Brown v. Brown

152 S.W.2d 790, 1941 Tex. App. LEXIS 578
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 8, 1941
DocketNo. 11167
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 152 S.W.2d 790 (Brown v. Brown) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brown v. Brown, 152 S.W.2d 790, 1941 Tex. App. LEXIS 578 (Tex. Ct. App. 1941).

Opinion

GRAVES, Justice.

This statement, deemed to be correct, is a compilation and adaptation of those made in the two respective briefs filed by the appellee herein in response to the separate briefs filed by the two appellants:

“Appellee, Irene Brown, as plaintiff, filed her petition in the district court of Harris County, Texas, SSth Judicial District, November 13, 1935, against the appellant, Ernest Brown. This was a suit for divorce— based upon grounds of cruelty — and for the division of the community estate alleged to belong to the plaintiff and the defendant, as well as for the custody of the three minor children born of said marriage.
“On December 7, 1940, plaintiff filed a third amended original petition against her husband, Ernest Brown, wherein she enlarged upon her grounds for divorce, asked for a decree of divorce, a division of the community property, and an accounting between the plaintiff and defendant. In this amended petition, appellant, Walter Brown, was made a party defendant, because he was claiming an interest or title to the property located at 3406 Calhoun Street, Houston, Texas, which plaintiff alleged was the homestead of herself and her children, as well as the community property of her and her husband.
[792]*792“In his answer filed herein, Ernest Brown denies that the alleged family homestead, situated at 3406 Calhoun Street in the City of Houston, Texas, was community property, but alleges that said property is owned by Walter Brown.
“Ernest Brown also pled a prior separation contract, in which he urged that all property rights between him and the plaintiff, Irene Brown, were determined and divided.
“The plaintiff filed a supplemental petition in reply to defendant’s claim of a pri- or agreement, and urged that the separation agreement between plaintiff and defendant was torn up and destroyed by plaintiff and defendant and cancelled, after a reconciliation in September, 1930, and further alleged that, under the terms of said agreement, she did not receive, nor was she to receive, any part of the community property belonging to her and the defendant, and that said agreement was totally unfair, unjust, and inequitable, and not binding on the plaintiff, Irene Brown; further, in the alternative, that the execution of said agreement was induced by the fraud and duress of said defendant, Ernest Brown.
“As against Walter Brown, plaintiff alleged that Walter Brown is claiming some title and interest to the community property of herself .and the defendant, Ernest Brown, designated as 3406 Calhoun Street, Houston, Texas. That she did not know the nature and extent of Walter Brown’s claim to said property; that on or about February 1, 1924, Miss A. Mitchell executed and delivered to the defendants, Ernest Brown and Walter Brown, a deed covering said property. That in truth and in fact, said property was bought and paid for by her and Ernest Brown out of their community funds; that Walter Brown did not contribute any money to the purchase price of said property; that plaintiff did not know that said property was put in the joint names, Ernest Brown and Walter Brown; that said property was put in their joint names for the purpose of defrauding and defeating the plaintiff out of her community rights in said property. That in the years 1924 and 1925, certain improvements were erected on said property, the entire cost of which was paid by the plaintiff and defendant, Ernest Brown, out of their community funds; that Walter Brown never contributed any money to the payment of the purchase price ,of‘ said property or the cost of said improvements; that on completion of the downstairs of the apartrrient house erected on said property, the plaintiff and defendant, Ernest Brown, and their three children moved in the same and have occupied it continuously as their homestead, except for a period of possibly two years, beginning with the fall of 1928 and ending with the fall of 1930, when plaintiff and her three children lived apart from the defendant, Ernest Brown; that during said period of two years, Ernest Brown occupied said property as his homestead.
“Plaintiff further claimed that on June 1, 1926, (and while plaintiff and the defendant and their children were occupying said property as their homestead) Ernest Brown executed a deed covering said property to Walter Brown, in which deed plaintiff did not join; that the defendant, Ernest Brown, executed said last-mentioned deed for the avowed purpose of defrauding, cheating, and defeating plaintiff out of her community interest in said property. Plaintiff prayed that the title to said property be adjudicated and said defendant, Walter Brown, be decreed to have no right, title, and interest in said property.
“The defendant, Walter Brown, on February 29, 1940, filed a general denial and cross-action against plaintiff, Irene Brown, and co-defendant, Ernest Brown, wherein he alleged that he was the owner of and entitled to the possession of the property described in plaintiff’s amended petition (3406 Calhoun), praying that he have judgment against Irene Brown and Ernest Brown for the title and possession of said premises and for the rental value of the same from November 1, 1934, to the date of judgment; and in the alternative, by way of cross-action, he alleged that on February 1, 1924, Mrs. E. A. Mitchell conveyed an undivided one-half interest in said property to said cross-plaintiff and the other one-half to cross-defendant, Ernest Brown; that one-half of the purchase price thereof was paid by cross-plaintiff, Walter Brown, and the other one-half by Ernest Brown out of his separate estate. That the improvements that were thereafter made on said premises were paid for out of the rents from said property. That on June 1, 1926, Ernest Brown executed a general warranty deed conveying his one-half interest in said property to cross-plaintiff, Walter Brown, for which cross-plaintiff paid $500.00, praying that if the court finds that the execu[793]*793tion of the deed to Ernest Brown conveying his separate property and the abandonment thereof to Irene Brown, did not convey the legal title to said one-half interest to cross-plaintiff, that cross-plaintiff have judgment against Irene Brown and Ernest Brown for breach of warranty in the sum of $500.00, with interest from June 1, 1926. In conclusion, said cross-plaintiff prayed that plaintiff, Irene Brown, take nothing on her action against him; that he have judgment on his cross-action against Irene Brown and Ernest Brown for the title and possession of said premises and for his damages, and, in the alternative, that he have judgment against them for breach of warranty.”
“Said cause proceeded regularly to trial before a jury, and judgment was thereafter rendered upon said verdict in favor of plaintiff, Irene Brown, against Ernest Brown, for divorce, custody of minor children, division of community property, and for $750.00 attorney’s fees; that Walter Brown take nothing on his cross-action against her, and that she, as a representative of the community, recover judgment against Walter Brown for the title to and possession of the property known as 3406 Calhoun Street. A receiver was appointed, instead of commissioners, to make sale of certain property, and divide the proceeds under order of court. From this judgment, the defendants, Ernest Brown and Walter Brown, appealed.”

The special issues, together with the jury’s respective answers, that are deemed most material, were these:

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Bluebook (online)
152 S.W.2d 790, 1941 Tex. App. LEXIS 578, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brown-v-brown-texapp-1941.