Behlow v. Johnson

179 Cal. App. 2d 32, 179 Cal. App. 32, 3 Cal. Rptr. 482, 1960 Cal. App. LEXIS 2194
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 18, 1960
DocketCiv. 9845
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 179 Cal. App. 2d 32 (Behlow v. Johnson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Behlow v. Johnson, 179 Cal. App. 2d 32, 179 Cal. App. 32, 3 Cal. Rptr. 482, 1960 Cal. App. LEXIS 2194 (Cal. Ct. App. 1960).

Opinion

WARNS, J. pro tem. *

The petitioner has appealed from a decree establishing heirship with respect to certain real property and three bank accounts of the estate of Lulu Hanson, the deceased widow of Oscar Hanson. Lulu Hanson died intestate, and the court declared the real property to be community property of the deceased widow and her predeceased husband, and ordered that the said real property be distributed one-half to Hilma Behlow, a sister and sole next of kin of the predeceased husband, and one-half to the brothers of the deceased widow, Lulu Hanson, her next of kin; and further decreed that the savings account in the Port Bragg Branch of the Bank of America National Trust and Savings Association was community property and likewise ordered that it be distributed one-half to petitioner, Hilma Behlow, and the remaining one-half to the surviving brothers of the decedent, Lulu Hanson; and further decreed that the savings account in the Mendocino Branch of the Bank of America, National Trust and Savings Association, and the savings account in the Coast National Bank, at Port Bragg, were the separate property of the predeceased husband and should be distributed to petitioner, Hilma Behlow.

The issue to be decided is whether the real property in question and the savings account in the Port Bragg Branch of the Bank of America were in their origin the separate property of the predeceased husband and, if so, the effect of a decree of distribution in his estate decreeing that all of the property involved in the present proceeding was community. While that decree is conclusive as to the character of the property at the time of the husband’s death (Estate of Radovich, 48 Cal.2d *34 116, 120-121 [308 P.2d 14]; Silveira v. Silveira, 138 Cal.App.2d 698, 701 [292 P.2d 567]), we feel that it is not determinative of the question as to who was to succeed to the property upon the death of the widow.

Section 228 of the Probate Code provides that: “If the decedent leaves neither spouse nor issue, and the estate, . . . was community property of the decedent and a previously deceased spouse, and belonged or went to the decedent by virtue of its community character on the death of such spouse, or came to the decedent from said spouse by gift, descent, devise, or bequest, . . . , such property goes in equal shares to the children of the deceased spouse and their descendants . . . , and if none, then one-half of such community property goes to the parents of the decedent in equal shares, or ... to the survivor, or if both are dead in equal shares to the brothers and sisters of the decedent . . . , and the other half goes to the parents of the deceased spouse in equal shares, or ... to the survivor, or if both are dead, in equal shares to the brothers and sisters of said deceased spouse ...”

Section 229 provides that if the decedent leaves neither spouse nor issue, and the estate or any portion thereof was separate property of a previously deceased spouse, and came to the decedent from such spouse by gift, descent, devise, or bequest such property goes to the heirs of the previously deceased spouse.

It is conceded that the decedent, Lulu Hanson, died on October 28, 1955, intestate, and without leaving surviving issue or spouse; that her next of kin are four brothers; that at her death she was the widow of Oscar E. Hanson, who died January 16, 1953; and that petitioner, Hilma Behlow, is a sister and the sole next of kin of the predeceased husband.

It is also conceded that the property on hand in the estate, as shown by the inventory and appraisal, consists of an undivided two-thirds interest in 70. acres of land located on the coast, near Caspar, referred to as the Hanson Ranch, and three savings bank accounts.

The ranch belonged to Emma C. Hanson, mother of Hilma Behlow and Oscar E. Hanson. On the death of Emma C. Hanson in 1940 the ranch was distributed one-third to Hilma Behlow, one-third to Oscar E. Hanson and one-third to Walter Hanson.

Later Osear E. Hanson received a deed of gift from Walter for Walter’s interest in the ranch.

It is also conceded that Oscar E. Hanson married Lulu *35 Amanda Johnson in 1923; that he was then 31 years of age; that prior to his marriage Oscar worked in the mill at Caspar; that prior to marriage he served two years in the United States Army in World War I; that upon the death of his mother, Emma 0. Hanson, in 1940, Oscar, with his wife, Lulu, moved upon the ranch and thereafter, until their death they devoted all of their time to the operation of the ranch.

No conveyance or other disposition whatsoever of his interest in the ranch appears ever to have been made by Oscar in his lifetime to his wife, Lulu, or otherwise. However, the record shows that in the estate of Oscar E. Hanson, deceased, all of the decedent’s estate, including the ranch, was distributed to his widow, Lulu, as community property.

The trial court held that the decree of distribution in the estate of Oscar E. Hanson, the predeceased husband, fixing the character of the property as “community” was controlling as to the ranch, and determined that the two-thirds interest in the ranch and the savings account in the Fort Bragg Branch of the Bank of America, were community property, to be distributed under section 228, one-half to petitioner and one-half to the four brothers of the decedent. It also determined, however, that the other two savings bank accounts were the separate property of the predeceased husband, Oscar, to be distributed to petitioner as sole heir under section 229 of the Probate Code.

It is the position of the appellant that all the property in the present estate of Lulu Hanson, deceased, had its origin in the lifetime of Oscar and Lulu, as Oscar’s separate property, and that its character and origin, as Oscar’s separate property, are now controlling; that the decree of distribution in the estate of Oscar E. Hanson, deceased, characterizing the ranch as “community property” and distributing it to the widow, Lulu, is of no consequence whatever in the present proceeding.

As said in Estate of Allie, 50 Cal.2d 794, 797 [329 P.2d 903] : “In resolving the issue it must be borne in mind that sections 228 and 229 of the Probate Code refer to the status of property as being either community or separate as of a time when both spouses were living; i.e., prior to the death of the ‘previously deceased spouse’ mentioned in the two sections. (See Estate of Reizian (1951), 36 Cal.2d 746, 749-750 [1, 2] [227 P.2d 249]; Estate of Adams (1955), 132 Cal.App.2d 190, 203 [8] [282 P.2d 190].) Further, the rule has been declared that the underlying principle of sections 228 and 229 is that the origin or source of acquisition of the prop *36 erty should and does control its disposition. (Estate of Reizian (1951), supra; Estate of Abdale

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Estate of Clarke
424 P.2d 337 (California Supreme Court, 1967)
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
179 Cal. App. 2d 32, 179 Cal. App. 32, 3 Cal. Rptr. 482, 1960 Cal. App. LEXIS 2194, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/behlow-v-johnson-calctapp-1960.