herein. It was further recited in the contract:

“In consideration of the premises and in consideration of the offer made by said Osear C. Amonson, it is hereby mutually agreed by and between the respective parties to this agreement that in the administration of the estates of Peter Amonson and Christina Amonson, that all of the property thereof, after the payment of all just debts and costs of administration, shall, by an order of the Judge of the Probate Court of said County of Lemhi, be divided equally between all of the parties herein, share and share alike. In consideration of the above the said Oscar C. Amonson hereby agrees to convey by a good and valid deed, or deeds, duly signed and acknowledged by himself and his wife, Jane L. Amonson, to each of the other parties to this agreement, a one-fifth interest in common and undivided in and to Lot numbered Three (3) in Block numbered Eighteen (18) situated in the Salmon City Townsite, County of Lemhi, and State of Idaho, a Plat of which is on file in the office of the County Recorder of said County of Lemhi, together with all buildings thereon and all appurtenances and rights thereto appertaining and belonging. ’ ’

Disagreement arose among the heirs with respect to distribution and division of the property and resulted in litigation by Oscar C. Amonson. and wife, who had purchased the distributive share of Anker E. Amonson, against Albert C. Amonson as administrator and in his individual capacity, Clara Amonson Diggles and Esther Amonson Pyeatt for distribution and partition of a portion thereof. The last named persons resisted distribution and partition and sought, among other things, to have the lands kept intact until such time as they could be sold advantageously. Basing his refusal on the failure of his brother and sisters to carry out the contract to divide the property, and on the further fact that his wife had not executed the contract and that it was, therefore, invalid, Oscar C. Amonson refused to deed to them the interests *48 in the lot in controversy. In the ease before us the trial judge found, and the finding is supported and sustained by the evidence, that said contract was induced by representations which had not been carried out and which were relied on by Osear C. Amonson.

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Bluebook (online)
37 P.2d 228, 55 Idaho 42, 1934 Ida. LEXIS 76, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/amonson-v-amonson-idaho-1934.