Barrow v. Barrow

43 So. 667, 118 La. 1031, 1907 La. LEXIS 842
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedApril 1, 1907
DocketNo. 16,330
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 43 So. 667 (Barrow v. Barrow) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Barrow v. Barrow, 43 So. 667, 118 La. 1031, 1907 La. LEXIS 842 (La. 1907).

Opinion

Statement of the Case.

NICHOLLS, J.

Plaintiff averred that her mother, Mrs. Anna McNary Barrow, died on the 30th day of April, 1904; that petitioner is the only child and forced heir of Mrs. Anna M. Barrow, being the issue of her marriage with her first husband, James Reeve, deceased; that her mother left a will wherein her surviving husband, Charles M. Bafrow, was named as legatee of all her property with the exception of $5, which sum was the only legacy bequeathed to petitioner; that the will was probated before A. Villeret, clerk of the court and recorder, on the 9th day of May, 1904; that by the provisions of said will Charles M. Barrow was appointed executor without bond, etc.; that he failed and neglected to have a true and faithful inventory and appraisement made of all the property, rights, and credits appertaining to the succession of Mrs. Anna M. Barrow, as the law requires; that the partial inventory filed in court does not contain an exact and particular description of all the effects, movable and immova[1033]*1033ble, of the succession; that Charles M. Barrow, acting as executor of said succession, failed and neglected to have pointed out and placed upon the inventory certain property appertaining to the succession which she described; that all said described' property omitted from said inventory, as well as the property placed thereupon, belonged then and now belongs to the succession of Mrs. Anna M. Barrow; that as the only surviving child and forced heir of her mother, as hereinabove set forth, petitioner is entitled to have the disposition made in said will in favor of said Charles M. Barrow, reduced to one-third of the property of said succession, to have herself declared the owner of the remaining two-thirds thereof; that she is entitled to recover of Charles M. Barrow two-thirds of the rents and revenues derived from the property of the succession for the year 1904; that petitioner is without information as to the details of the administration by said executor of said property during said year, and, as heir, petitioner is entitled to an account of his administration, as aforesaid; that by marriage contract the deceased, Mrs. Anna"M. Barrow, and her husband, Charles M. Barrow, were separate m property; that said Charles M. Barrow is a debtor to the succession, as follows, to wit, in the sum of $5,000 received by said Charles M. Barrow from the said Mrs. Anna M. Barrow, being money received by the deceased from the succession of her uncle, Walter S. MacNairy; that a statement of said indebtedness should appear upon the inventory of said succession of Mrs. Anna M. Barrow; that said Charles M. Barrow has been unfaithful in his administration of said succession, in that he did, in March, 1905, induce a number of tenants on the plantation of said succession to leave the place and move upon or work property of his, also by. demolishing a cabin on the land of the succession, and removing the lumber from same to land of his own; that the value of petitioner’s two-thirds interest in the property of the said succession is at least $15,000.

In view of the premises, petitioner prays that Charles M. Barrow, individually and as executor, be cited, and after due and legal proceedings she" have judgment recognizing her as sole forced heir of her mother, Mrs. Anna M. Barrow, deceased, and decreeing her to be the owner of two-thirds of the property of the succession of Mrs. Anna M. Barrow, deceased, and she be put in possession thereof; that the property hereinbefore described as having been omitted from the inventory of the said succession be decreed the property of said succession, and, as such, subject to the claim of petitioner as heir; that she have judgment for two-thirds of the rents and revenues of the property of said succession; that said Charles M. Barrow, executor, be ordered to file an account of his administration of said succession; that said Charles M. Barrow be dismissed from the executorship of said succession; and for costs and general relief in the premises.

On reading this petition, the court 'ordered that defendant be cited to comply with the demand, or answer the same.

The defendant answered individually and as executor. He first pleaded the general issue. Further answering, he said that he denied specially that he had failed to make a true and faithful inventory of the property depending on the succession of his said wife. He averred that plaintiffs actively participated and assisted in taking the inventory of (said succession, and permitted same to be filed without protest or suggestion of omissions; that the articles mentioned in plaintiffs’ petition as property of the succession not placed on the inventory were divided by Mrs. Carrie Barrow, one of the plaintiffs, with defendant, and were left off the inventory by consent; that there were also left off the inventory certain other articles not mentioned in the petition, which said plaintiff expressed a desire to have (which he de[1035]*1035scribed) — all of which were worth at least $400, and which defendant consented she should have, and did not inventory — that, as a creditor and legatee, defendant felt that he could safely consent to these omissions from the inventory without impairing other rights than his own; that defendant knows nothing of any money or other property, except as above mentioned, belonging .to the succession not inventoried, except a few articles in possession of plaintiffs which are hereinafter claimed in its behalf; that there were included in the inventory certain articles (which he described) which were the separate property of defendant; that the cabin removed from Belmont plantation was built with defendant’s own funds during his term as executor, and was removed because plaintiffs refused to recognize it as a debt of the succession; that he did not induce any tenants on the property of the succession to remove therefrom; that some of said tenants left said property because they could not get advances, and plaintiffs insisted that, should defendant make them any advances, which he was willing to do to keep them on the place, he should guaranty the rent, which he declined. Defendant specially declined owing his wife the sum of $5,000 received from the succession of her deceased uncle, Walter S. MacNairy, or any other sum. He avers that during his married life he always had means of his own, and contributed liberally to the expense of the marriage, and of the -household, which consisted of himself and wife, for some years of a daughter since deceased, of one of the plaintiffs, Mrs. Carrie Barrow, of his wife’s mother, and often of other relatives of his wife, and he received nothing from his wife for his own personal expenses, or for any other purpose; that he gave, time and attention to the management of his wife’s said property with which she intrusted him, and which was alone sufficient contribution on his part to the marriage expenses, but that he also contributed largely thereto from his own means; that outside of his contributions to the marriage expenses, as aforesaid, he expended his separate funds to improve his wife’s said separate property, the Belmont plantation, and paid taxes thereon, the sum of $6,579.89, as will appear by itemized account of said improvements and expenditures, which is a debt due him by her succession, and should be repaid him in due course, and before any distribution of her estate.

Defendant further represents that on the 29th day of October, 1887, in order to pay a judgment recovered against her by one of the plaintiffs, Mrs. Carrie Barrow, for the sum of $3,500, his said wife sold for an alleged consideration of $3,500, and with the right of redemption, to J.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
43 So. 667, 118 La. 1031, 1907 La. LEXIS 842, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/barrow-v-barrow-la-1907.