Bird v. Palmer

1931 OK 459, 3 P.2d 890, 152 Okla. 3, 1931 Okla. LEXIS 630
Supreme Court of Oklahoma·Decided July 21, 1931·No. 19979·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

ANDREWS, J.

This is an appeal from a judgment of the district court of Okfuskee county sustaining a demurrer of the defendant S. ,T. Palmer to the fourth amended petition of the plaintiffs, and dismissing the action. The parties appear in the same order in which they appeared in the trial court, and hereinafter will be referred to as plaintiffs and defendants.

The plaintiffs claim to be the owners of the land in controversy, and claim title thereto as the legal heirs of Willie Bird and Malinda Bird, deceased. The defendants claim title thereto through a guardian’s deed from the guardian of Willie Bird and Malinda Bird.

The action was for. possession, to quiet title, to cajicel conveyances, for damages, and for equitable relief.

The plaintiffs contend that the appointment of a guardian for Willie Bird was void for the reason that he was over the age of 14 years at the time of the appointment; that no notice of the application for appointment was given to him; that he did not nominate the guardian, and that a fraud was committed upon the court by the withholding from the county court of the information that he was over the age of 14 years. They contend that the guardian’s deed is void for the reason that there was no lawful guardian of Willie Bird, and that the sale of the land of Willie Bird and Malinda Bird in one proceeding was void, though there was a legal guardian for Malinda Bird. The attack on the probate proceedings is limited to the appointment of the guardian of Willie Bird. No question is pre *4 sented as to the regularity of the other probate proceedings.

The plaintiffs’ petition was amended from time to time, and, as amended, set forth their contentions, as hereinbefore stated. The defendant S. T. Palmer filed a demurrer to the plaintiffs’ fourth amended petition, on the grounds, first, that the petition did not state facts sufficient to entitle the plaintiffs to recover in the action, and second, that the petition showed on its face that it was a collateral attack on a judgment of a court of record having general jurisdiction of the subject-matter and of the person and the power to render such judgment. The demurrer was sustained generally, and, the plaintiffs having elected to stand on their pleading, judgment was rendered in favor of the defendant S. T. Palmer, dismissing the plaintiffs’ action as to him and decreeing that the plaintiffs take nothing thereby as to the defendant S. T. Palmer. Prom that judgment, an appeal was taken to this court.

There are many contentions herein made, but, under the view we take of the law, it is not necessary for us to consider all of them.

The- county court is a court of record. Section 11, art. 7 of the Constitution. Under the provisions of section 6 of the Act of Congress of May 27, 1908, county courts of the state of Oklahoma have jurisdiction to appoint guardians over the persons and property of minor allottees of the Pive Civilized Tribes without reference to the degree of Indian blood. The general probate statutes of the state of Oklahoma give to those courts such jurisdiction. It is not contended here that the county court of Okfus-kee county was not the county court having jurisdiction, and that jurisdiction is apparent from the record. That court had jurisdiction of the subject-matter.

.The question of whether or not the county court of Okfuskee county had jurisdiction of the person of Willie Bird and the question of whether or not that court had the power to render the particular judgment, that is, to appoint a guardian for Willie Bird, under the facts disclosed by the record, are so closely related that they will be discussed together. The fourth amended petition of the plaintiffs, to which the demurrer was sustained, discloses the following facts, to wit: That the plaintiff, Jim Bird, the father of Willie- Bird and Malinda Bird, minors, filed his petition in the county court of Ok-fuskee county in which he asked for the appointment by that court of W. W. Jimboy as guardian of the persons and estate of the two minors; that he therein stated that he was the father of the two minors; that their mother was dead, and that the minors were in his custody; that the county court of Okfuskee county made an order in that proceeding in which it found that the minors were under 14 years of age and residents of Okfuskee county, and in which it set a day for the hearing of the petition for the appointment of a guardian; that notice of the hearing of the petition for the appointment of a guardian was given and the hearing had, and that the county court of Okfus-kee county, at that hearing, made its finding and order, as follows, to wit:

“* * * Notice of the hearing- has been duly and legally given and served as required by law and by the order of this court by posting notices of said hearing in three of the most public places in Okfuskee county, state of Oklahoma, for at least ten days prior to this date, and prior to the date of this hearing, and said petitioner appearing in person and by attorney, and the court, having heard the evidence offered in said cause, and being fully advised in the premises, it is ordered that W. W. Jimboy of Okfuskee county, Okla., be and is hereby appointed guardian of the persons and estates of the above-named minors, Willie Bird and Malinda Bird. * * *”

In Hathaway v. Hoffman, 53 Okla. 72, 153 Pac. 184, this court held:

“The appointment of a guardian for minors by a county court imports jurisdiction in the court so to do, and it will be inferred from the fact that such an appointment was made that all the facts necessary to vest the court with jurisdiction to make the appointment had been found to exist before the same was made.”

That ruling was followed in the case of Powers v. Brown, 122 Okla. 40, 252 Pac. 27, wherein this court said:

“The records of the county court being silent as to notice to the minor over 14 years of age, and silent as to said minor’s nomination of her guardian, or an actual waiver of that right, it is to be presumed, in aid of the jurisdiction to make the appointment, that the court before making the appointment found the fact of a nomination by said minor or a waiver of that right in person.”

This court therein quoted with approval from the case of Greer v. McNeil, 11 Okla. 519, 69 Pac. 891, and concluded:

“We, therefore, hold that the proceedings in the Latimer county court are not void upon their face as contended.”

In Manuel v. Kidd, 126 Okla. 71, 258 Pac. 732, this court held:

*5 “County courts of this state are courts of record and have original general jurisdiction in probate matters. The orders and judgments of such courts when acting within their jurisdiction are entitled to the same favorable presumption and the same immunity from collateral attack as ara accorded orders and judgments of courts of general jurisdiction. Unless the record affirmatively shows want of jurisdiction, and every fact not negatived by the record is presumed in support of the judgment of a court of general jurisdiction, and where the record of the court is silent upon the subject, it must be presumed in support of the proceedings that the court inquired into and found the existence of facts authorizing it to render the judgment which it did. Bowling v. Merry, 91 Okla. 176, 217 Pac. 404.”

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Bird v. Palmer, 1931 OK 459, 3 P.2d 890, 152 Okla. 3, 1931 Okla. LEXIS 630 (Okla. 1931).

1931 OK 459 (Bird v. Palmer) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Fullwood v. Brown
1947 OK 272 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1947)
Smith v. First Nat. Bank of Eldorado
1934 OK 478 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1934)
Bird v. Palmer
1931 OK 460 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1931)